but, but, but you'll be homeless! - RV-Dreams Community Forum

Lucky Mike · RV-Dreams Family Member

but, but, but you'll be homeless!

suse1023 · RV-Dreams Family Member

anyone else having this discussion with themselves or loved ones?

frankly i am rather excited about not having a house to maintain in my dotage, otoh i spent 24 years making this house something special and i realise a lot of 'me' and my identity is tied up in it. i am not my house, i can leave it all behind!

i assume (and pray) i'll have a bit of money after the sale of the house to invest, and part of me thinks i should buy a condo so i still have a home to come home to.

but i hate apt living!

so how does one shake the unease of being 'homeless'? and of investing in an rv which we all know is a depreciating asset?

MarkS · RV-Dreams Family Member

Sometimes I think I will miss having a traditional home with roots and dirt. But, I have been living with me long enough to know that if I retire in this house I will sit here and wait to die. I won't do any of the things we have dreamt about. We won't travel, we won't experience, we won't do anything but sit in a rut and when we realize we are in a rut we will change our rut slightly and be in another rut.

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Many don't look at it as being "homeless." I think most, and we will when we finally get to travel, that our "home" just has different back yards. In fact, for those traveling, it can be "ever-changing" back yards.

As for a home with depreciating value, we originally thought that too, but we took a loss in selling our home for an RV, so I guess you could say that the last few years resulted in depreciating values even on real estate. As for homes, you "can't take them with you" and that applies with either a house or an RV.

Terry

Technomadia · RV-Dreams Family Member

For me... home is wherever I'm at. That's a shift in attitude that comes with being on the road. It's a little scary to contemplate upfront, but if you're meant for the road, you'll probably make a similar shift too.

Whether or not your RV depreciates in monetary value, you can still totally make it your own and I'd say many of us truly feel 'at home' in our RVs. I don't think I've encountered too many full timers who haven't added their own touches - from small changes like hanging artwork to total remodels.

As to whether you should buy property to 'come back to', I'd say that's dependent on several factors. Your age, your stage of life, your financial situation, if you're still income earning, health conditions, etc. We're 39 & 40, still income generating, no substantial current health factors and have the means to buy/rent property if we felt called to coming off the road - so for us, it'd be a pretty big hassle to own property somewhere to manage while we're out 'here' living life. Besides, we haven't a clue as to *where* we'd want to buy property at. But I can certainly see where the decision to keep a physical home base might make sense for someone else in another situation.

If you'll have funds left over to invest, why not invest them in other ways as a nest egg that allows you to buy property when/if you decide to settle down? Who knows what new locations and communities you might discover once you're on the road that you feel called to becoming part of.

- Cherie

Cindy T · RV-Dreams Family Member

When you live fulltime in an RV, you're not homeless, you're just "house-less". You still have a roof over your head & a bed to call your own each night.

As for owning property to come back to, how about doing some traveling first? You might find another part of the country that you'd prefer to live in. Or, once you get used to living in an RV, you may decide to travel for quite a while before settling somewhere again.

Being a fulltimer is a different lifestyle than most people are used to, so it's natural to get adverse reactions from people who've never done it. But when you're out there meeting lots of people who live this lifestyle, you'll feel normal.

MarkS · RV-Dreams Family Member

I read somewhere that on the census we were considered affluent homeless. But that can't be...I get my affluent shot evert year. Affluent is something I have spent my whole life trying to avoid. Whatever I'm doing seems to be working.

Dog Folks · RV-Dreams Family Member

Yes, our relatives brought up being "homeless." One item that was part of our decision to go full time was the beautiful home we owned in Florida. We both worked at least 50 hours per week to have that home. With all house related expenses, like taxes, mortgage, maintenance, etc. it consumed 67% of our combined income. For what? To have a nice place to sleep when not working?

Also be ready for "Are you crazy?" discussion.

As Cindy said: You are "houseless", not homeless. Home is a place you go where you are surrounded by the people and things that you love. For lots of us, that is an RV.

Our motto was coined by my wife: "This is better." Full time and traveling is not for everyone, but for a lot of people, it is as close to heaven as we are going to get while on earth.

It is a big change, but don't worry, your doubts will soon pass.

suse1023 · RV-Dreams Family Member

oh gosh, thanks for your support!
i'm in a precarious position in some ways, as my dh is not healthy. i've been working since he was forced to retire just to support the real estate, and we are tired of the worry and stress--i was reduced to half time in august with no prospects of more hours yet.

so as someone else said, why work so hard for a place to sleep?
dh's life expectancy is under five years, and when that happens i'll also lose his pensions and social until i'm 60, wihch won't be for a few more years.
so being house-less will be a good thing, as i hope to unburden myself of this place within a month or two. it's also really scary to know i may have to drop the price by what my future savings would be, just to get out from under probable foreclosure if i were to lose him before we sold.
tough not to focus on the worry---but i know what i focus on grows, so i am focusing on being excited about a new lifestyle, excited to get him through chemo and the house sold so we can play together, excited to see more of our gorgeous country. i'm excited to see friends and family for good long visits on a regular basis too.

PIEERE · RV-Dreams Family Member

Homeless!!! Not; houseless yes. My home is where I park it; it may not always have the most scenic views; however I can change that as I see fit.

Dog Folks · RV-Dreams Family Member

One other item: Once you get rid of the house and "stuff", you will experience a sense of freedom like never before. That feeling nevers goes away and it is wonderful.

JayKim-no regrets · RV-Dreams Family Member

As a military family, we moved house on average at least every 3 years (over 25 yrs) sometimes we bought, mostly we rented. We really didn't spend enough time in any place to get attached emotionally. We owned a house in IL for over 8 yrs, we rented it out when we moved to Denver then Charleston but we always thought we would go back there to live after hubby retired. didn't work out that way and we made the decision to buy an RV to full-time in. This past 12 months we had problems finding renters for the house, we were paying all expenses on it and our living expenses here in SC too. Eventually, we had to make the decision to put the house up for sale, because of the glut of houses for sale in that area, we were approved for a short sale. Not the perfect solution, but the only one we could afford.

Last week, we got the final paperwork on the sale, it's a big relief to be done with the house, but obviously we didn't do our credit rating any favors. Luckily, we don't need any big ticket items that might need a loan, so we hope to build up our credit during the next few years.

Long story, but just wanted to let you know that you are right, you own your house, it does not own you. Don't let anyone else put you off your plan to spend some quality time together, while you can. You can always rent a place later if you need too....Do what you can to make this time special for the both of you!

Huggies Kim x

Raytronx · RV-Dreams Family Member

People used to tell us we would never be able to get back into the market if we sell our house, we would be priced out. Well housing has not done great in our old area since then and that conversation has subsided.

-- Edited by Raytronx on Tuesday 12th of February 2013 06:45:00 PM

Dave Buck · RV-Dreams Family Member

I agree, I just take my home with me. Right now I'm enjoying and 75 and sunny instead of 20 and snow. When I come home at night it still home, it just may be in a different location.

bigboomer · RV-Dreams Family Member

We certainly got all that when we decided enoough of this craziness! Many of the same folks that first thought we either lost our minds, where is some sort of financial ruin or just had not thought this through are now starting to see the light. They see how much more relaxed we are and how we have been able to adjust and have new found freedoms after we picked the lock on our ball and chain (house)!

As I say "those in doubt will soon envy", and that is where we are at with most of our friends and family. We are glad that the brick hit us in the head early enough for us to realize how much we had been missing!

Depending on where you establish permanent residency will also determine your overall reduction in cost of living expenses but just the reduced burden of certain items (property taxes, etc.) has made the move for us a no brainer.

Good Luck,

Les