62 year old single woman looking to make rv home

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ljwoman1956

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I am running in circles. My mother recently died and I recently sold her house. I am staying at a friend's couch at the present time but need to get out of here. I don't have enough money to buy a home in Portland Oregon so have thought about purchasing an RV and heading south to the Carolinas and or Georgia to check out possibly purchasing at home in that region. However my problem is this. I have been looking at motorhomes over the past 3-4 months. I am at a loss as to what I should do as far as purchasing one and which one I should actually purchase. I would like to only spend about $20,000 for my first RV. If I find that I like traveling in an RV then I can probably upgrade. I want to purchase a motorhome that is safe and that will get me to my destination in one piece and not sitting on the side of the road for hours on end broke down. Does anyone have any suggestions as to whether or not I can purchase a motorhome for under $20,000 and any suggestions as to the brands or models that would be good and mileage that I should stay under. I would appreciate any help that you can give. Thank you
 
Anything less than $20k will be a money pit and not be reliable. If you find one in your price range that you like hire an RV inspector to check it out. With old RVs make and model are meaningless. What is important is condition, floor plan and price. There simply is no way to really predict just how reliable any old RV will be. Most all are crap shoots, which is why they are priced so low.
 
I disagree a bit on what SeilerBird said above, I think you can find a roadworthy motorhome for under $20,000, though it may take some shopping.  It is much harder to find good road worthy coaches under about $12,000, needle in a hay stack, at $17,000 it starts to become possible without lucking into the deal of the century.  At $20,000 one can find a 12-15 year old mid sized gasoline powered coach that has been well maintained, or a 20-22 year old diesel pusher without slides.  Keep in mind that asking and selling price are two different things, and that you will likely get the best bang for your buck in a private sale in this price range.  Regardless of what you buy, try to hold some money back for unexpected repairs, and inspect, inspect, inspect.  Initial build quality does matter, though not nearly as much as condition does, a 15 year old well maintained entry level coach built with cheap materials is a better buy than an high end coach that has been lest to rot.

p.s. in an ideal world you would want to buy a well maintained upper end model.  Also you should ask yourself if you can afford the cost of ownership of a motorhome, it is not all about purchase cost.  Fuel expense alone driving from Portland to Savannah GA will be around $1,300 insurance will typically run another $750-1,100 per year, campgrounds along the way will run $20-$35 per night, and don't expect to do more than about 300 miles per day driving an RV>


 
I also suggest checking out the RV Forum Library (button above) where you will find all kinds of checklists for purchasing and taking delivery of an RV, as well as other subjects you'll want to learn about, such as holding tanks and batteries.  These RVs are complex and there's a lot to learn because you have both a motor vehicle and a house that barrels down the road and a lot of things start rattling around.  Do a lot of research and take your time.  This is not something you want to jump into head first so to speak.

ArdraF
 
A quick look at the Portland craigslist, and I think my first pick on what is listed at the moment would probably be this 1994 Safari Ivory https://portland.craigslist.org/clk/rvs/d/motorhome-1994-safari-ivory/6752825971.html  It seems to likely be in good condition, some updates, stored indoor, and it appears the owner also owns a Corvette, so likely had the money to maintain the coach.  Asking price may be a bit high, but not insanely so.
 
Isaac-1 said:
A quick look at the Portland craigslist, and I think my first pick on what is listed at the moment would probably be this 1994 Safari Ivory https://portland.craigslist.org/clk/rvs/d/motorhome-1994-safari-ivory/6752825971.html  It seems to likely be in good condition, some updates, stored indoor, and it appears the owner also owns a Corvette, so likely had the money to maintain the coach.  Asking price may be a bit high, but not insanely so.
Click to expand...



And 137,000 miles is NOTHING on a diesel. That's a good looking rig.
 
I suggest signing up for CarFax, and running the VIN of any prospective vehicle through it.
I can say that it has saved me a number of times, on cars, AND RVs.
Also suggest investing a couple or three hundred bucks on a mechanical inspection when you find one you really like.
That Safari looks ("looks") really nice. You could have a keeper, there.

I do hope you have some large vehicle experience. Not to scare you off. the learning curve is not horribly sharp, but it takes a bit of time.

Good luck on your adventures.

 
SeilerBird said:
Anything less than $20k will be a money pit and not be reliable. If you find one in your price range that you like hire an RV inspector to check it out. With old RVs make and model are meaningless. What is important is condition, floor plan and price. There simply is no way to really predict just how reliable any old RV will be. Most all are crap shoots, which is why they are priced so low.
Click to expand...

Do NOT let the doom and gloom scare yoU!

I bought a $7500 Class C and spent 8 years careening around traveling and living in it 24/7. Sure I kept on top of maintenance. I also paid my insurance company for roadside assistance. They came out to change my flat and tow me when the starter went wonky.

8 years later, I sold my RV for $7000. Amazing!

Buy something cheap that seems livable to you and head for the south. You will learn lots along the way. Later you can upgrade if need be.

 
Since you want to look for a home in the Carolinas or Georgia, I would FLY down to Florida.  It's almost certain to be cheaper than driving across country.  I believe you will find far more used RVs in that area than you will in the Pacific Northwest.  Probably, thanks to supply and demand, be cheaper to buy one there, also.  Plus it will probably be easier to find RV inspectors and independent service people and all kinds of other support.
 
Deciding whether to buy an RV or a house is probably something you should do with disposable income, not everything you have. A house is an investment, an RV will depreciate in value.
I think you're also overlooking cost of living. You seem to be looking into RV life to save you money. If you're buying a $20,000 house on wheels, you'll have some expenses along the way. Besides maintenance and repairs, you'll need money to stay where ever you're going and gas to get there. Things like a flat tire will be more expensive than on a car. And unlike a house where you could put off repairs, motorhome repairs will need to be done immediately  (for example if you break a window in your home, you can seal it with plastic until you can afford to fix it, you can't do that if you break a windshield. Or in a home, you can put off fixing a busted sump pump or something, if your radiator blows, you have to fix that immediately. So if finances are tight, a motorhome may not be the smartest purchase.
 
The reason I asked about your present "mode of travel" is: the slang term "RV" ( Recreational Vehicle) can mean almost anything, so, if you own a pick-up a trailer or 5th wheel might be an option and suit your needs better than a motorhome..>>>Dan
 
I live in the Portland area and recently purchased a class A.  We shopped for rigs near the $20k range and found a few that would be sufficient (they had to be well cared for).  We ended up spending more than that on a more expensive diesel pusher.  I found RV Trader to be a good source of information in the area.  I hope this helps.
 
I'm close to Isaac-1 in opinion. You might be able to find a clean & reliable motorhome for around $20k, though it likely will take a lot of shopping plus money spent on getting prospective ones professionally inspected. A newbie to RVs stands little chance of buying a reliable older one without professional help or a well-experienced RVer friend.  You would be buying both a heavy duty vehicle and a house, all rolled into one, and both of those are potential "money-pits" due to non-obvious flaws.  A leaky roof or worn transmission could be an extremely expensive repair.


The better choice is Optimistic's suggestion: Fly to the Southeast and shop for both houses and RVs there. 


You seem to be looking for an RV for financial reasons, but saving money by living in or traveling in an RV usually more dream than reality. Motorhomes are expensive to buy, own and operate, and campgrounds are expensive these days.  Especially if just traveling day by day. i.e. no long stays to get long-term discounts. Fuel costs for cross-country travel are also high - think in terms of 8 mpg.
 
If you are wanting to buy a house in the Carolinas, why on earth would you buy an RV, just to drive to the Carolinas?

Drive your car, take a bus, plane or train to the Carolinas.  Then look for the house you want (but..... I'd recommend renting for the first year anywhere to make sure you really want to stay in that locale). 

If you think you might want to travel for a while and THEN settle in the Carolinas, RENT an RV for a bit and see if you like it or not.  A much less expensive way to find out the RV life isn't for you.  If it is for you, you will also find things you like and don't like about the unit you rented which will help you in finding the RV you DO like when you decide to buy.
 
You should be able to find a good class C for $20,000. A well maintained Born Free that is 12-15 years old would be the first one I would look for. I met a 94 year old lady who had one and she was going strong. Said she never had any trouble with her  Born Free unit. Go for it, you'll enjoy the life style. If you've never had any experience with an RV, look at joining the "escapees.com" and go to their boot camp. It's a good way to get started on the right way to live in an RV.


 
Just want to add a warning about using Craigslist to find an RV which I did use to find a good condition, low priced, older travel trailer (TT). There are a lot of scams offering too good to be true prices. If you contact a seller and they offer to send you pictures, but won't make an appointment for you inspect the unit, it's a scam. And, if they ask you to deposit money in an "escrow," run away. Those kind of escrow companies don't exist.

I checked Craigslist cities hundreds of miles away from me and found the exact same too good to be true ads as in my local Craigslist. Often they would list a local address for each city. Same pics and ad copies except for the RV location.

Craigslist is one of a number of good places to find your desired RV. Just be wary. Again, if the price is very low for a fairly new RV, it's likely to be a scam. Not that there aren't legitimate, very low priced deals, it's just that they are rare. At least that was my experience.
 
You might want to read some of the early posts by a lady who goes by "RVSue and her Canine Crew."  She started out on a very low budget with a Casita trailer pulled by a used cargo van.  https://rvsueandcrew.com/2011/04/21/a-sixty-something-woman-living-alone-fulltime-in-a-17-foot-fiberglass-egg-on-wheels-with-two-dogs/

One of the advantages of a small trailer is that you can buy one in fairly new condition cheaply.  Ditto for a used cargo van.  The cargo van, by the way, is a better choice than a pickup truck because it can store extra water and things the trailer cannot.  If it needs repair, you can do that less expensively than a motorhome or even replace it. 

One concern I have with your very low budget is how expensive repairs can be on a Class C, but I don't want to discourage you from your dream.  I have been traveling for over 6 years and really love it, but I am still working part-time at age 75 and need all my income to pay for things that break.  You at least need to go in with maybe a $5,000 repair fund. 
 
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