Megan,

First of all, welcome to the RV Dreams forums.  You are fortunate in that there are a lot of folks here that are helpful, friendly, and knowledgeable about almost every kind of RV out there.  While we are mostly encouraging in our nature, we occasionally meet a new forum participant that needs just a wee bit of advice to be careful.  Some have an idea of what they want to do, but their plans may not mesh well with reality.

Your plan is a good one in that you want to buy used and modify.  Unless you have plans to "extensively" modify your used RV, you should save a lot of money by buying used.  Since we don't know your history of RV'ing in the past, should it be that your plan to full time doesn't pan out, would you still be  part-time RV'ers?  If so, be sure and consider length of the RV so that it would still be usable in places where the sites aren't that large.  Should you decide to not stay as part-timers, consider what might be easy to sell on the West coast.

If you decide on a trailer of some kind instead of a motorhome, be sure and choose your RV first and then purchase a truck that is big enough to safely handle the size and weight of the trailer you choose.

Seriously, there are a lot of folks that really take to the full-time lifestyle, but for some others, part-time is best.  Just as an afterthought, my wife and I researched RV's for two years before we made our choice.  However, we started out with the idea of getting rid of mortgages and live for a l-o-n-g time in our RV, so we wanted to make sure it was all that we wanted it to be.  In our case, we ordered ours with extra amenities and options and then modified or replaced things as we went along.  So far, we've not seen anything that we feel we would want to trade for because it was better than what we had.

Jo and I would like to take this opportunity to wish you well in your planning and research.

Terry

Hi, my name is Dawn and I am a Newbie like Meggie. I know nothing about living on the road, but I have decided to go for it! I have absolutely decided against an RV. I want a HOME, but one that travels with me. I am going to build a home, most likely through Tumbleweed, that I will haul around the world with my Truck. http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/

I have just survived a year + battle with breast cancer and I finally figured out that the life I want isn't going to come to me. I have to go to it! Thanks to my amazing employer who graciously allowed me to travel across the country to be with my family during my chemo and surgeries, I have spent the last year working online from a borrowed bed in my mother's living room. I have downsized my entire life to fit in 2 small closets and a few tubs of stuff I added to my mother's storage unit. Now that I am cancer-free and my job is already online, I am ready to begin my research and preparedness in earnest.  Like Meggie, I expect to be on the road in about a year.  By then, I should be debt-free, fancy-free, cancer-free and ready to be living free!

This website has been incredibly helpful so far and I look forward to getting to know everyone in this forum. I am so glad to be a part this community and living free!

-- Edited by DawnsTinyHouse on Monday 1st of July 2013 09:55:34 PM

Edit by moderator: Activated link.  Terry

The prices range from $15-50,000.  Some people can really trick these things out.  But when I look at the cost of an RV with these amenities, I am thinking this is a great price.  Since it is on a trailer, it is like having a cabin with no property taxes.  By my estimate, mine will be complete act about $40,000 including the special trailer custom built for this type of housing, furnishings, upgrades on solar power and internet hookups, etc.  I am getting really excited!!!

Cheryl, I am glad to share my research results with anyone. I know my tiny house doesn't fit everyone. I am single, I want to travel, I have to work full time, and I am not technically savvy.  I will be going to classes to learn how to do things on my own (Powder Puff Auto Mechanics, Home Depot for learning how to do work with tools to fix problems myself, plumbing, solar power and Computer Networking/Internet classes, etc.  

I will not be helpless on the road!  So, I have also decided to get a gun license and have my brothers (one is a state trooper and another is a Navy Police Officer) and my Niece (a Sheriff's Deputy) give me safety and proficiency classes.  I am not a hunter and haven't even touch a gun since I was a 15 year old girl and my dad decided to have one of his weekends with us kids by dumping us in Hunter's Safety Class while he stayed home and watched golf on tv...but life is precious and I think it is better to be prepared.

Dawn

Nightsky,  

I love your name, which is the complete opposite of mine (Dawn).  This also makes sense because you are being entirely reasonable...which is far from my standard "Blonde through and through" way of thinking.

Your point about telling the builders that I will be mostly mobile is a good one.  I see how people would think it would be great to plunk the tiny house down on a piece of acreage and consider it a vacation hide-away that doesn't get moved too often.  Hmm.  I will look into finding blogs of people who have chosen this type of MOBILE HOME and look into pros and cons.

Before loading with personal items, the dry weight of the model I am working with is 5,800 lbs, including the trailer.  I have been researching towing capacity for the trucks which interest me, and this is fully within the range.  Even if I doubled the weight (hardly possible!) I should still be good with a Dodge Ram 2500.

Thank you for sharing your insight.  I am confident this RV Community will be a huge blessing to me.  I hope I can offer information in return as I continue my research.

Dawn

DawnsTinyHouse wrote:

---

Cheryl, I am glad to share my research results with anyone. I know my tiny house doesn't fit everyone. I am single, I want to travel, I have to work full time, and I am not technically savvy.  I will be going to classes to learn how to do things on my own (Powder Puff Auto Mechanics, Home Depot for learning how to do work with tools to fix problems myself, plumbing, solar power and Computer Networking/Internet classes, etc.  

I will not be helpless on the road!  So, I have also decided to get a gun license and have my brothers (one is a state trooper and another is a Navy Police Officer) and my Niece (a Sheriff's Deputy) give me safety and proficiency classes.  I am not a hunter and haven't even touch a gun since I was a 15 year old girl and my dad decided to have one of his weekends with us kids by dumping us in Hunter's Safety Class while he stayed home and watched golf on tv...but life is precious and I think it is better to be prepared.

Dawn

---

Dawn,

First of all, welcome to the RV Dreams forums.  You have found a good source for a lot of information, including alternative ideas.  So, feel free to ask questions.  Most everyone here is friendly and willing to help.

With respect to a gun license, you will really need to do your research on that matter.  With so many relative in the law enforcement community, they can give you assistance.  For instance, if what you are talking about is a concealed carry permit, those may not be recognized by all states.  So, if you are traveling, you will certainly need to look into the firearms laws for the states where you will be staying.  As for just a firearm permit, not all states even require permits.  For instance, one does NOT have to have a permit to own a firearm, but one is required to carry a handgun either concealed or not concealed.

With your other plans for the small house, I haven't looked at all the plans, but just looking at the base trailer frame, I don't see much room, if any, for holding tanks for fresh water, a grey tank or a black tank.  Look into that carefully.

Terry

Just to keep things in perspective, let's all remember that this thread was initially started by Meggie.  Let's not forget to also address her with her plans.

Meggie,

Have you and your husband done any looking at RV shows or even just on dealer lots?  If you haven't, when you go into the RV's, imagine yourself and your husband doing normal day-to-day things like working in the kitchen, initial bathroom functions such as showers (size and location), shaving, and washing hair.  Once you take those things into consideration, you may notice that it isn't necessarily easy to do a particular routine, so you would want to look at alternative ideas.

When looking at RV's keep in mind that the frame, axles, wheels and tires, and the suspension serve as the basic "foundation" for one's RV, so those items need to be as strong as possible.  I was asked once what was the minimum I would consider for size in an RV's foundation.  The primary thing was to consider the frame size and I mentioned that for full-timing, I would want nothing less than a 12-inch frame.

Because the forums are set up in such a way that there are "categories," it should be fairly easy to find an area to look in the forums that may directly address that problem.  However, don't forget that one can use the "Search" function in the blue bar at the top of the forums to put in a search word or phrase and look for pertinent threads.  There is no guarantee that someone's comment about an RV frame may be in the "Community Chat" category instead of being in the "Buying an RV" category.

Mainly, take your time and ask lots of questions.  If you don't ask the question (even if you think it is a dumb one), you won't get the answer that solves your problem or saves you money.

Terry