I have a hard time spending more than 60K on one......there are to many nice used older units out there.....I can take the money saved and maintain it and spend a few years on the road living off of it!

We had developed a SHORT list of 5th wheel unit for full time. Then we saw the MH un it shown below and that was it! It will all depend on what you find that will say BUY ME I"M PERFECT FOR YOU.

RonaldNC wrote:

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For us, it figured out to be a higher yearly "cost" for the motorhome option (although not as much as we thought), but we really like the motorhome life style and figured it was worth the difference. Like I said, it's a personal choice.

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 OK, I'm just curious, but what is the "motorhome life style".....I think I'm missing something???

Jack Mayer wrote:

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RonaldNC wrote:

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For us, it figured out to be a higher yearly "cost" for the motorhome option (although not as much as we thought), but we really like the motorhome life style and figured it was worth the difference. Like I said, it's a personal choice.

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 OK, I'm just curious, but what is the "motorhome life style".....I think I'm missing something???

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 I think the reference is about the fundamental differences between a Fifth and a Motorhome......the biggest difference for us being the access to our home as we drive down the road. Also the access to our pets and the freedoms they enjoy while rolling. One more typical difference is the abilty to drive a small or mid sized vehicle for day tripping....I think that may be the "MOTORHOME Lifestyle" they are referring to....just a guess....LOL

I guess I should have clarified. We have some great investments that will make our exit strategy fine even if we spent a lot on the motorhome. We are just the type that follow Dave Ramsey and have not ever bought a brand new car, but rather a gently used car. So for us it is a very hard thing to spend that on a depreciating item. I do like the idea that we are spending this money to fund a lifestyle and we will be going Full-Time as soon as the farm sells. It is just very hard for us to look at a motorhome and think I could buy a condo in Florida outright for what I am going to pay for this!

We chose the motorhome route because we want to be able to get up and move about as the hubby has a bad back that starts aching if he sits in a car for extended periods of time. Also the fact that we can pull our Honda CRV to go roam and see the sites without having to wedge a dually into somewhere. I have a dually now for hauling a horse trailer and I really hate having to use it now for groceries and errands.

We will spend it in when the time comes and we find the one we want. It will probably be at least 8 years old though.

Wendy

My humble advice is to set a price point and see what you can find. I find people try to have too many "must haves" on their list and many of those items are really "would like to have". I treat diesel as a "would like to have". We had a solid gas motorhome before we bought our DP.

The cost of ownership of S&B is more than the just the purchase price. Firstly, the last 5 or six years have shown that S&B appreciation is not guaranteed. Second, think of all the things that add to that cost that do not add anything to the value... closing costs on the sale, realtor fees, annual property taxes, association fees, most improvements do not recoup their expense(add to the owners lifestyle or personal satisfaction but not value despite what the TV reality real estate shows say), repairs and upkeep (especially if you buy an existing S&B that's at least ten years old), landscaping and gardening expenses, utility bills that you might not have in an RV. Redecorating a house to suit you taste will more than likely cost way more than in an RV but not really add much, if anything, to the value to any future owner. I could go on, but you get the idea. Most people know about these things but tend to overlook them when they figure the true cost of home ownership.

Now, do the same for an RV.(and yeah they will likely depreciate, but that is part of the calculation)

Add up those costs plus the purchase price over the same time frame as an RV you might own and maintain. S&B ownership starts to seem a lot more expensive in that light. The difference in the S&B vs RV is the value you assign to the "lifestyle" of the RV. Is it worth it? That's up to you. Most people on here think it is.

Dave Ramsey's mantra is "live like nobody else so that later you can live like nobody else". I think that would include this "lifestyle" if your realistic vision about what it takes to do this is in sync with what you have to do this. If you have adhered to his tenets prior to going on the road, then you should have all the tools needed to financial navigate the "lifestyle" without fear of the impact of plunking down 150K on an RV.

FWIW

Also, Barb is absolutely right too. Each of us has to decide what those things/memories are worth. Some are priceless.

-- Edited by biggaRView on Tuesday 1st of April 2014 05:09:56 AM

While its true that some stick and brick homes have not appreciated over the last few years, the fact is that those homes can and in most markets do appreciate over time.

A motor home or fifth wheel will depreciate in every conceivable market.   

We are thinking hard about fifth wheels because unlike motorhomes, you don't have the additional consideration of declining motor lifespan.   If we keep it maintained and repaired, it will retain some diminished value when we transition out of the lifestyle.  

The question you must ask is whether the freedom to travel is worth the cost of the declining asset.   Assuming that we full time for 3 to 7 years after we retire at 59.5, the combination of truck and fifth wheel is pricey for us but not outrageous.   The longer we enjoy and can stay on the road, the easier the cost is to absorb.   Anyway just my thoughts as we plan for a target date 3 years and 2 months in the future.

 

I had always thought that I would like to get a nice big bus type motorhome some day. Mostly because I would watch a bus MH pull in at the same time we pulled our 5th wheel into a spot. I would still be setting up an hour or so after the bus owner was done and already cooking steaks on the BBQ. It was basically push several buttons and hook up a couple cords and hoses and they would be ready to camp. I on the other hand had to drive up on blocks, crank, push buttons, unhitch, push more buttons, crank some more, hook up cords and hoses. Put out the sat dish and tripod find a signal. Deploy manual awnings....etc. Then I could start cooking steaks.

However, now the 5th wheels can be equipped with all of the automated stuff the MHs have had. So setting up camp is push a few buttons... no more cranking.

Our 5th wheel is 20 years old this year and we are on our third truck. Engine problems and transmission problems plus other stuff related to the strain of towing (burnt wires, blown seals, warped rotors) sidelined the first two trucks.

When we replace the 5th wheel it will be with another larger 5th wheel. When I grow up I want to be just like Jack and Danielle Mayer...

-- Edited by The Bear II on Tuesday 1st of April 2014 01:27:42 PM

Wendy ....When a coach hits its 5 yr mark its close to being at a good point in depreciation.....a new coach or a coach at 3 years takes a healthy hit as soon as it is bought or leaves the lot.

at 5 years the depreciation slows and there are alot of really good deals from the jones trying to keep up and your savings are enough for 2 complete rebuilds!

some need a new coach when it gets dirty.....others are happy to wash & wax themselves

I agree with Mike on the depreciation curve. I'm on my third motorhome (over 30 years), but I think the 4-5 year mark (particularly diesel buses) is a good sweet spot. I bought the current motorhome at 2 years... did pretty good in the down market... but would have even done better with a little older unit. My only excuse is that I wanted the newer electronics (TV, audio, EMS, etc.) and had to buy a bit newer to get them.

Ron

Jo and I have a truck and fifth wheel instead of a motorhome, although we did look at those as well.  Our dream, and now reality, was to sell the home and land and buy an RV so we could travel after retirement.  With that in mind, we decided to get the best that we thought we could afford, with the intent that even if we quit traveling, we could still live in it after stopping the travel.  While we still aren't traveling a lot, and still may not for anywhere from 1 to 3 years, the last three years of living in ours has shown us that we could easily live in it for an extended period of time.

When we do start to travel, it won't be to move on every week or so.  We will stay in areas for anywhere from 1 to 6 months (or possibly longer) while we check out all the attractions that we would want to see before moving on to another area.

In our case, we both dealt with the headache of disposing of our parent's property after they passed on.  We decided, and our two sons agree, that we didn't want to have to make them do the same thing that we had to do.  Stuff is stuff, whether it is real or personal property.  If it ever gets to where we can't live in the fifth wheel, we would rather rent some place, especially considering our ages.

This doesn't answer all of your questions, but I can say that we like the freedom.  Besides, what if one got tired of living in the same place.  I'd bet I could always hire someone to move us somewhere if we got tired of where we were.  That is, provided that we were unable to do the moving ourselves.

Good luck, and embrace the freedom.

Terry

Welcome to the world of lots of conflicting advice. You, and only you, can make the call about which coach you will buy. I think several people have mentioned several of my suggestions, but I'll put them all in one place.

1. Buy quality. Set the price you are willing to pay, factor in about $10,000 for repairs and upgrades that you want/need, and then buy the highest quality coach you can find for that.

2. A five-year-old coach will cost you a LOT less than a brand-new one. A ten-year-old one will cost less up front, but may cost a bit more in upkeep simply because some of the appliances are nearing the end of their useful life.

3. Yes, an RV is a depreciating asset. The value comes in the enjoyment of it. One person's signature includes the line "Small house, huge yard." There is also the value of sleeping in your own bed each night.

4. You will know the right coach when you find it. Take your time in hunting, and spend lots of time discussing what you want and need. Join the owners' forums for the brands you are considering. For us, a brand that requires you to own their brand in order to post on the forum was an automatic drop from any further consideration. Our top three brands all welcomed us as forum members before we bought anything. Now that we own one of those three brands I'm still welcome on the other two forums, although I don't post much there.

I am not giving you advise. We took Dave Ramsey's FPU and got out of debt and eventually paid off the house. We still keep our budget up to date and are generally very frugal with our expenditures. Our budget figures in tire replacement for our motor home as well as our car and also car replacement which many people leave out of their budgets. We bought a used fifth wheel and truck just before going full-time without going in debt. We traveled for 3 1/2 years in that combo and it worked well except for the amount of repairs we had to make on the fifth wheel and my wife was not comfortable in the truck. We put the 5er up for sale and had no nibbles in over 3 months. We had researched motor homes and knew what we wanted. A 4 year old MH with fairly low mileage became available online and they would take our fifth wheel in trade. We made a tenative deal over the phone and drove to another state to inspect the coach and we made the trade. We have been very happy with our MH and have been traveling in it for 3 years . We are not rich but very blessed and are debt free. We volunteer 6 months out of the year which keeps down expenses but we travel all over the USA. We have been living like no one else even if our coach is depreciating. We are serving the Lord and helping others with our volunteer projects and enjoying our travels. We are trying to develope an exit plan for when the time comes that we have to hang up our keys. Like others have said " the decision is yours" I'm glad to see that you are weighing in all the options, that is what we did. Everyones situation is different so you can't make your decision on what someone else has done. PS We had led a FPU class in Maine on one project that we were on for 3 months. Wishing you the best in your future

Thank you Brad. I know we are not the only ones out there. We are still looking and waiting for the farm to sell, but i am still going to go older and save some of the money for the upgrades we want and have some left over for 'after' we experience the US. We are planning on on 5-10 years right now and do not want to be worrying in the back of our heads as to what we will do afterwards for some place to live. All that has played into the amount we are willing to spend on the RV.

We had rental property and did not like the experience, so that is not a route we will take, but for you guys it sounds like a great plan. We have some other options we are looking at for long term income generation. We will see if those work, if not we will do something else. I cannot wait right now though to get on the road.

Wendy

Hi Wendy,
We recently went through what I think you are going through. We are very frugal, so it was a tough concept at the beginning. What I really struggled with was I liked a lot of the features/floorplan of the newer coaches, but knew we weren't going to pay the price of the coaches we liked that werea a couple of years old. We searched up and down, far and wide, and finally found a coach--about five years old--that checked the majority of the boxes. Sure, we compromised on a couple of things, but nothing major. We originally had a budget...then found ourself pushing up 5K, then 10K....and finally reality set in and we went back to our original budget. Ultimately, we exceeded our budget by 3K. We can live with that.

When I think about what the original owners paid for the coach, it puts our purchase into perspective and in the end, think we will have many many happy years in the coach. Can't put a price on that.

While I would appreciate it if my own kids read and followed Dave Ramsey, we believe that cash flow matters as well. Being debt free is awesome and we're still working toward it, but our fixed cash flow covers our mortgage and then some. So while we did anguish about taking on an RV payment on a diminishing asset, we looked to cash flow to live our dream. No regrets.

Sherry

we sold our farm last year and looked for five months for our new home. we already had a creampuff one ton dually and I had plenty of experience hauling a gooseneck horse trailer, so it seemed easiest to start with a fifth wheel. we learned a TON from climbing in dozens of rigs, talking the ears off of every sales person we encountered, and of course obsessive internet research.
we knew the moment we saw it that this barely used 01 carriage cameo was 'the one'.
it needed a lot of minor and a few major updates and repairs to make it roadworthy, which bumped the price quite a bit.
but I feel we lucked out and we could not be happier in our new home.
that said, I need some new cabinets along the back wall of the big slide and someday will replace the window treatments, lol. I am a serial remodeler even in here.

There is another way to look at this depending on where you presently live and the value of your home. I rent, so I'll use a friend that I work with as an example. He has a nice home in a Chicago area suburb. It isn't a mansion, buy it's not a shack either. He currently pays almost $1,000 a month in property taxes alone, to say nothing of his heat, electric, water bill, insurance premiums, and maintenance. 

Now, when you talk about depreciation on a motor home in comparison to a sticks and bricks; if his property did nothing but appreciate in conjunction with the cost of living and inflation , he'll still be out close to $150,000 over the course of ten years just in property taxes and utilities alone, while still having to buy and maintain two vehicles for himself and his wife, which are also depreciating assets.

So even if he were to sell his home for a small profit ten years from now, he really isn't coming out that much ahead, if we're talking net dollars and cents. 

Mark,

You need to tell your friend to move.  When we sold our 2250 square foot home on 3/4 acre in 2011, our property taxes for that year had worked up to $2400 per YEAR.  I can't imagine paying $1000 per month.  When we bought our house a four years earlier, the property taxes were around $1500 or so.

In your friend's case, I'm not sure that he has an appreciating value or not.

Terry

In many areas of the country this has become a serious, life changing problem. I remember reading about a mayor in a New Jersey suburb who had to sell his own house and move out of the suburb because he couldn't afford to pay the property taxes, which were ... wait for it ... over $30,000 per year! He had original purchased the home for roughly $350,000 a decade or so ago, and since it's been re-assessed at over a million he can no longer afford to live there. But here's the kicker; neither can anyone else so he found it almost impossible to sell at anything less than a deeply discounted price. 

Sooner or later the buck has to stop, because everyone will want to get off the Merry-Go-Round, and there won't be enough people left who can afford to get on and take their place.

Imagine how much money you have to make in order to pay $30,000 a year in property taxes, AFTER you've already paid your state and federal income tax on those earnings. This is why I told my wife that I refused to buy any property here, even after the housing bubble burst, and prices were somewhat more reasonable. The problem is that the value of your home might go down, but the property taxes don't. I didn't want to find myself trying to unload a house in a strictly buyers market a few years down the road, with no one even able to afford the price of admission anyway. 

Barbaraok wrote:

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I think people would be really surprised if they subtracted the cost of maintaining their house from the 'profit' they think they made. because houses are expensive. Roofs have to be replaced, new water heaters, furnaces, landscaping, all sorts of plumbing and electrical problems …. sounds like owning an RV....

Barb

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 Ohhh, sooo right on the mark, Barb.  The OP had or is still having some angst about the psycholgical aspect of coughing up money on a depreciating asset.  Owning an S&B is an expensive proposition by any standard you care to make and not necessarily better than an RV alternative.  RVs require maintenance too, but dollar for dollar.... I'd bet the S&B is going to end up being a larger expense in the long run,  There is just so much more to maintain especially when you add in property taxes, HOA fees, realtor fees at closing ad nauseum.. The price depreciation of an RV is the trade off for having the adventures that you seek. Depending on your situation, values attitudes about things financial etc., a house and all that it entails may be the right choice for some. The vast majority on here think it (an RV) IS worth it. The OP has stated that it's not what they have decided (they are buying rather than not buying an RV) but are still suffering from the inevitable confusion that results in your mind when you decide to change course in your life on any level.  That momentary hestitation, that second guessing, that listening to nay sayers, that scared little child in your psyche.... they're all the same.  Sooner or later you'll be saying the same thing many on here have reported on these threads..... "why didn't I do this sooner?"  I want to be sitting in on the conversation at a campfire say about 6 or 7 years from now when I hear the OP's uttering those words... we'll all have a great laugh together.

-- Edited by biggaRView on Sunday 20th of April 2014 03:06:29 PM

-- Edited by biggaRView on Tuesday 22nd of April 2014 05:37:01 AM

Mark V wrote:

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There is another way to look at this depending on where you presently live and the value of your home. I rent, so I'll use a friend that I work with as an example. He has a nice home in a Chicago area suburb. It isn't a mansion, buy it's not a shack either. He currently pays almost $1,000 a month in property taxes alone, to say nothing of his heat, electric, water bill, insurance premiums, and maintenance. 

Now, when you talk about depreciation on a motor home in comparison to a sticks and bricks; if his property did nothing but appreciate in conjunction with the cost of living and inflation , he'll still be out close to $150,000 over the course of ten years just in property taxes and utilities alone, while still having to buy and maintain two vehicles for himself and his wife, which are also depreciating assets.

So even if he were to sell his home for a small profit ten years from now, he really isn't coming out that much ahead, if we're talking net dollars and cents. 

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Yikes I had no idea property taxes were that high in some areas of the country.

Mark 

-- Edited by tigercx1 on Sunday 20th of April 2014 04:06:53 PM

For something like the Trump Tower, if the taxes bother you you can't afford the unit.

Narb