Has anyone sold their home to go full time in an RV?

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neptune1

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May 20, 2018
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Hello, my wife and I are considering going full time in an RV trailer. We would be selling our home as well.

We are curious to hear from anyone else who has done this and do they miss home ownership and was it hard mentally, emotionally to do it? Thanks in advance for your input.
 
This Fulltiming message board has numerous prior discussions on this subject. There are a few related articles in our forum Library (button in the menu above). Hopefully, you'll receive some more-current stories.

Selling up and hitting the road fulltime certainly presents some challenges. My hat is off to those folks who have done it successfully. I'd personally have a tough time parting with possessions I couldn't take along in the RV. Others have no problem with this; Definitely a state of mind (and some willpower).

One caveat - be sure you have an exit strategy. I don't mean to throw a wet blanket on someone's dream but, so many times over the years, we've seen folks sell everything and put all their equity into a shiny new RV. Then, some time down the road (5-10 years) one of the two spouses becomes seriously ill, or even pass away. Meanwhile, their equity has disappeared and they can not get back into a stick & brick home.
 
We are "planning" to do this also - in 5 years if everything goes to plan.  When I am able to retire and if we are both still healthy, and the kids have not come home to roost, we will sell it all and buy an RV.  If something gets in the way of that plan, we still plan to sell our current home and get into something that will let us age gracefully (smaller, no stairs, etc).  So either way we are planning to sell our current home.  I think that makes is easier mentally for me to contemplate.

I believe that we will travel for 1-3 years, but we have no actual plans, and then come back and buy that smaller home.  So the end game with either plan is the same.  So - yes - exit strategy.  We also have mapped out the finances and will be able to do this with some room to spare.
 
Hundreds of people do it each year.  Hundreds more bail on the idea each year.  You need to have, A, been RVing for a while so you know what your getting into. B, have a suitable RV, C, be debt free, D, have health insurance that covers you nationwide, E,  both prepared to do it, F, be willing to part with everything but minimal clothes, G, have sufficient finances to sustain your lifestyle, H, have an exit plan.  The RV life is certainally not for everyone.  Mostly women it seems are simply not willing to part with stuff they have accumulated over a life time, and storage charges can be really expensive.
 
[quote author=donn]Mostly women it seems are simply not willing to part with stuff they have accumulated over a life time...[/quote]

Interesting. In our case, it's the other way around. My other half has little or no attachment to material things, and readily gets rid of stuff she hasn't recently had a use for. The joke in our family is that one day she'll toss me in the dumpster  ;D
 
I am planning to do this, but in a slightly different way.

Sell house and put ALL equity in the bank.

Cash out 401K(s) to buy used RV around $30,000.

Planning on spending 1 year traveling (or until I don't like it anymore). Then perhaps sell RV for $20,000.

Then buy a small house with the money that stayed in the bank.

 
I know you asked if anyone has done it, but I'm glad you did because we also are planning to do this in about 6 years (if the old world lasts that long).  I have researched and read all kinds of stories and means of doing it.

As far as getting rid of "stuff", I don't have a problem with it and my lovely bride isn't too bad either, just some antique family heirlooms, I think, will be tough to deal with.
 
I know this is getting off-topic fast, but I have been learning from my kids and all the Millenials that I work with, that the concept of "heirloom" is a thing of the past.
They see almost every possession (especially big things like furniture) as just something to weigh them down. Grandma's silver, furniture, vehicles, etc.

They see us as slaves to our homes.
 
[quote author=breezie]... I have been learning from my kids and all the Millenials that I work with, that the concept of "heirloom" is a thing of the past.[/quote]
Our 30 year-old grandson and his wife are just that way. They periodically go through all their stuff and junk anything that's old or been around a while. The only exception for this pro-photographer is that he has a "retro shelf" in his studio, where he has one of my Dad's cameras, one of my uncle's, and one of mine. He's steadfastly refused other "retro" stuff that I've tried to give him.
 
Another option for some 'fulltimers' we know is to rent the stick & brick house while they travel for X years. IMHO a smart move if finances allow.
 
Aside from financial considerations, health care must be looked at.  Certain companies, Kaiser for example, will not continue coverage for members who move outside their coverage area.  Not sure how they would find out, but certainly look into that possibility.     
 
Good point re Kaiser. Forum member Bob Buchanan has some experience with that. Click the Search button above and search on 'Kaiser'.
 
We are so lucky we have a retiree medical plan from our previous employer that they still subsidize some. Since they are a large national company, the coverage is also national. Kevin qualified for Medicare this year, and they even have a good Medicare supplement plan they subsidize. Many are not so lucky. You don?t want to have a major medical situation and find you insurance will only cover you if you are back ?home?.
 
It didn't appear that any of the previous posts were from someone who actually is a "full-timer" so I thought it might be worthwhile to speak up.  My wife and I are originally from Maryland and have been full-timing for >7 years during which we've traveled >50,000 miles around the US and Canada.  We've seen a lot and have met wonderful people and, yet, there's always more to see.  We winter in south TX in the Corpus Christi area because we have no intention of spending any time in any place where the temperature goes below freezing! 8) Anyone who has questions about full-timing is welcome to ask in the forum or via PM.

Joel (AKA docj)
 
It ain't easy but it can be done. We worked 5 years getting rid of 'stuff'. Been full-time for 8 years vacation traveling in between volunteer gigs that give us time to explore places in depth. Works well for us. How seamless the transition is (other than 'stuff') depends on how you're set up - we're fortunate in having military benefits so medical isn't usually an issue - although it has its regional challenges too, - shops - wood and auto for me and sewing areas for her are available when we get to them.
 
We went about fulltiming just a bit differently than most, and some think we don't really qualify as "fulltimers". When we retired, my wife and I started on a plan to remodel our small lakeside vacation cottage in upstate NY to make it year-round livable so it could serve as our "back-up plan" when we hit the road. Our two daughters and their families live in the area and use the cottage frequently for swimming, boating, etc, and the cottage has been in our family since 1947, so there was no thought of selling it. We also installed a full hookup RV pad there, and by 2010 we had sold our large home and moved into our motorhome year round. We do spend from a few weeks to a couple of months at the cottage spread throughout the year to take care of routine medical appointments and visit family, but continue to live in the motorhome when we're there. The cottage only costs a couple of thousand a year for taxes and insurance, and our daughters do most of the lawn care, etc. Like Joel, we have ~50,000 miles behind us now with no plans to hang up the keys yet.

We typically winter in southern Georgia and Florida, favoring state and federal parks for the most part. Summers, we tend to be in the Michigan, Ontario, and western/northern NY areas, with forays into New England at times. In between, we favor North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia, although we have traveled west as far west as Arizona at times. As Joel said, there's lots more to see...
 
We sold our home in January and have been full-time since and have not missed it one bit.  Getting rid of stuff to enable us to go this route has been liberating and do not any of it, after all it is just stuff and if it gets in the way of us exploring and travelling, we do not need it.  RV'ing full-time is not for everyone and if you would like to but unsure, perhaps hang on to your house, go travelling and see if you miss the house and any of your stuff.
 
We chose NOT to sell the house and so were "long-timers" rather than fulltimers.  Our situation may have been easier since we had already downsized from a 3 bedroom house to a one bedroom bungalow. Plus, our permanent home is in Florida and thus good winter quarters anyway.  In essence, we parked the RV at our winter home 5-7 months each year and traveled the rest of the time.

Our reasons for keeping our house include:

1.  We like it, both the house and the area.
2.  I have a workshop there and would hate to give up my many tools, my woodworking hobby, and the ability to do repair projects
3.  The extra space is nice, especially when the weather is less than ideal. The house heats much more comfortably than the coach.
4.  Closets for winter clothes, space for my wife's crafts & hobbies, etc.
5.  Our daughter lives in the area so we would be visiting there anyway
Having a modest home in an inexpensive area made keeping it practical.
 
After having read the last several posts, it's worth noting that virtually everyone defines "fulltiming" differently.  There are some "purists" who insist that the only "true" definition of fulltime is someone who doesn't stay anywhere more than a week or two at a time anytime of the year, including winter.  But there are lots of others, including us, who define it to suit our own tastes.  After 6 years of owning no fixed location, two years ago we purchased an RV site in an ownership park in Rockport where we have a small casita and a storage shed as well as a site that's much larger than a commercial one.  We now spend ~6 months a year at our "property" yet we continue to consider ourselves full-timers.

People who are considering becoming full-timers should understand that they don't have to conform to anyone else's definition.  Whatever makes you happy is all that matters.

 
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