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Permanent RVing in Washington State


Natalia

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11 hours ago, Randyretired said:

Sorry to point out the problems but better to hear about them now.  In a few years the plans that you have may be easier to do and I think there are some positive things about your plans.  Our building on acreage has been positive not only financially but a great place to live.  Our next adventure if we continue on is a home in the mountains on 140 acres adjoining public land.  We already own it.  One problem we have is we know how much is involved and we are not sure our energy at this age will meet the effort required.  It would be a great place for us but...

 

I am grateful for all the problems that are being pointed out. Much better this way than finding out the hard way. The idea of an RV and land is one I can always revisit later in life, once I have more security and stability.
Your life sounds lovely! I hope that one day I will have my own land and home away from it all. My dependency on cities for employment is sad. 
Do you have people to help you develop the 140 acres? A home in the mountains... sounds so dreamy and ideallic. 

11 hours ago, NDBirdman said:

Honestly, in ya'lls current situation, have you thought about staying in the less expensive parts of town and bus it?  How far is say, Kent from where you need to be?  Or one of those areas?  45 to 60 minutes on a bus adds lots of time to your day, but in the end, saves you more than you could imagine from traffic alone.  Have you drove around in the area you want to be in, work in, etc?  My son-in-law, who is from there, now refuses to drive where he works (downtown Seattle) or the roads getting there.  He goes to the bus station and commutes every-day.  Every time I have driven there, which was a week ago, my country boy arse came out pale, hard time breathing and blood pressure through the roof!  When my daughter moved there many moons ago, she soon ditched her car and learned the bus schedules.  She lived away from Seattle and learned to depend on buses.  Say's they are life savers.

I'm not going to re-read all the posts, but I must ask.  Have you ever visited Seattle?  Do you have a very high tolerance for crazy people, lots of homeless beggars?  We have walked downtown Seattle and have had to step around people sitting on the sidewalks shooting up drugs.  Downtown by the bay is gorgeous, some very nice areas but the problem is the ppl in charge think the homeless have more rights than the residents, you will be tripping all over them in an otherwise gorgeous area.  Don't get me wrong, you can go to areas where you don't see much of that, you just have to know the areas to visit, which ones to not.  And not alone IMHO as a woman.  Edmonds is a very nice area, we always stay in a Best Western there and walk everywhere, we love it.  It might be an area to check.  Don't know what cost is there but close enough to the city I bet not cheap.  And there is a train that goes to downtown Seattle as well as a bus station.  And a couple other small towns north of there along the train track.  There are some options but again, if you have not been there, maybe check it out before committing yourself.  Not trying to scare you from going there, by all means do.  Just be well prepared.  My daughter wasn't, it was not a good time in our life.  But, she is still there, happily married and we just got back from seeing our first newborn grand-child.  We will be going back and spending a lot of time there but we have our eyes *wide open* when it comes to there. 

Good luck.

 

Living in a mobile home park will likely place me in a cheaper area probably far from the downtown area and all the homelessness. I probably won't have much to choose from - again, most of the sites online about mobile home parks are lacking in information and are often geared towards Section 8 or retirement communities. I am going to have to do a lot of research to find out where there are units available for rent. Many places only sell the homes, it seems. If there is bus access from where I will be living, I will definitely take public transportation. I have been to Seattle many times and have driven there as well and you are definitely right - it isn't what I call a pleasant commute by car. lol. I don't mind a longer commute if it means I will have a mobile home rent of 600 dollars and can save up to buy a condo. I have tried to look for apartments in that price range, but most of them are strictly Section 8 or unavailable. So I might even have to rent a mobile further out, drive into the outskirts of the city, park and then take a bus. I used to have a 1.5 hour (each way) commute time when I was studying in Europe, so I am used to lengthy travel. It isn't optimal, but it would only be for a few years until I could save enough to make that downpayment on the condo. I would prefer to live in a mobile park as opposed to an extremely seedy part of town for the reasons you listed above. I know some mobile parks are not without their characters, but I know many people who live in them and seem to get on fine, in spite of any undesirable elements. The thought of living in a dive apartment with crime everywhere, homeless people slouched in front of my door and people shooting heroin just a thin wall away from me... well, that sounds less appealing. At least with a mobile home, I have a bit more privacy.
If I find any parks of interest, can I tell you which area they are in to see what your opinion is?
 

3 hours ago, Kirk W said:

While there is certainly nothing wrong with checking out any possible living situation, I really think that the RV probably isn't the best choice. When you buy an RV you will always lose money when you sell it and often it is a big loss. I would expect that to run at least 10% per year of ownership. An RV that we bought new for about $80k was sold after 14 years (12 as our only home) and we felt good to finally get $10k for it. I would hate to see you put most of your savings into an RV that you might later regret purchasing. If you find some rental first, you can hold on to the saved money and still be able to get the RV later if you find it might work but the rental living would at least give you some time in that area to be sure before you spend your hard earned money. 

 

I am starting to agree that the RV idea is not the best plan for starters. A mobile home rental would save me the same amount of money, but offer me much more stability, with the upside of having no depreciation value, since it doesn't belong to me. My main objective was to save money and not lose it. If the RV option will only drain me, then there is no point in clinging to the idea. I need to find an alternative to apartment rentals, but this may really not be the best choice.

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FYI - welders are in demand in the PNW.   There is a building boom in the greater Seattle area (meaning from Eugene, Oregon to Vancouver, BC) and they are hiring.   Also, many biotech firms are locate in areas on the east side of Seattle, like Auburn, Kent, Bellevue, etc.  Still higher priced rentals in those areas, but not everyone has to go downtown Seattle to work in the  area.

Again, your degree comes first - - that is your first priority.  I realize you think that you have it all in hand, but there are so many things that can rear their heads (like your major professor getting a new job and moving) that you need to get your research done and most of the dissertation finished before you start focusing on what type of living arrangement in some far off place you will need.

Barb & Dave O'Keeffe
2002 Alpine 36 MDDS (Figment II), 2018 Ford C-Max HYBRID
Blog: http://www.barbanddave.net
SPK# 90761 FMCA #F337834

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1 minute ago, Barbaraok said:

FYI - welders are in demand in the PNW.   There is a building boom in the greater Seattle area (meaning from Eugene, Oregon to Vancouver, BC) and they are hiring.   Also, many biotech firms are locate in areas on the east side of Seattle, like Auburn, Kent, Bellevue, etc.  Still higher priced rentals in those areas, but not everyone has to go downtown Seattle to work in the  area.

Again, your degree comes first - - that is your first priority.  I realize you think that you have it all in hand, but there are so many things that can rear their heads (like your major professor getting a new job and moving) that you need to get your research done and most of the dissertation finished before you start focusing on what type of living arrangement in some far off place you will need.

That is excellent news - then we can both get jobs and contribute to the savings pool. My husband will be thrilled to hear this. I would actually prefer not to have to work in downtown Seattle - my chances of finding a mobile home park closer to work are higher if I am not forced to work right in the center of a giant city. I think this is the option I am going to go with. If we are both working and live in a mobile home for a few years, we should be able to save up for a decent downpayment on a condo away from the city center.
You are right - my degree does come first and no planning in the world can bring me luck if my professor suddenly up and leaves me behind. The good news is, however, that I have already published one paper and will have another one finished not too far into the future. I am very close to submitting my proposal to write my dissertation, so I'm hopeful that not too much will go wrong. My project is a good one and there is plenty to do, so I am lucky. I know it is not always so for many people. I have a colleague who was scooped not once, but twice during his degree and he is now struggling to finish after 7 years. So I do get what you are saying - I am kind of counting my chickens before they are even hatched.
I am not going to wait until my dissertation is almost done before I start thinking about the future though. That is what I did with my master's thesis and my last minute actions made life very difficult for me when I got to Florida. Knowing where I will apply, how I will live, what my goals are - those are important things. They actually encourage us to start thinking about these things early on at my school. It will give me peace of mind if I've decided on a region, what companies I'm interested in, and what mobile home parks are available to me, especially since I don't have the entire US at my disposal like some of my colleagues. In the end, I can always change my mind about anything. But it gives me a sense of security to know what my options are. Since I got to the US, I have also been working on building my credit, so that when the time comes for a mortgage, I will be approved.

Right now I think I am going to start researching mobile home communities, especially those near(ish) biotech companies. I am also trying to convince a friend of mine to come out west with us, to live in the park, so we can all save even more money for a few years. It may be more complicated to build a life in this economy, but we are going to give it our best shot! :)

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Used mobile homes are cheap and many put these on acreage until they can afford to build. Some just keep the mobiles.  Something you might think about sometime in the future.  Many more areas accept mobiles than RV's but there are requirements that need to be researched. Good luck.

Randy

2001 Volvo VNL 42 Cummins ISX Autoshift

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45 minutes ago, Randyretired said:

Used mobile homes are cheap and many put these on acreage until they can afford to build. Some just keep the mobiles.  Something you might think about sometime in the future.  Many more areas accept mobiles than RV's but there are requirements that need to be researched. Good luck.

Thank you, that is an idea that is definitely worth looking into. Maybe I could even rent to own the one we move into and then have it moved to some land. After discussing it with the others though, we have decided to leave land buying for the future when we have more disposable income. That way, if things go wrong, we will have a back up plan.
Maybe we'll stay in the mobile home park, buy a condo and rent it out. Pay it off and buy another one. Okay. Now I am just really getting ahead of myself. 🤣

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10 hours ago, Natalia said:

If I find any parks of interest, can I tell you which area they are in to see what your opinion is?

 

I'm not real familiar with many areas around Seattle but my son in law knows it pretty good.  If you want, tell me where you want to go to work/school and the area you are thinking about living, I can ask him.  My kids live in Kenmore, it is a pretty nice area.... for a .... chitty but very far from reasonably priced housing.  My daughter for a while lived about a mile from the washington med school and paid I thunk, 1,6oo/mo for a studio type apt.  I have a friend that lives around Kent, I could ask him about some areas too.  Feel free to ask but be warned, I'm not real fast but I will get 'er done.

2002 Fifth Avenue RV (RIP) 2015 Ram 3500 Mega-cab DRW(38k miles), 6.7L Cummins Diesel, A668RFE, 3.73, 14,000 GVWR, 5,630 Payload, 27,300 GCWR, 18,460 Max Trailer Weight Rating(For Sale) , living in the frigid north, ND.

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I live in WA when I am not traveling in Chimacum near Port Townsend.   It is a 55+ RV park for leaseholders but I do think you can rent monthly but it is time limited.

I live in my RV in the winter in WA no problem with cold or moisture.  It is a Class B Roadtrek van.

It is nice to park the RV and walk on the ferry in Bainbridge island to commute to Seattle.  I have parked at the casino and taken their shuttle or the bus to the ferry terminal.

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I agree with looking to rent a mobile home. It will be much more comfortable.

I would first try to find a job and then housing. You can look for short term

housing like Extended Stay America motels. Bellingham and north should

be more reasonable than Seattle area, and closer to your parents.

Your job and commute will dictate where you should look for housing. I-5

commute can be brutal, depending on which direction you are heading.

As an example, evening rush hour traffic near Everett starts around 2:45pm

(Boeing) and extends to 7pm.  My daughter lives in North Seattle area and

works in Everett, so she is heading opposite of heaviest rush hour traffic. 

Kim and Betsy

2017 F450 Lariat

2017 Arctic Fox 35-5Z

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  • 1 year later...
11 hours ago, dcon2315 said:

Hi Natalia,

My gf and I are currently wondering if you can live in an RV full time in the state of Washington. Did you end up finding any spots to do this? Did you try purchasing land? Curious about what happened! Thanks

Dan

The OP hasn't been back here since December 8, 2018, so I doubt she reads this forum any longer.  You might try sending her a PM and see if she responds.

LindaH
2014 Winnebago Aspect 27K
2011 Kia Soul

 

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  • 2 months later...

This is an old thread, but if I came across it others will also. I joined this site primarily to reply to what I feel was a lot of misinformation.

My wife and I live, in an RV park, in a Seattle suburb, in a 22ft Grand Design with the winterization package. 2021 list price of this model is $29K. Propane, in the coldest part of this past winter, was about $12 a week. We were never cold.

It is far from the dire picture that was painted by some.

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