CA Couple buying (a) RV, (b) Galveston Beach Home, (c) Boise Home - NEED ADVICE!

[ceopartners]

We have a home in LA/OC on 1 acre lot.  I'm 60 - wife 50.  I can work my business from anywhere or 'nowhere.'

CALIFORNIA - We want to sell our overpriced, over-valued, over-taxed, California home ASAP.

TEXAS - We are thinking after some years of study, we want to purchase a place on Galveston Island such as an elevated first or second row beach home, canal home, (possibly short-term rent-able), maybe a residential duplex property (main house/guest house), possibly purchasing an interesting Strand area property such as a loft or commercial space viable as a law office w/loft above. 

IDAHO / COLORADO - We are considering a second property in Boise, ID, or somewhere in Colorado.  Same RE types as Galveston.

RV PURCHASE - An RV might complete  our 'package' (thus registered here today)  allowing us to casually travel between the Gulf and our 'cooler option' for the ugliest of Houston area heat.

While our RV travels might technically be 'headed toward' the cooler property from Galveston, or from the cold snow southward to the gulf island, these trips could become excuses to visit 2 adult kids: one a counselor we'll leave behind in Southern California, the other now on his 3rd year, multi-months-long hiking adventures.  Each year 'hiker son' walks through 3 to 5 states to where we could meet up with him and his hiking crew at different RV-friendly spots in the mountain states close to the various trails. In 2016 the little 'walkabout' was from Mexico to Canada on the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail - Sierras), this year the trail traversed: New Mexico - Arizona - Colorado- Wyoming  - ending in Montana via the CDT (Continental Divide Trail - Rockies). He is currently in Montana.

ADVICE, COMMENTS & WISDOM WELCOMED - On ANY or ALL of these topics, we feel the best education is advice/council from others who have paved these highways and targeted these goals and outcomes before.  Why repeat silly mistakes? Why miss out on doing something differently? My bride and I are seriously seeking advice & feedback! 

While I could RE-list the topics in first paragraph in a bulleted layout, I suspect that might be foolish by limiting what YOU found of interest to share with us. If something resonated with you, please share.

"You Don't Know - What You Don't Know" - I love that philosophy.

Anything at all to share with us. Do not hesitate.

 

[Isaac-1]

It is hard to answer this without knowing what you enjoy, You say Colorado and Idaho, but why not also include Wyoming and Montana in that list?  I have been through northern Idaho a few times, but have never visited Boise, so I will not comment on it.  As to Galveston, I live about 160 miles from there, so it is the sort of place we will occasionally visit on a weekend trip.  My concern about buying any property on the gulf coast is the chance for it to be wiped out by hurricanes any given year.  Galveston itself is ok, a canal home with a boat dock could be nice if you have a bay boat, and enjoy such things, but the climate is less than ideal.  Galveston can be nice in the shoulder seasons, is hot in the middle of summer and reasonably nice in the shoulder seasons, though December-February can be hit or miss, with lots of cold rain and dreary weather interspersed with a few nice days with highs in the 70's.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

I won't debate your property/location choices - that's just personal preference.  We do much like what you propose -  our primary home is in the sunny South (Florida) but we escape the summer heat to the western NC mountains.

Consider the possibility of living in the RV during the summer or winter.  Lease or own an RV site at either the northern or southern destination. There are a couple advantages to that:  (1) you can choose a different location if you get bored or find you've made a mistake; (2) You have one less piece of property to finance and care for.  A 40-45 foot motorhome makes for a rather nice residence and as well as a luxury travel vehicle.


For what you propose, I think a motorhome is best suited for traveling between two fixed sites.  A 32-36 ft gas chassis coach is comfortable but less expensive to buy and maintain than a diesel pusher type.  However, if the budget is generous, the diesel would be nicer to drive and more upscale to as well.  In either case, you would tow a car behind it.  Economically, though, a truck and trailer is probably a better bet.  Unless you accept my "live in" advice, the RV is probably going to sit unused 10+ months per year.  A trailer is less expensive to maintain and more amenable to disuse than a motorhome.  If you are the sort of person who wants to own a pick-up truck anyway, that may be a good choice.

 

[ceopartners]

Gary,

Thank you for taking time to share your life-lessons with us. I was surprised by your topics, wisdom and clarity.

I could not have predicted your unexpected and valuable advice.  You know, I had never considered any EXPECTATIONS of what the replies might be like from me posting a significant ?life question?  to people never known...

Considering this right now, it surprised me to recognize that -- for decades ? other than the occasional focused posting to neighbor-strangers on www.nextdoor.com, I have not written or publicly-shared a QUESTION seeking replies or public discussion.  In fact, the last time ?reaching out? was back in the ?CompuServe and AOL? days of a fledgling Internet.

My working life is the Internet - working with servers, clouds, websites, connecting lawyers and individuals daily: I see 100?s of ?authentically blessed people? weekly. But that?s business. Your reply awakened me.

I totally overlooking the magic of getting a letter.  You shared unexpected ?takes and opportunities? we never considered.  For example, the lease and/or purchase of RV pads.  I think I have a grasp of the ?solid value? of having one or more ?home-base? pads.  It must represent an assured, no-surprises destination. I?d assume where one feels ?we?re home? with expected surroundings and people. I presume you can?t but help it to make new acquaintances (even friends) who adjoin you in those locations. 

Thank you for the wonderful addition to our fluid ?plan-of-operation? spreadsheet and vision. The addition is PADS, a newly inserted column in my Excel workbook as of 5 minutes ago.

Blessings,

-Keith