From South to West and Back Again

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Kramer1113

Member
Joined
Oct 6, 2016
Posts
15
In our introduction I think I made to brief a point as to what we think we would like to do.
We own our home here in Florida and are nearing retirement. With several trips to Yellowstone National Park under our belts we just love the west.
While we want to keep our home in Florida we want to be able to not only explore the west, but also have the freedom to explore this great nation of ours.
So, the early thought is to have an additional slab poured for parking the RV here at home (We live in a rural area on an acre of land)
and finding a piece of property somewhere out west (My choice would be Montana in the Bozeman area-ish) where we can pour a slab, run water, sewer and electric and put up a large shed/garage to park a car in. The RV isn't going to stay stationary, we just want to have some land and a staging point where we can go to and from to explore.
I am either 4 minutes from retirement or 4 years from retirement, at this point I'm OK with either. We do not own an RV and that shopping experience is soon to come. But first we want to rent a few different Class A's to see what we like and don't like.

Is this just a pipe dream or does anyone do this kind of thing? This site is our first outreach into the RV community.
 
Putting in a personal RV park is very expensive especially if you are only going to use it a few night a year. Much cheaper just to stay at an RV park.
 
I guess I never looked at it as a Personal RV Park. I think I was looking at it as a homestead that we may live on for a few weeks a year and later let the kids inherit.
I guess we don't yet have an understanding of what owning an RV will be like for us.
 
Hi, welcome to the forum. Right off the bat you get points for starting your research before you actually take the plunge.  And to your question, yes it is absolutely possible.  Many folks, me included have a home base and still travel the country. We travel 8-9 months a year and only hit the home base for brief periods.  Finding a rural lot to build on shouldn't be too much of a problem in the areas that you mention.  Some states or counties may have regulations about just putting in a slab with out the house. 

It would represent a significant investment, and before you make the decision to buy I would travel a bit in the areas you are thinking of and look at the big picture of the area.  Many folks will travel and just stay in a RV park for 6 months, and then the next season, move on to somewhere else.

Hang around, you will probably get many different opinions on your plans. 
 
We keep our RV at our rural Florida home - don't even need a slab. I ran power and water, and the house sewer clean-out isn't far away so we use a macerator pump to dump tanks if needed.

Setting up an RV site on an empty lots takes more effort& $ (and may not be legal everywhere), but certainly is do-able and many people have "rv lots". Putting in a sewer system (probably septic) can be expensive in some places. So is power if there is not already a service entrance on the property. Whether it's "too expensive" is a personal choice.
 
I like the idea of renting a spot at an actual RV park.
You can even put up a car port.

Much lower cost, and it can change location from time to time as your wandering takes you further afield.
 
We live in SW Pa. Have a pad next to the house with full hook-up. The wife's sister in Denver has a pad next to her house that she uses for parking. When we show up. We park the HM on it. The youngest son lives outside of Bloomfield MN. He owns 2 lots. The empty lot is his storage area. It also has full hook-up for our MH.
 
Here you go. One and a third acres near Bozeman Montana for sale right now.

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/1-Sir-Arthur-Dr_Bozeman_MT_59718_M79856-81034

A mere $172,000. I bet you can steal it for $160,000.
 
As Sarge said, thank you for coming here before purchase!  Your plan to rent is wise, as well!

Your plan is certainly possible, but pricey compared with staying in an RV park.  No up front capital. Easy relocation. No fixed utility costs.

Setting up hook ups at your FL base is a great idea, with or without a slab.

Please stay with us and read lots of threads.  You will be amazed at what you will learn.  I was!  This will better prepare you for the "big leap"
 
Thank You for the replies. SeilerBird, I can do much better but thanks for the effort...
One thing I know for sure is that putting in utilities does not get less expensive with time and if a property does not have them the appreciated value of the property can well be worth it.
I like the idea of a slab as its clean and when its time to work on something I'm not one to prefer laying in the dirt. (However my years doing shade tree mechanics were more than fun).
My hook-ups here in Florida will be easy as we have a well, septic and underground electric. My hook ups are all within 20 feet of the planned slab area. I am lucky that there are many homes in my area that have RV's in the yard. I'm good to go here as far as Zoning.

I have already learned a lot reading here. I may have gotten lucky and guessed that the floor plan was just about the most important decision maker but now it will be a focus.
I also know that my wife and I are the kind of people who will enjoy Boondoging. I just need to understand more about the legal issues involved. I'm almost 56 so jail time isn't something I have time for.
I Believe I would like a Diesel pusher but do need to really get a better understanding of all the offerings. I have some diesel experience so I'm not new to it compared to a standard internal combustion engine.
My wife is enjoying reading much on the site. She is trying to figure out if it would be better to just buy another house and RV back and forth... No Way says I.  :)
I appreciate everyones time, not just in this thread but the wealth of information contained within these many pages. Knowledge is power and what you are all providing here is power to the RV community as well as to a guy like me who will go into a dealership well armed with knowledge beyond my years.
 
Definitely put your full hookup RV pad at your house in Florida since you allowed to have one. This will come in super handy once you own an RV.

If I were you, I would put up several full hookups  and space them generously.

I have stayed at several backyard RV parks, and enjoyed them immensely. One was quite a hoot. It was run by identical twin brothers in their 70's with beards flowing down their  Osh by Gosh overall dressed bellies. I swear we could have made a comedy show based on that funky backyard park and their whimsical antics.
 
Kramer1113 said:
Thank You for the replies.
I appreciate everyones time, not just in this thread but the wealth of information contained within these many pages. Knowledge is power and what you are all providing here is power to the RV community as well as to a guy like me who will go into a dealership well armed with knowledge beyond my years.

Thank you for your kind comments.  That is why many of us are here - to help others.
 
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