RVing message boards > Fulltiming

Living in a travel trailer vs an apartment

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alrey40:
I'm weighing my choices right now and would like any advice or comments from fellow RVer's.  I am looking at selling my house soon and moving to the Seguin Texas area, where my oldest daughter lives.  I plan to by a house again in the future, but until I"m sure I want to live in that area or move further south to the coast, I don't want to purchase a home.  So my options seem to be to rent a house or apartment which most seemed to be over $1000 a month or buy a travel trailer and live at one of the RV parks.  It will be myself, my teenage daughter (soon to be 18 and home schooled) and our dog for probably a year. I still have to work for a living (which right now I'm unemployed) so the cheaper route plays a big part in my decision.  Any advice on what brand of trailers, size, the pitfalls of living in one vs an apartment.  All advice welcomed, please.

odie1234:
Whether to live in an rv or an apartment may really boil down to two determining factors. Can you afford to purchase a trailer large enough and in good enough condition to not require a lot of rework or maintenance, and are you prepared to handle the trailer upkeep on your own? Living in an apartment means only a small upfront cash outlay and upkeep and maintenance is done by others. Purchasing a travel trailer will require more cash up front and you will be responsible for maintenance and upkeep. In addition, the TT will lose some value while you use it so you will not recover all your cash back when you no longer need it and wish to sell. The other issue with a trailer is a vehicle to tow it with, unless you are going to have it set in place.

We live half and half in an rv and a stick and brick - I much prefer the rv and would certainly choose it over an apartment, but everyone's needs are different. Good luck with your decision.

 

jrabbit:
I say unless you WANT to live in an RV or want to travel, you may be happier in an house with a short lease.  I personally have never lived in an apartment, and our decision to sell our house and move to an RV was based on the desire to be nomads.  We lived in a too-small travel trailer for 6 months, and we survived, but I can't imagine doing that without our initial desire live this way. 

As Odie mentioned, the initial cost of the RV must be considred.  if you are only wanting to live "somewhere" in between buying a new house, a lease will be much cheaper, both up front and in the long run.  Sure, it is cheaper to rent a spot in an RV park, but that is only one piece of the equation.

Good luck making your decision - we LOVE our life now.  3 homeschooled kids, bunny, cat ..." home is small and. cozy, but we can go whereever we want, and bring our home with us!

Gary RV Roamer:
Even a small apartment is typically much larger than a RV trailer - a 35 ft trailer is only about 300 sq ft, even with a couple slides. And I would think an 18 year old gal would want to have her own, real bedroom, a good sized bath area, etc. All depends on what she is accustomed to, of course.

And I doubt if you would save much $$ once you factor in the depreciation loss and RV park rental. If you plan to keep and use the RV later, then perhaps the depreciation is a non-issue, but if you expect to sell it after the first year, you are going to take a very large hit.

LeMond:
We full-time with our 14 yr old homeschooling son. We have a 34 ft Pace Arrow motor home. He sleeps on the fold out sofa, and uses the front drivers/passenger area as his cave (complete with TV, game system, computer and tote of goodies). As long as the two of you can "get away", it is very easy to live in an RV with a young adult. From the sounds of things, this is intended to be short term (a year or so), so your needs may be different than what was discussed above. Are you intending on keeping the RV for future use? Some RV parks do rent out park models on a yearly basis. Just be sure to go on line and look for references or comments about that park. The nice thing about owning your own RV is ......if you don't like the neighborhood, just unplug and go. Since you are not familiar with the area, owning a RV may be better than renting anything. It will depend upon what you intend to do with the RV after a year or so..........Good luck  :)

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