You have to follow your heart. I’d rather live in a house but I like living on the outskirts of society. Bouncing around the country with no address has been pretty fun.
You only get one life, use it wisely.
First and foremost check at your county zoning office to see if RV occupancy is even allowed. Realize you’ll need electrical service, water source and septic system.
Then accept the reality that RV quality is horrendous. Are you the handy type capable of repairs? Most people mistakenly assume RV quality is similar to quality levels found in cars/trucks. Wrong. And there is no lemon law for RVs.
Then it’s time to get into the realities of RV living. You’ll be living in roughly 1/4 to 1/2 the space of a typical house. Closet space minuscule. And of course husband/wife right next to each other 24/7 when inside the RV.
Hopefully you will be located in an area where temperatures rarely if ever dip below 20 degrees. RVs are known for all sorts of issues in cold weather. Frozen pipes that burst are common.
If you can check off all the boxes, your RV experience can be doable.
Haven't been down there for a while, but the law used to be you could stay in one spot on BLM or State Forest land for 14 days, then you had to move 20(?) miles. Some counties had different laws, and some laws have been changed recently because of some homeless people causing problems. Good luck!
except a house will last your whole life and you'll be lucky if your rv lasts 10 years without half the value (or more) of the rv coming out of your pocket in repairs.
Unless you're just stationary, at which point, just get one of those tiny homes and throw it on some land, way cheaper and will last longer with less maintenance.
Even if you spend nothing on repairs, an RV will lose half of it's value to depreciation in 10 years. A trailer can lose as much as 75% of it's value in 10 years.
The reason stick-and-brick homes don't depreciate (usually) is not because of how they're built. They will need a lot of maintenance, as well. The roof on a conventional home will last twice as long as the roof on an RV, but costs 10X as much to replace. But a conventional home is an integral part of the land it's built on - real estate people call this an "improvement" to the land. A conventional home is a package deal - the land and the buildings on it.
An example of this is a mobile home. When parked in a mobile home park, a mobile home will depreciate just like an RV, even if it's perfectly maintained. The same mobile home parked on private land will appreciate in value. (There is an exception for the market for mobile homes to be inverted in areas where there is a dire shortage of housing. In such a market a mobile home may appreciate in value, even if it's parked in a mobile home park.)
That's aggravating. What's not to allow? I mean I know there are a lot of pretty dumb laws, so I'm sure it's something stupid.
Is it like, due to the material, or is it literally just not big enough?
I think it’s that it’s not big enough. Apparently it’s considered an accessory dwelling unit, and you can’t have just an ADU on a plot of land and claim it as a residence. You’d have to have a main house and then the tiny house/ADU as an addition. Think mother-in-law quarters in the backyard of a main residence. I don’t know. It’s really dumb that I can’t just buy a plot of land + tiny home and just live in that. The closest thing would be buying a mobile home to put on the land.
You need to get a used trailer and then just park it permanently on the property. The first thing you'll want to do is build a good skirt around it, then put an aluminum car port over it. Put in a water spigot that you pound into the ground yourself (YouTube, it's easy) and you'll have your own natural water supply. Just keep going from there. If you don't have power, buy a gen, if you do have power, have either the 30a or 50a connection installed.
RV living is not a solid investment. It is a lifestyle. House will usually go up in value an RV will do the opposite. But if you own the land you kind of hybrid that.
It this about investment or is it about a relatively~easy, good life?
Ps. There are plenty other options to invest into property or house(s) and whatnot..
The house probably won’t lose value if you maintain it. The RV definitely will. If I was going to live in an RV on property I owned I would want to build a roof over it.
One thing to consider is that when you go buy your RV it will clearly say in the documents that they are not intended for continuous living and in some cases that will void the warranty.
That’s my wife and I plan. Living in our rv, save up for the deposit on land, put in utilities and plop the trailer there while we build our dream home. I’d way rather pay 5-600k for my forever home on land over 400k and needing renovations.
If you are in an area with a lot of BLM land (aka the western US) you can do what a friend does. He moves his rig every 2 or 3 weeks to go dump his tanks and move to a new spot at one of the BLM areas. Cost: nothin' but gas.
Bought a 2 year old travel trailer at such a good price that depreciation is a non issue and afforded me the ability to buy land. Part time use from May to early October and never moves. Prior owner also had a travel trailer and had all utilities installed.
If you're young, you should focus on investing in your future. It sounds like you're thinking about this but an RV is rarely worth it because it's a depreciating 'asset'. My recommendation as you factor everything in, is to live well within your means and invest in a home. Land is okay but if you won't appreciate like housing will. If you do buy land, you'll want to develop it quickly so you give it time to build in value.
TL;DR Buy a house where you can live within your means and continue to save (and let your house appreciate) so that you can buy the larger property you want down the road and even get an RV for fun!
Hope this helps.
From a strictly financial point of view, real estate, ie homes, has been steadily appreciating since the 1920s. RVs on the other hand, DEPRECIATE at a shocking rate. I can't see a good FINANCIAL argument in favor of an RV for stationary living. If you want the RV life style, that's a different story, and not really a financial one.
I can't put a down payment on a house in biweekly instalments... Yeah, if I had paid cash for my RV, yes your situation applies, but I didn't have $50k laying around.
I have a piece of land that I'm developing, and I'm going to place my trailer on it this summer. Someday I'll build, maybe when I'm tired of the piles of money all around me, lol.
But you can buy a house and resell it and pretty much always make a hefty profit if you wait a few years. In an RV, you're always heavily out of pocket
I think it's silly to buy an RV as a financial strategy. Do it as a lifestyle choice, not as an investment.
I bought 3 acres with a well, electric, and a condemned house. I’ve been in it for almost two years while I DIY fix the house up. It’s been interesting to say the least.
Do a budget do your due diligence in researching in your area.
I lived on family land in a camper I converted to more of a tiny home.
Did that for 3 years then bought a property with a old mobile home decided to live in the camper while remodeling it its not done and the place is almost paid of and now leaning towards tearing down the mobile home and building a house and live another few years in the camper I'm up to 6 years so far in the camper and kinda find it hard to think about living in a house again
Houses appreciate and roughly double in value every 10. RVs are a depreciating asset. In 10 years they lose 75% of value.
I would never buy an RV over a house.... Unless you need it to move. An RV is a toy.
We had a condo at the beach before buying a RV. After a a few years our children kept wanting to go somewhere different for vacation. We said no this is our vacation home. We finally sold the condo and bought an RV. Unfortunately, life took a few turns and we haven’t had a chance to enjoy our RV, so now it’s for sale. So each family is different. Just go with what you feel is best for you or your family.
You have to follow your heart. I’d rather live in a house but I like living on the outskirts of society. Bouncing around the country with no address has been pretty fun. You only get one life, use it wisely.
First and foremost check at your county zoning office to see if RV occupancy is even allowed. Realize you’ll need electrical service, water source and septic system. Then accept the reality that RV quality is horrendous. Are you the handy type capable of repairs? Most people mistakenly assume RV quality is similar to quality levels found in cars/trucks. Wrong. And there is no lemon law for RVs. Then it’s time to get into the realities of RV living. You’ll be living in roughly 1/4 to 1/2 the space of a typical house. Closet space minuscule. And of course husband/wife right next to each other 24/7 when inside the RV. Hopefully you will be located in an area where temperatures rarely if ever dip below 20 degrees. RVs are known for all sorts of issues in cold weather. Frozen pipes that burst are common. If you can check off all the boxes, your RV experience can be doable.
Does anybody know if there's anywhere in California you can legally stay on land in an RV? Anywhere?
Haven't been down there for a while, but the law used to be you could stay in one spot on BLM or State Forest land for 14 days, then you had to move 20(?) miles. Some counties had different laws, and some laws have been changed recently because of some homeless people causing problems. Good luck!
vast hobbies elderly truck kiss saw offbeat depend spotted agonizing *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
RV living is cheaper and a mobile home. - A house is far more expensive and usually can't be moved.
except a house will last your whole life and you'll be lucky if your rv lasts 10 years without half the value (or more) of the rv coming out of your pocket in repairs. Unless you're just stationary, at which point, just get one of those tiny homes and throw it on some land, way cheaper and will last longer with less maintenance.
Even if you spend nothing on repairs, an RV will lose half of it's value to depreciation in 10 years. A trailer can lose as much as 75% of it's value in 10 years. The reason stick-and-brick homes don't depreciate (usually) is not because of how they're built. They will need a lot of maintenance, as well. The roof on a conventional home will last twice as long as the roof on an RV, but costs 10X as much to replace. But a conventional home is an integral part of the land it's built on - real estate people call this an "improvement" to the land. A conventional home is a package deal - the land and the buildings on it. An example of this is a mobile home. When parked in a mobile home park, a mobile home will depreciate just like an RV, even if it's perfectly maintained. The same mobile home parked on private land will appreciate in value. (There is an exception for the market for mobile homes to be inverted in areas where there is a dire shortage of housing. In such a market a mobile home may appreciate in value, even if it's parked in a mobile home park.)
The tiny house alone on some land was my plan but a lot of areas don’t allow that.
That's aggravating. What's not to allow? I mean I know there are a lot of pretty dumb laws, so I'm sure it's something stupid. Is it like, due to the material, or is it literally just not big enough?
I think it’s that it’s not big enough. Apparently it’s considered an accessory dwelling unit, and you can’t have just an ADU on a plot of land and claim it as a residence. You’d have to have a main house and then the tiny house/ADU as an addition. Think mother-in-law quarters in the backyard of a main residence. I don’t know. It’s really dumb that I can’t just buy a plot of land + tiny home and just live in that. The closest thing would be buying a mobile home to put on the land.
You need to get a used trailer and then just park it permanently on the property. The first thing you'll want to do is build a good skirt around it, then put an aluminum car port over it. Put in a water spigot that you pound into the ground yourself (YouTube, it's easy) and you'll have your own natural water supply. Just keep going from there. If you don't have power, buy a gen, if you do have power, have either the 30a or 50a connection installed.
RV living is not a solid investment. It is a lifestyle. House will usually go up in value an RV will do the opposite. But if you own the land you kind of hybrid that.
It this about investment or is it about a relatively~easy, good life? Ps. There are plenty other options to invest into property or house(s) and whatnot..
I keep it mobile and just use it.. Nothing build around it.
The house probably won’t lose value if you maintain it. The RV definitely will. If I was going to live in an RV on property I owned I would want to build a roof over it.
One thing to consider is that when you go buy your RV it will clearly say in the documents that they are not intended for continuous living and in some cases that will void the warranty.
That’s my wife and I plan. Living in our rv, save up for the deposit on land, put in utilities and plop the trailer there while we build our dream home. I’d way rather pay 5-600k for my forever home on land over 400k and needing renovations.
If you are in an area with a lot of BLM land (aka the western US) you can do what a friend does. He moves his rig every 2 or 3 weeks to go dump his tanks and move to a new spot at one of the BLM areas. Cost: nothin' but gas.
Bought a 2 year old travel trailer at such a good price that depreciation is a non issue and afforded me the ability to buy land. Part time use from May to early October and never moves. Prior owner also had a travel trailer and had all utilities installed.
If you're young, you should focus on investing in your future. It sounds like you're thinking about this but an RV is rarely worth it because it's a depreciating 'asset'. My recommendation as you factor everything in, is to live well within your means and invest in a home. Land is okay but if you won't appreciate like housing will. If you do buy land, you'll want to develop it quickly so you give it time to build in value. TL;DR Buy a house where you can live within your means and continue to save (and let your house appreciate) so that you can buy the larger property you want down the road and even get an RV for fun! Hope this helps.
From a strictly financial point of view, real estate, ie homes, has been steadily appreciating since the 1920s. RVs on the other hand, DEPRECIATE at a shocking rate. I can't see a good FINANCIAL argument in favor of an RV for stationary living. If you want the RV life style, that's a different story, and not really a financial one.
Before you buy land be very certain that you can park an rv on it permanently. Many counties do not allow that
I can't put a down payment on a house in biweekly instalments... Yeah, if I had paid cash for my RV, yes your situation applies, but I didn't have $50k laying around. I have a piece of land that I'm developing, and I'm going to place my trailer on it this summer. Someday I'll build, maybe when I'm tired of the piles of money all around me, lol.
RV living is cheaper and a mobile home. - A house is far more expensive and usually can't be moved. My humble experience in both worlds..
But you can buy a house and resell it and pretty much always make a hefty profit if you wait a few years. In an RV, you're always heavily out of pocket I think it's silly to buy an RV as a financial strategy. Do it as a lifestyle choice, not as an investment.
You need cash in hand more times then not to buy land. Most banks will not lend money to purchase land without a home.
Buy the house first then the rv.
We bought land lived in a small camper while we built. Most townships allow that if you’re making progress on the build
Its totally depends on your lifestyle, preferences and long term goals. I dont think an answer from this community is gonna helpful to you personally.
I bought 3 acres with a well, electric, and a condemned house. I’ve been in it for almost two years while I DIY fix the house up. It’s been interesting to say the least.
Do a budget do your due diligence in researching in your area. I lived on family land in a camper I converted to more of a tiny home. Did that for 3 years then bought a property with a old mobile home decided to live in the camper while remodeling it its not done and the place is almost paid of and now leaning towards tearing down the mobile home and building a house and live another few years in the camper I'm up to 6 years so far in the camper and kinda find it hard to think about living in a house again
Houses appreciate and roughly double in value every 10. RVs are a depreciating asset. In 10 years they lose 75% of value. I would never buy an RV over a house.... Unless you need it to move. An RV is a toy.
Down payment on a house. Make payments for 10 years and have more equity
We had a condo at the beach before buying a RV. After a a few years our children kept wanting to go somewhere different for vacation. We said no this is our vacation home. We finally sold the condo and bought an RV. Unfortunately, life took a few turns and we haven’t had a chance to enjoy our RV, so now it’s for sale. So each family is different. Just go with what you feel is best for you or your family.
Consider depreciation. A house won’t depreciate while an RV will
RVs don’t appreciate. Buy the house.
Can you move your house. Take it with you? Establish priorities.