Should I or shouldn't I? (import from USA)

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brenda

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Joined
Aug 28, 2007
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I really fancy the idea of staying in the States for a year but it sounds to me though that there is a grey area regarding family ties as you said earlier that each case is considered on its own merit. My children are all adult and I do not see them regularly and they certainly are not dependent.  But I will be on a tight budget and as you say, the more you spend the more worthwhile to go this route..

You will have no problem with going the VAT and DUTY free route, based on your info above.

Everything depends on whether i buy an apartment in Berlin with some of my money and let it out so that I have the funding to fulltime. The prices are really low and it would give me somewhere to retire when it all gets too much

LOL decisions, decisions. I dont know what the price of property has been like in Berlin over the last few years - if prices are fairly static there, you could just put the money away and try the full-time RV lifestyle. You may decide you dont want to live in a "normal" home again. Visit www.rvfulltiming.com for a UK fulltiming group and www.motorhomefun.co.uk for other advice on MHing. (hope its OK to put links Tom?)

So I guess the amount available to be from 15K to a possible 25 if I do not buy in Berlin.

OK, I take it we're talking ?GBP, which 20K is around $40,000.

Other forum members will give you an idea what you can get for that budget (take a look at ebay.com for some rough ideas).

You will need to allow $1,400 to set-up a Montana LLC (search forum for details) which will save you paying the sales tax in USA and a similar amount for insurance. Then allow $3,000 for shipping into the UK (asuming your RV will be a smaller one).

Allow $4,000 in flights and repairs.

So, I would guess you have $30,000 to buy with.

You could use interest on your savings (??) or rent from the apartment (??) to fund your stay (I dont know your savings or rent so you need to decide on your usual spending).

If I own an apartment then I will have to pay the tax regardless of the ties ruling?

No, you could either import into Germany (I dont know the procedure but should be EU-wide) and you shoulnt have to pay the taxes (as your home and ties have been outside the EU for 12 months).

Or, you can import into the UK and register under one of your childrens addresses (as a care of address, which is OK) and then take to Germany.

Either way, if you sell within a year it is then that you would have to pay the taxes.

The taxes would be (roughly) $33,000 + 10% = $36,300, + 17.5% = $42,650 = TAXES OF $10,000 OR ?5,000

Basically, even on your small budget, if you stayed in the US for a year you could have ?100 per week spending money toward a US tour courtesy of HM Governement FREE !!! - it wont be enough on its own but you will have savings interest or rent too.

Now, compare what you can buy in the USA with something similar in Europe and you will see you will save by buying it in the USA too.


Dont forget, you will need a B2 Visa for the USA - do a forum search for advice on that one.

I know of 3 UK couples who will be touring the USA around the time you will be there, so there's no need to feel "alone".

Other forum members will advise, but I believe there is also a group in the USA for single RVers too.

Paul
Click to expand...

Wow thanks for that Paul. Yes I am a UK citizen Tom. Property prices are rising in Berlin. The cheapest apartment that I saw was, wait for it...?11K! That is a one room one. The forcast is that they will boom. If I do not buy now I might miss my chance. I really think that MHing will suit me just fine  :) I used to love camping/caravaning and plan to go south for the winters which I hate. Berlin winters are terrible so I would most likely plan to sell when house prices peak.

It would be great to get in touch with others doing the US thing. I have a friend in Berlin from Colorado who would hopefully give me some contacts.

Thanks again Paul, plenty to think about.

Brenda
 
Hi Brenda

I would suggest taking a few days to digest the info and chat with your children (Mom, are you Crazy? type of questions  ;D).

Touring the USA can be a great adventure, but you do need to get yourself fully prepared for it first. There are a lot of Ts to cross and Is to dot but it really is fairly straight-foward stuff.

If you are planning to buy property in Berlin, I assume you speak German - so you will hopefully be able to find something under the German websites for "transfering your home from outside the EU" etc. as it may just be easier to import/register in Germany.

Paul


 
Thanks Paul. No my Deutsch is not that good so I will have to get an interpreter. I guess the first step is to get to Germany and look at the housing market, then compare motorhome prices in the US to those in Germany. In the meantime learn as much as I can from this site. I looked at some used  Hymer's and see there is one for ?19K locally (670S 1995) but it looks a bit too big - 24 feet. Might go for a look though. I would fancy a free holiday in US though  :)
 
Hi

24ft is not that big if you are going to live in it (even for just part of the year) - though there are people who do it.

Take a look at www.rvsearch.com (lots of other sites available) and type in $25k-$49k, 1995-2008, Florida, and then Class A (followed by Class B for second search and Class C for third).

You will get some idea what is available in Florida. The site will list available vehicles, starting at $25k and going up as much as you want to spend. Remember, those are ASKING PRICES, so you can expect to pay 10%-20% less than that.

Example 1 : A 2004 model with asking price of $35k = http://www.rvsearch.com/findrv/index.cfm/a-d/tc-36261/vid-343331/

Example 2 : A 2002 model Class A with asking price of $39k = http://www.rvsearch.com/findrv/index.cfm/a-d/tc-36261/vid-165128/ (you could tour with this and sell at a good profit back in the UK).

Paul
 
OK I have rung the guy and he is meeting me tomorrow in a car park (my choice). Left hand drive,  has only got 43K on the clock, winterised,  with loads of extras and sounds immaculate. Worth a sight. New tires and batteries, has given up due to ill health. Would save me an awful lot of bother to buy it locally like this. I will get an RAC check first if I decide to buy. He has already reduced it from 22K so not much chance of more reduction. What do you think Paul. Does it sound good?

Wow that last one (Condor) is a good price! EeeeeeeeeK what to do!!! It has given me a good comparison though they are about the same price

The thing is that I have CFS and do not know whether I can manage the trip to the US. It sounds a lot of work though straightforward.
 
Hi

I dont know anything about European MHs (in the background they're all saying "he dont know much about US ones either :D).

I would join www.motorhomefun.co.uk and give them the details - they will give you an idea etc.

Paul
 
Hi Brenda
    touring the states is as easy or as difficult you want to make it ,i personally took it easy  a bit of fishing ,a few bike nights followed by more fishing and basically just chilling out.Buying and insuring is easy in the states, as for importing the UK market seems to be flooded by RVs at the moment and i know of RVs sitting for up to 2 years without selling and I'm sure you could get a good deal locally if you don't fancy touring the states .I would suggest you look at as many as you can and ask for advice before committing to a purchase ,remember that all that glitters isn't gold and that certainly applies to RVs.Just ask if you need any advice
Ian
 
Hi Brenda, I'm an ex Brit citizen.
re touring North America, the first thing you have to realize is that Europe is small, and North America is HUGE. So if you are planning to do the BIG TOUR of North America, the thing to do it in is a van. I'm not aware of your family situation, but if you are limited to two people, a van is de rigeur, (the way to go). With a van, you can go grocery shopping in it, go downtown to sightsee in it, park it in any parking space, and drive it easily at 110 or 120kph. People in N.A. who tour in bigger rigs tow a car, and that's a pain. The people I know who want to do THE TOUR tend to spend two or three days in the van, and then a night in a motel for a real shower, laundrette, dinner out, and so forth. Many people with bigger rigs who want to TOUR, eg Alaska etc, park the big rig, buy a van, and sell it again after a year.
There are so many things to see and experience in N.A.,  and the distances are so huge, get yourself one of those Merc diesel vans and you will be happy.
Rankjo
 
Hi Newt, thanks for the link, it is a good one. I think the question I really want to ask is, how fit does one have to be to fulltime?

Ian, thanks, I would not be thinking of selling after importing. I will try to  see as many MH's as I can, and take your warning into consideration. The chilling out sounded good! I would not be dashing around.

Rankjo, thanks, I would not be doing a big tour, just sticking around Florida. I am on my own. Do you think that I would get hold of a 24 feet diesel Hymer OK?

Later..


Actually I am just wondering whether to keep my UK residency for now, buy tax and insure one here, and take it down to the south of Spain for the winter and then think about doing the US trip next year selling the MH before I go. I would not lose much on it. That would give me time to become an expert fulltimer before i hit the big trail.
 
Hi Brenda

Keeping the UK property is always a good idea - you never know if/when you will want to come "home".

We let out (thru an agency) a couple of apartments whilst we were away - not only is the income handy but the value rose by 20% too.

I know people who have placed a new mortgage on their home and let it - whilst using the money to buy a mobile home somewhere nice in the UK for 8 months and then do Spain for 4 months.

Paul
 
Hi Paul

It will not be possible to keep my own home, but I can use a relatives address to keep my residency. I plan to buy an apartment in Berlin which is already rented out then sell it later when I need the cash. I will only get 5% but prices are rising.

Having a look at layouts today, I know what I want. I saw the perfect MH but it was 42K much more than I want to pay, at a dealership. Got them down to 37K though!  ;D God I can buy an apartment for much less!

I am thinking more and more about just buying here for now then reselling next spring and do the Florida trip. It is a good time to get a bargain yes?
 
Brenda,

Good luck on your adventure. 

One thing I wanted to mention in your financial calculations of buying a motor home here in the states and living in it for a year in and around Florida, is that you need to factor in campsite fees.  In Florida, during the winter months, the campsites can be already booked up.  Also, the campsite costs can be high.  Many people leave the snow areas and head for Florida or the Southwest for the winter.

Marsha~
 
Hi Marsha

I was planing on stopping over with the communites of people suffering from chemical sensitivities (which I have) mainly based in Arizona and one I have just found in Florida. The ones who have properties, let other sufferer in trailers/MH's stay on their land free. But thanks for that warning about site fees. I thought that there were plenty of places to stay for free though?
 
Brenda - re the question of how good you need to feel for fulltiming:

Except for needing to make sure you are parked near whatever medical facilities you need, I think it is pretty well a moot point since if you have a bad spell, you can stay put until things improve.

I can't say for sure but based on long-time membership on a UK forum and the random issues that have been discussed, I believe the access to high tech health care is somewhat faster and more widely available in the States than in the UK.

Some of the folks on here who have lived for a time in both countries can either agree or slap me down as the case may be.
 
Thanks for that Newt. It wasn't about health care that I was thinking of. It was more on the lines of the work involved in driving and map reading when your concentration is not good, and then the lifting of the water bottles etc.
 
Understood.

The trick is to just park it when you are feeling rocky or spacy.

I can't imagine any RV site that won't have an abundance of helpful neighbors so if lifting is a problem, holler for help.
 
Heck  lifting is never a problem Some guy will always flex the muscles ( or try to) to help a lady in distress, even tho he may get some lumps on the noggin when returning to his own RV or truck.  Best to become friendly with the spouse and have her guide him LOL  Been there  done that. JMO
 
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