Feeling discouraged - just need to vent - RV-Dreams Community Forum

Bill Adams · RV-Dreams Family Member

Feeling discouraged - just need to vent

cherylbrv · RV-Dreams Family Member

DH and I made the decision last year (2011) to sell the house and full time. We've attended 1 rally and 2 RV shows so far (another one this weekend in NJ). Been doing all kinds of research about every possible detail (thanks very much to everyone here in the forums and Linda & Howard, without whom I'd still be a total ignoramus). DH and I are always talking about how we'll do this - and you won't be able to do that - once we're in the RV. The hope and dream was it would happen in 2012, although due to the housing market we're very much aware it could be much, much longer.

Why am I feeling so discouraged? Because in order to put the house on the market, this 30 year old place in which we've been living for 20 years and haven't done a stitch of work on it, is in dire need of "prettying up" and a few relatively minor repairs. Well, I thought minor. Just discovered today that the roof is in really awful shape and needs replacing.

So we figured if we do as much work as we can by ourselves (like painting and having a laminate floor laying party instead of hiring contractors), we will still need to come up with at least $10K to get everything done just to make the house look sellable. We have about $1500 in the bank and also have an engagement party and then wedding to look forward to in the near future (no clue where $ is coming for those). We are barely making ends meet on our salaries and everything - EVERYTHING is dependent on selling this albatross. So it's a catch 22 situation.

I have faith and I know somehow things will work out in due time. I just think that 2012 may be turning into 2020 and that makes me want to cry. We're so READY to do this and the one thing (money) that we want to get away from is holding us back.

Thanks for letting me vent.

GENECOP · RV-Dreams Family Member

Cheryl, maybe it's time to shake things up, try to rethink and reorganize your expenses, you may need to get creative in order to increase your income and get that RV Dream happening sooner than later. Remember everyone who has ever gotten on the road had to JUMP over many hurdles. Anything as good as this lifestyle of living on the road is well worth fighting for, just keep pushing, don't give up, YOU WILL GET THERE.....G

Workinrvers · RV-Dreams Family Member

I might add that you could do a little sprucing up so the house shows well and have a built in credit to the potential buyers for the roof repairs. This would, of course, give you less of a return but at least this way you are not paying any actual cash out of your pocket for the roof prior to selling.

Good luck

Phil

cherylbrv · RV-Dreams Family Member

We figured out the minimum we need to pay off the mortgage and a few medical bills, and have enough over for the RV. We're definitely not planning to go for the highest offer - just the minimum required. Good thought about a credit for the roof, but in this housing market, wouldn't most people opt to not have to put out any money of their own if they can get a house in better condition for the same price?

Yes, many hurdles to jump. I'm not giving up the DREAM; just may have to postpone it awhile, but I'll keep doing all I possibly can.

Thanks for the words of encouragement.

The Bear II · RV-Dreams Family Member

Look into Dave Ramsey's website http://www.daveramsey.com/home/

He has been able to help many folks in situations like yours realize their dreams. Consider going through one of his local financial seminars. Many people have found them to be very helpful.

I have no financial interest in his program. I've listened to his radio program and am amazed at how many people call in to thank him for getting them on the right track financially and are able to fulfill their dreams because of his financial approach.

cejones4210 · RV-Dreams Family Member

Cheryl, just want to add my two cents. We were transferred in our jobs 4 years ago so we had to sell our house. The house was 11 years old, but when the inspection was done they recommended replacing the roof which as you, we could not afford. So we offerred it for sale with a discount/credit for the roof. We sold it two weeks later, after being on the market for 3 months.

We hope we can get our house ready to sell this spring but the accumulated possessions of 35 years can be overwhelming, but we all need to think positive. Research is very necessary so think and rethink what we can do to make our Dreams come true. A fulltime or part time fulltime lifestyle is doable if we are willing to make financial adjustments to follow our Dreams.
Best wishes, don't give up!

Racerguy · RV-Dreams Family Member

I would second exactly what Bill Adams said.

Parrish · RV-Dreams Community Member

This is a great community and I can relate so much to what is going on with the house sale deal. I am back and forth with what work to do myself to get the most out of my house or just let it go. I am willing to let ours go cheap. We are not in a community that has been impacted by the housing crisis but the last appraisal was 210,000, I figure I will take the first 180,000. That will give me a bit of equity for hitting the highway with. I'm going to see how much we can get done in a week or two of painting and laminate floor laying and let it all go to the high bidder.

Pricing the house is a hard thing to do; but, I do remember I bought this place knowing it needed a new roof, windows, paint. I did not even negotiate for a lower price based on the work that was needed because, I thought I needed a home. Why did it not occur to me to go live in the camper back then? Ain't Hind sight great!

We have to get out of this place. I love seeing how people in this forum endorse the freedom of living on the road or rv life stylev. My family all think I am nuts adding to my stress. We have been planning for years to do this and finally just hit the breaking point with job stress and advancement of my wifes MS.

Rob_Fla · RV-Dreams Family Member

I feel your pain, it took us 3 years to sell our house in Florida.

It is a tough market in Florida, competeing with a lot of forclosures, short sales and such.
Our house was 60 years old with a major remodel 20 years ago.
That being said, the roof and all updates were 20 years old, it was time to do it again.

We looked very hard and felt we would loose money on any updates so just worked on selling "As Is".
I am not saying it was in "Bad" condition and we had no roof problems or leaks but a bank will require a new roof which can be dealt with at closing.

We had several "Almost Deals" that did not work out for one reason or another.
Then last year in September we had a family that was very intrested and was going to pay "Cash"
Went back and forth for several weeks and finally put a deal together that everybody could live with.
Since it was a "Cash Sale" no bank involved, no insurance or termite inspection or appraisals.
The buyer did have a home inspection done and no problems found.

Hope you can make things work out, we have been fulltime for almost 3 months now and are loving it.

Jake62 · RV-Dreams Family Member

Cheryl,

Besides the options already mentioned, including a short sale or foreclosure (last option), you may consider renting your residence. I don't know what your current payments are and what your rental market is like; however, in the Southwest, the rental market is actually fairly strong and much easier than selling your house. We're currently renting and are in a postive cash-flow situation. However, even if you're not in a positive cash-flow situation, you can do the math to determine if the rental income you gain off-sets your expenses enough for you to purchase an RV and travel. Eventually (don't know when but experts predict up to 10 years) the housing market will return and you can then re-coup your costs. This option is certainly not right for everyone; however, it's simply another option to consider. Good luck!

Technomadia · RV-Dreams Family Member

I know the pain well and feel your frustration.

When I hit the road full time in 2007, the housing market in Florida was starting to crash big time. I went from having lots of equity to being upside down in the span of about a year.

When hitting the road became a priority over keeping a house as a back-up option, I got serious. I calculated what it would cost me to keep the house on the market for a couple more years in hopes that the market would return - and took that number as the amount I was willing to take as a loss. For me, that meant taking the funds out of savings (on top of the loss of cash I had invested in the house) - which as I understand, may not be an option for you.

But where there's a will.. there IS a way.

I had my house on the market for over a year trying to sell it. But the moment I made the decision that getting rid of it was my priority, it sold. Literally - the day we pulled in to pick up our newly build RV, I got a cash offer on the house that met my threshold, and I closed 2 weeks later. The freedom, while costly, was priceless.

- Cherie

ken and cindy · RV-Dreams Family Member

Cheryl,

Besides all the great information offered here.

What we did to motivate the market was to offer a $5000.00 bonus to any agent, over and above the listing commission and raised our listing $10000.00. The house sold for $5000.00 below the asking price three weeks later. Every agent in town was dragging all their clients to our home !

nessiekatt · RV-Dreams Family Member

All good suggestions above.

Just don't give up. I have been planning this since 1997. I kept the goal always in mind in whatever I did. I finally was able to retire debt free (on 1-5-12), but have been living full time in my 5th wheel since 6-3-11. It is what ever it is and I deal with every situation as it arises. Your time will come sooner than you think. In retrospect those 15 years have gone by in a flash for me.

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

While it may not amount to much, also ask your chosen realtor about offering a "warranty" for the buyer of the house. Some of those warranties could be fairly cheap and it might entice a buyer if they thought that they wouldn't have to pay for major repairs for a period of time after they bought your house.

As for discouragement, we can relate as it took us 3 years to get ours sold after we decided this was the lifestyle we wanted. We ended up with a $4000 loss, but regained that after only a few months of not paying the mortgage.

In our case, we actually ended up with our house listed as "For Sale By Owner" and a local realtor charged us a flat fee for listing it on MLS, and offered to do our closing for a flat fee that was less than what the commission would have been for a regular realtor. As it was, our buyer ended up being a licensed realtor (although not actually working as one) and our closing costs were very minimal.

Terry