Different perspective on Fulltiming?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

kc8qvo

Active member
Joined
Mar 15, 2011
Posts
26
I ran across some people that do this and it sparked an idea. They bought a place in FL and live there in the winter, then they live in Ohio in a camper during the warmer months. I haven't met them personally, but a coworker and I had a good discussion about them in the past few days. 

Is there anyone out there that lives in their RV/Camper full time all year-round at the same location? If so, what is required of setting this up and how do you go about finding land, outside of an RV park or similar? What do you do about utilities?

I don't have a need to relocate, but I am an avid backpacker/adventurer so I would pack up and head out occasionally. My biggest goal right now is to have a place out away from the city and if I could find a few acres out somewhere I would have smaller living expenses with a camper than a house - and the ability to move it around when I want to head out for a weekend. 

Thoughts? Am I crazy?

 
Most localities do not allow full time residence in an RV, parked in one spot.  It is a basic violation of building codes, since an RV does not meet the minimum code for a home, whether mobile (manufactured) home or site built home. That said, in some places you can get away with it. Just buy the land and set up as a recreational site (part time use), as if it were a summer camp or hunting/fishing camp. If nobody notices you live in it full time, you are golden.

In some regions you can get away with it by parking in an RV or mobile home park, but more and more the local health & building officials are cracking down on RVs that never move and are used as full time residences. Again, the reason is building and health codes, which have greater requirements for residences than for recreational use.

In Florida, you may be able to work it in a rural area, of which the state has many. And I suspect that in some areas they don't check RV parks too carefully either, so an RV left over after the snow birds leave may go unnoticed.
 
By "most localities" are you referring to city/suburban? Or rural/country as well?

Just a clarification, if it makes any difference, I am not speaking of a suburban area or closer to the city (as in parked in a driveway or side yard) but property beyond city limits in the country - lower codes/zoning/restrictions. That is what the underlying reasoning behind my wanting to get away from the city is to begin with. My career is in the ag world and the lifestyle I'm after would be very difficult and expensive, if at all possible, with normal city and suburban zoning.

 
We looked into this in WV and you had to move the RV for a prescribed amount of time then could bring it back.  If I remember right it was only a couple days.
 
I would think if you get far enough out in the boonies it wouldn't matter what you did.
I am originally from Minnesota most of the Northern part of the state is farming area.  If you
own the land you can do whatever you want.  Just stay away from areas that are zoned.
It that state it is easy to do.  But in that state winters are not fun.....
 
We have had a number of discussions on this topic in the last year or so.  You can find them by using our Search function.  You need to abide by local regulations concerning water, sewer, and electricity.  The main problems seem to be dealing with disposal of wastewater (gray and black) in a legal manner.  If you can get electric to the place, that's not a problem.  If you want to watch television or use a cell phone you need to see if they're available at that location.  Another consideration is the site itself and the foundation on which you want to put your RV.  Cement and rocks are reasonable alternatives but if a wet and muddy area, you might need to spend more so the RV doesn't sink in during bad weather.

The ordinances and laws governing what you can do on such a property start at the federal level and work down to the county and municipal levels.  Laws like the U.S. Clean Water Act, for example, might govern how close you can put septic leach lines to a lake, river, or creek.  In other words, it isn't as easy as just buying a piece of land and setting up an RV.  Do your homework before putting your hard-earned money into either the land or an RV.

ArdraF
 
Wow, just now found this thread and will have to take Ardraf's advice about further searching the forum and finding out what my own state's regulations say. I do know i've been amazed in the past how areas I consider to be "rural" near the city i live in won't even allow mobiles. So I can imagine finding even more flexible land uses allowed for an RV setup would be harder.
 
So, what advice would you give someone that is considering having a homebase acreage of land for an RV in trying to decipher a state's or county's zoning regulations? I looked up my state (missouri) zoning regulations, but again, its like you need a legal degree to make sense of it all, especially to glean the parts that affect this question.
If you were wanting to do this (search for properties for sale that are candidates for living in your RV on), what are the steps you'd go through?  Do you think a realtor would know enough about zoning regulations?

thanks
 
I have talked to a few people that do this however they all worked at State Parks in the spring/summer/fall & then move south for the winter. 

 
Zoemorn I believe you will have to check county and local requirements as they usually determine zoning requirements.
 
Tried my hand at looking at zoning maps, but figure prolly just easier to see land for sale and then ask on a one by one basis to see what it allows. starting to think just bouncing between a few of the parks is the way to go.
 
If you are going to buy land to park your RV for awhile but travel some too, heck, why not buy land and build a tiny rustic RV park. Of course you have to be approved for that, but 2 camping  lots or more make a park.

It doesn't have to be huge.  I spent the night in an RV park that was in a guy's back yard, but he was close to an area where spelunking and hiking was popular. He wasn't getting rich quick, but it brought him some extra income I guess.

He only had 3 RV spots and ,maybe a dozen tent spots. He wasn't home when we arrived, we had called him up earlier, and he just said to find the place, park, plug in, and he would catch up with us that night or in the morning for lot rent. We had great fun there, loads of privacy,  just us and another couple that was in a tent up in the woods about 600 yards from us.  The funny thing was, we went there because he had a "bad" review online. The folks said the place was in the guy's backyard and they were "scared" because it was remote, so they paid their money and left without camping. (Very strange thing to do we thought!)

We drove out of our way, to go find the place and check it out. It was beautiful!  We loved it there. He had electric, water and sewer hookups, on a wooded lot.  The inclined driveway was paved, the rest was flat and just dirt and grass.
 
mermaid, thats a cool idea!! ha! if  I had the capital for the land and setting it up I'd probably do it in a heartbeat.
 
This is not quite the same as you're referring to, but we have several campgrounds in the area (MD, VA) that have campers that have taken up permanent residence.  My Dad has park model in a campground (he's not year round) that has a collection of 5th wheels, TT's Park Models and what have you, all set up for permanent living.  These are campgrounds, not trailer parks.  It seems to be more and more prevalent due to the economy...
 
When we were in Florida last winter we stayed in an RV park that had park models for sale.  I was told if I bought one I could only stay in it for 6 months of every year because of the type of RV park it was in & I couldn't use it as my permanent residence.  I stayed in another RV park not far away but in a different county & that park had quite a few park models, a number of which were being used for year round homes.  I didn't find out  how the second park differed from the first one.  I don't know if it was zoning regs or what. 
 
I've run into several RV parks that allow year round living.  It's up to the owners of the park unless there are special restrictions by law that prevent them.

Also, sometimes parks don't want year rounders due to landlord laws, it's complicated. But there are parks that do take monthly rents and let you stay year round or as long as you like, as long as the rent is paid. You just have to hunt them down.  The privately owned parks are very diverse, there is no rule of thumb that fits all parks.

Twice I've stayed in parks, where they asked me to be a long-termer, but I wanted to shuffle along, I didn't want to settle down, but both those parks encouraged long termers, I think they preferred the steady lower monthly income over erratic nightly income, even though it was higher to pay by the night. Different owners want different things.... 

I've seen some that have  a combination of long termers and a set number of spots for overnighters and short termers only.  Others have strict guidelines and don't want you to stay more than a few nights, you can tell those places because they don't have any weekly or monthly discounts to offer.

I stayed in a county owned park that had weekly and monthly rates, but a six month max stay per year. So you could live there half a year, every year.  I ran into a park in Ohio that closes for the winter, but if you want to live there year round and pay the monthly discounted rent, they allow it and give you a key to the gate for the winter months.

I think you find more latitude about year round living in RV parks in the southern states, except for Florida, which offers lots of long term parks, but at a price that is usually a lot more than the other southern states charge. I'm just saying that cause I've run into lots of long term parks available in the southern states that were reasonable.

I have a friend paying year round to live in an RV park,  in South Carolina, only $250 month plus electric, another one is paying $300 a month with electric included in the price. So it just varies from park to park, what the owners will allow.

I've seen RV lots for sale in South Carolina, on a lake from $2500 to $4500, but I think there are utilities and dues on top of that, not sure of the whole scene, I don't want to buy a lot, so I didn't check into the entire situation. 
 
I've seen some 'mobile home communities' that allow for RV stay as well, obviously more for the long-term/permanent. Haven't inquired as to what kind of contract term they have though. Realizing that's certainly a different and different style than an rv park where you still have vacationers going in and out.
Is there any pattern relating to the type of park that seem to be more open for long-term stays, in particular in my mind I'm thinking of "gravel lots" vs  more natural park like settings.  In Ozark, MO which is between Springfield, MO and Branson MO, there are just a couple of gravel lots, and though it appears by looking that there are long-term folks staying there along with the overnight stays. I'm kinda disappointed that I've not found any nicer more natural parks in this area, seems like an ideal spot for the vacationer who wants to visit the branson and springfield areas.  The idea that Mermaid brought up earlier, would be right up my alley, for this area (if i had the $$) - because the area is nice, beautiful rolling hills, Ozark seems like a nice town (basically a suburb of Springfield) - you've got Lamberts if you get hungry and want to be full for 2 weeks.
 
Many RV parks are not on the internet. I have yet to figure  out why!  I've even offered to put up a website for a ridiculously low price for them, and been turned down.  So there may be parks in the area you are looking at, that do have long term spots available, but they aren't on the internet, so you have to call them and go see them in person. 

I used to ignore the many parks that weren't on the internet, but I have been pleasantly surprised more than once, by going to a park, based on a phone call.

Many do not require contracts, though one I was in, required a background check before you could move in long term. The beauty of owning an RV is that you can move around, so you can check out several in the area, just stay a month here and there.

I am a tad confused about your gravel lots and beauty, it's hard to find the ideal situation, when you are limited as to the area you want to live in.  I happen to prefer all natural settings, without the gravel or pavement, just dirt and grass under me, suits me fine. But I can see advantages to parking on gravel and pavement, but I don't care for paved patios at all. I happen to have a paved lot where I am at now, it is huge, it came with the workcamping assignment. But luckily it is surrounded by a small grassy lot and a forest, but I miss the soft dirt when I step outside to the expansive patio. However, I am dealing with it  *giggle*.

I would think the MO area would have plenty of opportunities for long term spots, as most RV-ers head to warmer weather in the winter. So it would seem to me, many parks might be delighted to have the income in the colder months.  Privately owned parks make up their own rules and wants. Sometimes you have to butter up the manager or owner, other times they are set in their ways and won't budge a bit.

Then there is workcamping, where you trade work for your spot.  That is what I am currently doing, as I needed to park and rest for a spell.
 
Around here the long term parks are just that, parks.  One I know has a pool, recreational facilities, a fishing pond and
Sunday church services.  The park my Dad stays in is very wooded and secluded with no amenities.  Some of the people that live in these parks are there to be close to work, and go to their stick location on weekends.  Others are for the price.  When a one bedroom apartment runs $800 a month and to camp is $400, the decision becomes much clearer. 
 
Mermaid, by gravel lots, i mean there are a couple in Ozark that literally are one big flat gravel parking lot. Not exactly "picturesque" ha! I may not have been making myself clear. I didnt mean it was just the individual parking spaces that had gravel laid down, it was the whole "rv park" just consisted of a big square gravel lot, basically just a parking lot with gravel. No trees, nothing between you and the various development around, not even set back away from commercial development. These lots to my picky tastes would merely be suited for the overnighter and not very 'homey' for staying any length of time.
As to RV parks on the net, i've primarily only searched via the net, google maps and such, so if there are parks not listed on google maps etc then I probably have overlooked them and should deepen my search, thanks for the reminder.
 
Back
Top Bottom