Is it Cheaper to live in a House or RV?

[ganto]

 

Note that I only said "investment", Barb. Good or bad is a different issue...

that is a whole other novel about weather or not a house is a good or bad investment if i had a buck for everytime i heard that someone was upside down in there mortgage i could retire

[ganto]

this topic could be argued so many ways!!

[jacks]

Its March 3 today 2016 and I have been out of work for 3 months, and business has been bad since the crash of 2009/2010.

I just put the house up for sale. If it sells I should have 250,000 cash net, and no pension or 401k and no health insurance and no debt.

I am single and will be 62 in January of 2017 and can take 1500/month from social security, and medicare at 66 I think.

So If I take about 15,000/ per year out of savings, and start the Soc. Sec.,1500/month+ 18,000/per year

that's an annual budeget of $33,000 to go full time RV.

The savings will last about 16-17 years at that rate of draw and I would be 78. My father died very young and grandfathers didn't see 65 and mother passed at 74. I think its feasible. I've only rented an RV once for a week. Gulp!

The other option is buy a condo for 150,000 cash, take soc. sec next year and maybe work partime at home depot, ugh, but could afford a travel trailer or camper but would have to pay for storage.

Thoughts anyone?

[harrysteven]

Medicare starts at 65.

[2gypsies]

Jacks: You mentioned another option for you is to buy a condo for $150,000. You can certainly buy something a lot more reasonable, especially if you don't need to stay where you are permanently. Since you were also thinking of RVing, you wouldn't stay where you are anyway.

[BrianT]

Jacks, you might want to postpone large purchases. Do you know whether you want to settle in a particular area? Or do you know you want to become a fulltime RVer?

 

I would suggest that if you don't really have a good feel for what comes next, conserve that cash. If there is stuff that you want to keep and you haven't decided quite what to do, there are storage units that don't have to cost a lot, and rental homes/apartments/condos. If you're not locked in to a job, you can move to an area that's cheaper to live. If you want to travel, you don't have to spend a huge amount of money on a new RV or a large RV.

 

There are some workamper situations that could potentially give you some income; Amazon Camperforce, Souther Cross, sugar beet harvest, or just helping out at a campground. Some situations provide a pretty decent income while others might offer ways to save money by, for instance, not having to pay for your campsite.

 

Good luck with your situation! Hope you are able to have a good outcome with the sale of your home.

[jacks]

That's true 2gypsies and I could set it up as a rental unit for seasonal months as winter visitors are always looking for rentals in me state. I have a nice 2013 gmc 4x4 5.3 liter, I should probably just get a travel trail or rather than an rv and yes Medicare at 65. Really like the idea of an rv but my situation maybe best to look for a trailer

[Kirk W]

. I have a nice 2013 gmc 4x4 5.3 liter, I should probably just get a travel trail or rather than an rv and yes Medicare at 65. Really like the idea of an rv but my situation maybe best to look for a trailer

By RV, do you mean one of the motorhomes, class A or class C? We usually think of RV as meaning any of the different trailers or motorized ones. Motorhomes are of 4 types, class A like a bus, class B as in a van, and class C which is usually on a van cutaway chassis. There is also what we call a super C that is on a heavy truck chassis and are usually as large as most class A RVs and at the high end of the price range. In trailer type of RV there is the fifth wheel, the travel trailer, the hybrid, and the popup.