Natalia

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. 🤣

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!

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. 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? 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.

Yes, I think that for someone who is planning to work in the cities, the land option is less attractive. If I were retired and/or had other options, it would be a different story, but in my case, I have to have a home within a reasonable commute distance to make it work. The complications you are outlining serve as further nails into the land development idea. I have discussed it with my husband and he reluctantly agreed that the arguments do not support the plan. Thank you for the honest advice. Thanks for the luck! I will need it, it seems. This moisture problem sounds nasty. I am used to the weather up north - but from a house perspective, so I can only imagine what that must feel like in an RV with all this icy cold condensation dripping from the windows. I am beginning to get a picture of what harsh reality awaits me. The more stories I hear, the less appealing it sounds and the more I am inclined to search for mobile home parks with rentals. My husband is going to go to school for welding, but he doesn't have a trade or field yet. He has been working mostly maintenance jobs. He will be moving with me and will try to find work out west. His family is still young and sprightly, so he is willing to leave them so I can spend some time with mine. We both dreamt up the RV idea based on the experiences his family has had in Florida. They have lived both year round in RV parks as work campers and on an acreage, so we assumed this would be possible everywhere. Apparently we were quite wrong. Since I already know where I want to move, I figure it can't hurt to plan ahead. Those of my colleagues that are just planning to go where academia takes them don't bother with plans until 6 months before they graduate, but they are also content to accept temporary post-doc positions and move into costly rental units for the years they intend to stay. Most of them aren't buying property or acquiring long term assets until they get tenure and can finally settle down. Due to my lack of flexibility, my options are more limited, so I have to arm myself with concrete ideas. If I just wait until I graduate and don't at least research possible arrangements, I am terrified that I will end up in expensive lodging, stuck in some lease that prevents me from building my own future. I have had this experience in the past with some of my more last minute decisions and I am determined not to make the same mistake again. What I need to do is research the biotech companies in Washington and scope out the opportunities, including what kind of RV parks or mobile home parks are located in the vicinity. The advice I have been receiving here has been very sobering. I am starting to reconsider the RV idea and scrap it in favor of a mobile home rental.

Thanks for the warning - this is something I have heard before and it worried me. The idea of developing my own land is really starting to fade as a potential plan. It just doesn't seem very feasible for someone with no money, just starting out. That might have been how people did it back in earlier times, but these days it just seems like a bad idea unless you have enough money to trouble shoot anything (and perhaps know the people making the zoning laws lol).

Yes, I was worried about that too. Some of the more solid 5th wheels cost about the same as a downpayment on a condo and the winters up in Washington are far harsher than they are down here where I am currently at in Florida. I got most of my RV idealism from the people I know here - my husband's family all live in RV parks or have their RVs hooked up on acreages. The laws are much more geared towards long term camping here and the weather is more favorable (well, hurricanes aside). This was the RV I was considering buying. https://cheyennecampingcenter.com/rvs/view/2019-coachmen-catalina-313dbds-bunkhouse-travel-trailer I saw it for 26K on Ebay, but it is currently the latest model, so I was hoping it (or something similar) would be available shortly before I graduate in a cheaper, used state. Do you think this RV would weather Washington in the winter or am I crazy? haha. This RV would have to enable me to live cheaply and somewhat comfortably. Apartment rents are horrendous - the average rent for a one bedroom in Seattle is somewhere close to 2000 dollars. A quick check on apartments.com confirms this - apartments under 1000 a month are very scarce. Utilities are usually nothing to sneeze at either. With costs like that, I would never save enough for anything - every month, I'd be throwing what should be my mortgage payment away into the pockets of someone else. I would have to investigate further, but the mobile home rentals I've seen are similar to what NDBirdman quoted below for the RV campsite, roughly 600 a month. I know there are disadvantages to living in a mobile park too (if Florida mobile home parks are any indication of what to expect in Washington), but ultimately, if I want to get ahead and free myself of rent dependency and have any chance at owning property in this economy AND want to be near my parents, I guess I have to be prepared to deal with some hardship. 😞 Yes, I am starting to agree, even though my heart still wants an RV. Ideally I would have loved to keep the RV and buy a truck, but from the looks of it, developing land is unrealistic. And there is very little chance I will have enough money during the foreseeable future to buy something as large as a house to park it next to. I still haven't quite abandoned the idea of living in an RV park and selling the RV once I save enough for a condo, or storing it in Florida with relatives. That sounds like the ideal place for me, actually. 600 a month? Wow. That is very cheap for in city. I would make sure to get a newer model RV - my big concern now is whether the cheaper travel trailer types I have been looking at would be able to weather the Washington climate in winter. I am okay with being a bit damp and chilly, but I don't fancy freezing under 10 layers of wool blankets either or running up an electric bill of 1000 dollars. I posted a link to the RV I was looking at above - since you have experience in RVing during winter at that very campsite, perhaps you know if this travel trailer will stand the test. What kind of problems do you mostly encounter when you stay at this place with your RV? Thank you everyone for your continued input!

My budget for the RV is about 20K and I am looking into travel trailers, not 5th wheels. To move it to where I need to go, I will have to rent an F250 or F350 (or equivalent) truck that is capable of pulling it with the proper towing package. I currently do not possess a vehicle like this of my own. Do you think that this is a reasonable budget or approach? I don't know why people on the internet refer people asking people on the internet to the internet. Lol. I have googled many sites and while they are usually quite eager to give you daily or sometimes weekly rates, they are not as free with information regarding annual or monthly charges. Of course I can write a bunch of emails or call people, but since this site has experienced RVers, I came here to ask if any of you have any experiences you might want to share. If you know some places in Washington that have reasonable annual rates and wish to share them with me, I would be very thankful. I am interested in discussing individual campsites with people who have actually been there and can give me tips on what I should be looking for. 🙂 If you don't want to, that is fine as well. I am starting to wonder if I shouldn't just move into a trailer park and rent a mobile home until I have the money saved. I have heard the rents there are considerably lower than they are in regular apartment buildings and would enable me to be able to put enough money aside. I am pretty sure that this is not the right forum for that though.

Yes, that is one of the reasons why I have put academia as "something to try for but not count on" in the job department. Most of the people I know who went on to pursue academia started post docs in various spots around the country. Looking for tenure is another state hopping affair. Nowadays, your chances of getting a tenure position even if you do everything right is under 20%. Many people work post doc positions for 10 years or more. My parents are older (they had me in their 40s), so I have to make the hard call - either have some time left with them, or not. Were I very serious about academia, I would literally have to choose between it and my parents. I am going to choose my parents. I will still try to find jobs in academia, but biotech will be more of my focus - another reason why Washington is a great place to plant some roots without having to sacrifice my family life. I would have to find an affordable, all year RV park with annual sites until I have enough saved up to make a downpayment on a condo. Does anyone know what the typical monthly rates are in Washington? There is very little information floating around online, so if anyone has experience with some sites that would be great. When you guys stay in Bellingham, did you by chance catch wind of how much people were paying who stayed long term?

Hi! By "no address" I was wanting to know if the DMV or banks accept an RV park as a mailing address. I have read conflicting reports on this, so I want to make sure. I would love to live in Bellingham - my degree will be molecular biology, but I have a BS in basic biology and an MSc in Anthropology. I have heard that academic jobs at universities are difficult to come by due to the high levels of competition, but of course I will be trying to get in regardless. If you have more information about Bellingham that you are willing to share, I would love to hear about it! It is a beautiful place to live and very close to my parents. I could drive up every weekend with ease. I do plan to stay on the US side - simply because of the industry and amount of jobs available, plus the enormous cost of real estate and generally higher cost of living in Vancouver. It isn't really a place to start from scratch.

Thank you for all the suggestions. After reading, I find my skepticism about buying land has only grown. My proposal does sound like a bit of a fairy tale, perhaps possible once a upon a time in a distant past, but currently quite impractical. I am beginning to think that living in an RV park like the one mentioned in Tall City might be a more viable option until I have saved enough money for a sizable downpayment on something like a condo or small home. Condo is probably more like it, with prices being what they are. If someone here has RVd in Washington for a lengthy period of time and can share their experience, that would be great. I need to know if I would be considered "homeless" (no address), am permitted to stay, what the costs are etc. I have looked at mobile home sites and realized that I also have to be careful about the "55+ community" clause. Apparently, a lot of places are designated for retirees only. The reason I want to live in Washington is because it is close to where my parents are (Vancouver, Canada). I am a bit restricted in my choice of location due to this factor and ordinarily would pick a less costly region to live in. Vancouver itself is even MORE expensive than Washington, which is why I am trying to find cheaper solutions to getting my foot in the door.

Hi! I am a graduate student getting my PhD and I'm a couple of years away from graduating. It is my dream to find a job in the Seattle area, buy an RV and live in it full time. For starters, I would ideally stay in a Mobile Home Park or RV Park, until I have enough to pay a downpayment on a piece of land, then park my RV on that land and eventually build a house. I have been reading all kinds of disturbing accounts online, however..... people are saying I can't stay in an RV for longer than 210 days, that I won't be able to get a license or bank account because I have no mailing address, that land is almost impossible to find without HOA fees/restrictions or other zoning complications, unless you want to live hours from your place of employment and be at the mercy of roaming thieves. I am hoping that someone here will sober me up a bit and tell me that I don't have to kill my dream. If you guys have any suggestions and tips to help me prepare, I would be very thankful. I can't afford to buy a condo or a house - I will be straight out of school with a bunch of student loans hanging over my head. Nevertheless it pains me to throw away what is essentially a monthly mortgage payment in the form of rent. Thank you!