New here, planning a renovation.

[Livaqueous]

Hello all!

I am new to the forum, and have been researching living full time for about a year. I'm planning on selling my condo next summer (like 12-18 months from now), putting stuff in storage and full timing in a 30+' RV.

I joined to gain information, and fuel my daydreams. I've started my own business this year doing residential renovations and building hardwood furniture. I want to build a 14-16' enclosed trailer out into a mobile shop, and take my skills on the road, living in a 30-36' RV with my soon-enough-to-be wife (in December), our dog, two cats and a small ball python. I'm happy to share more details about my plan to support myself and living situation, and am interested in advice, but that's not why we're here, is it?

What I am here for:

1. Advice about RV's: What to look for in a MH I want to renovate, whether my initial feelings about a TT not being right for us* are valid, how to shop for one, how to find a mechanic & have the RV inspected before purchase, etc, etc, etc. One specific piece of information I've been researching lately is what type of body and roof are the easiest to maintain, and which models are built this way.

2. Education: Searching through the forums has yielded a great deal of information, but I find myself travelling down one rabbit hole after another. Based on what I want to do, any suggestions to help me navigate would be much appreciated!

3. Direction. I have a pretty general idea, elaborated below, for what I'd like, and what I could work with. Direction on where to find it, what I'm not looking at but should be, or vise versa.

Below is some more contextual info about my situation and plan, if you care to keep reading! Thanks!!!



Our budget is $40,000*. I'm looking at Forest River, Thor, Winnebago, Monaco's, between 2003-2007. One question is how likely am I to find a MH for $25k or less, which won't need more than $10,000 of initial mechanical and cosmetic repairs. I'd like to keep as close as I can to an additional $10k for repairs in a savings account after we set out, but would be comfortable with $6-8,000.

I have full interior and exterior renovation skills; making something water tight, or repairing/replacing an HVAC unit doesn't concern me. I know how to weld, but wouldn't bet my safety on it. If I bought an old enough MH to need extensive repair to the chassis or drivetrain, I'd want to save room in my budget for professional help. Do I spend less on a MH in need of more repairs, and how hard is it to find a mechanic to replace the motor and repair the frame in a 20 year old MH? Ideally I find something priced down because of dated interior, which I can redo myself.

*We are waiting between 12-18 months, more if we need to. I expect in 2021 we can add another $4-6,000 to that account.

 

["EZ"]

Welcome from Georgia!

Sounds like an adventure! One thing..........since you're considering the Monaco between 2003-2007 don't forget that Monaco made the Holiday Rambler during that time period. Some of the models are practically identical! And you can usually get the HR models for less money. We love ours! My last question would be how do you plan to advertise your business so that you have enough income to live? If you are travelling from State to State it seems like typical advertising would be ineffectual, would it not? I hope you have much success!

 

[Livaqueous]

Welcome from Georgia!

Sounds like an adventure! One thing..........since you're considering the Monaco between 2003-2007 don't forget that Monaco made the Holiday Rambler during that time period. Some of the models are practically identical! And you can usually get the HR models for less money. We love ours! My last question would be how do you plan to advertise your business so that you have enough income to live? If you are travelling from State to State it seems like typical advertising would be ineffectual, would it not? I hope you have much success!

Oh I never connected that! I'd seen some Holiday Ramblers, I'm literally browsing rvtrader and other used sites just to get an idea of what layout, condition, price point at that budget. I'll pay more attention to them, thank you!

Advertising -- I live in Columbus, OH, been here 20 years. I have contacts in Pittsburgh, PA, North Carolina, and Florida, all who want me to work on their property at some point. At first, my plan is to stick fairly close to these areas, where I can use some connections to help advertise through flyers, cards, and word of mouth. Branch out from any location I've already found work, word of mouth is extremely powerful in this industry. I also have a website, business cards, and am really good at talking to people, meeting new people, and sharing my story. I expect living in an RV I'll get plenty of chances to meet new people.

Most of my income I plan to come from handyman work, renovations, and furniture. I also plan to keep 70% of my capitol investment from my current property to use on real estate opportunities - buying and flipping homes. One of the things I like about this model is that with the handyman and renovation work, I will have an opportunity to wait and only jump on real estate options that look really promising, nothing dicey. No buying sight unseen because I need to create work.

My fiancé is looking for an opportunity for remote work, even 15-20 hours a week or less. Just something that would help us keep a little cash flow in between my jobs. Ultimately I also want her to help me run logistical issues (packaging and shipping, customer outreach, invoices and bookkeeping, etc), but as we set out both of us would prefer if she had some income, even a few hundred a month.

Question is, what am I missing? What could I be focusing on now, a year or more in advance?

 

[Kevin D Pem]

Welcome @Livaqueous glad to have you here.

Quite the intro. Have you considered vintage? Everyone wants to see the vintage rig. What a way to showcase your skills. My work has done just that for me.

The biggest gain with this kind of showcase is you will be among RV owners that always need some work done.

Safari MH would be my pick, for the aluminum body.

 

[Livaqueous]

Welcome @Livaqueous glad to have you here.

Quite the intro. Have you considered vintage? Everyone wants to see the vintage rig. What a way to showcase your skills. My work has done just that for me.

The biggest gain with this kind of showcase is you will be among RV owners that always need some work done.

Safari MH would be my pick, for the aluminum body.

haha, yeah, I figured if I'm gonna introduce myself a year before I buy a rig I might as well explain... I also assume I should make a post in the renovation forum? Thought this could help me find my bearings first.

The only reason I haven't looked at vintage is my underdeveloped mechanical skills. About 4/5 yeas ago I started working on my own vehicles ('99 lexus es & '08 Honda civic), anything my local mechanic says is plausible to do myself. I also started working with my old boss on his RV (a '76 GMC MH, actually), all this for the education. Know a lot more than I did 5 years ago, know these skills will continue to improve. I still felt like I'd be in over my head with anything more than 15-18 years old. I'm thinking, depending on how much I like/dislike renovating the RV compared to brick and mortar homes, I might like to get into some vintage RVs after I've spent a year or two in any RV at all.

Showcasing among RV owners: That's an interesting thought -- so I've also done some basic tool maintenance for people (air compressors, lawnmowers, chisel and knife sharpening, woodworking stuff like bandsaw and jointer tuning), bicycle repair and maintenance, etc.. 90% for friends and family but I do get compensated. I'd LOVE to be able to live somewhere with a small sign out front offering these skills (like "Tool and Machine Maintenance and Sharpening"). I figured this would be more applicable in a vendor setting (paid booth at events and such). My first thought was that I'd be mostly amongst DIYers in an RV park, but do you think in this crowd there are people who would pay out for this kind of work?

Don't know much about Safari! Will look into it now, thank you!! This is the kind of direction I need.... I have so much time, just need to put it to proper use.

 

[Kevin D Pem]

Show casing my cargo trailer and building/rebuilding my 1960 siesta tt in an ltva blm land 4 to 5 years ago still nets me work on others RVs. My latest was

I'll call it a mini B this. I would not have had the work come my way if not for the projects I the past.

 

[AbdRahim]

Show casing my cargo trailer and building/rebuilding my 1960 siesta tt in an ltva blm land 4 to 5 years ago still nets me work on others RVs. My latest was

I'll call it a mini B this. I would not have had the work come my way if not for the projects I the past.

Fantastic, if I see you on the eastern half, in a campground, I will run and get the list of stuff which is above my pay grade..

 

[Livaqueous]

Show casing my cargo trailer and building/rebuilding my 1960 siesta tt in an ltva blm land 4 to 5 years ago still nets me work on others RVs. My latest was

I'll call it a mini B this. I would not have had the work come my way if not for the projects I the past.

woaah. This is very interesting, and unique. The possibilities are only limited by our imagination, aren't they?

Do you support yourself full-time doing this kind of work? How much do you think location (I understand the weathers pretty nice in AZ every time of year) effects your viability?

 

["EZ"]

One good thing about being mobile is that with your line of work you could be a "storm chaser". If you hear about a tornado or a hurricane you could go to the area and be a source of honest and dependable repair work for home owners that face a ton of rip off artists at times like this. Get a photo album together with pictures of past jobs and try to get your past customers to write a short recommendation that you could stick into the album next to the pics. This would give you credibility that other companies wouldn't have.

 

[Kevin D Pem]

woaah. This is very interesting, and unique. The possibilities are only limited by our imagination, aren't they?

Do you support yourself full-time doing this kind of work? How much do you think location (I understand the weathers pretty nice in AZ every time of year) effects your viability?

Well I did this in a wet windy year.

Promised the pics of the Siesta

Well I found them here they are.

rvforums.com

This too netted a winter of work. I am retired and don't need to work. I can tell you that you can stay as busy as you want working on people's RVs.

I like outside the box as you can likely tell. ?

I do bigger jobs, but prefer things like solar installs

Oh yeah I can now say I have a 40 year history self-employed 30 in construction related industry