Ready to take the RV plunge but need your wisdom

[ReadyToGo]

Hello, my name is Rob. Me and my partner Jesse of 25 years currently live in a 4 bedroom 2 1/2 bath house in Ohio with our doggies and a parrot. We feel so alone here in this big house with no kids and empty bedrooms and have been talking about RVing for several years now. We even have 40k in a designated account just sitting there waiting for us to take the plunge... but we are terrified! lol
We are both. I'm 52, and Jesse is 49. We're terrified we're going to buy the wrong type, Class, a dud, or that we'll get out there and find that our fixed incomes just aren't going to cut it. I know we have to be educated beforehand, but there's nothing better than real life experiences and that's why I'm here!
Never having driven an RV before, I'm thinking we should rent one first for a weekend to get a feel for the type we need. I have a Ford Explorer XLT with a tow package that can tow up to 5000 lbs. At first, we were going to get a pull behind, but now we've since convinced ourselves we'd be happier in a motorhome. We plan to spend most of the time on the road and camping. I'm somewhat discouraged that most RVs don't seem to be able to boondock for long periods of time comfortably. The first place we want to travel to is Padre Island National Seashore where you can drive right up to the ocean and stay as long as you want.
My mind has been on trying to decide if we should start out with a Class C or go straight to a Class A. We have just 40k. I've been told the older RVs are the ones I should go for because they were made much more structurally sound, but not sure if that's the case or not. It seems to me Class C's are nearly the same length with similar space as Class As.
We're wondering which class we should start with if there's a state that would be best to purchase from due to less rust and what to look for to get the best deal.
Not sure what else to say except I would be so appreciative of any and all advice, tips, and learning experiences you've been through that would help us.
We also are curious as to what the experiences have been with regard to selling your home to RV full time vs renting it out for extra income. That's something we're trying to figure out as well. Thanks so much in advance for welcoming us to the forum and sharing your vast collective knowledge.

 

[NWIP]

Welcome to the forum I’m sure you will get lots of input to your questions.

I start by saying that full time RVing is not for everyone but we love it. Did not plan on fulltime originally but last year I worked had the opportunity to live in our RV and decided why did I want to purchase real estate when I figured we would only use proxy 4 month a year.
Never considered keeping our home in NY and renting as taxes were way to high and to much upkeep on 8 acre property.

Since you have no experience I think renting first is a great plan without dropping a lot of $ to find out if you like the lifestyle. It will also help with the decision of what you want, class C or ?

Good luck with exploring the opportunity of RV life and the adventures along the way.

 

[Germanrazor]

I can’t advise on Class A or C motor homes as I have a fifth wheel. I am here to say welcome aboard and I am sure you will be guided correctly.

 

[Dan_Frisbie]

First, go sit in a Class C and a Class A. I like the A because the driver and passenger seats convert to living space seats in a A, but not a C. A C has about 6’-8’ of length that is unusable as living area. The A only has about 4’ unusable. Also the C will not comfortable accommodate tall people in the driver’s seat. I’m 6’3”. Nope.once you have that figured out, look at RVs and find a floor plan that you like, a length range, and how much you can spend.
Here’s the important part.
Go see a local RV dealer that is NOT part of a chain and talk to a salesperson and describe what you want. Let that dealership do its job.

 

[Rollin Ollen]

Hello, my name is Rob. Me and my partner Jesse of 25 years currently live in a 4 bedroom 2 1/2 bath house in Ohio with our doggies and a parrot. We feel so alone here in this big house with no kids and empty bedrooms and have been talking about RVing for several years now. We even have 40k in a designated account just sitting there waiting for us to take the plunge... but we are terrified! lol
We are both. I'm 52, and Jesse is 49. We're terrified we're going to buy the wrong type, Class, a dud, or that we'll get out there and find that our fixed incomes just aren't going to cut it. I know we have to be educated beforehand, but there's nothing better than real life experiences and that's why I'm here!
Never having driven an RV before, I'm thinking we should rent one first for a weekend to get a feel for the type we need. I have a Ford Explorer XLT with a tow package that can tow up to 5000 lbs. At first, we were going to get a pull behind, but now we've since convinced ourselves we'd be happier in a motorhome. We plan to spend most of the time on the road and camping. I'm somewhat discouraged that most RVs don't seem to be able to boondock for long periods of time comfortably. The first place we want to travel to is Padre Island National Seashore where you can drive right up to the ocean and stay as long as you want.
My mind has been on trying to decide if we should start out with a Class C or go straight to a Class A. We have just 40k. I've been told the older RVs are the ones I should go for because they were made much more structurally sound, but not sure if that's the case or not. It seems to me Class C's are nearly the same length with similar space as Class As.
We're wondering which class we should start with if there's a state that would be best to purchase from due to less rust and what to look for to get the best deal.
Not sure what else to say except I would be so appreciative of any and all advice, tips, and learning experiences you've been through that would help us.
We also are curious as to what the experiences have been with regard to selling your home to RV full time vs renting it out for extra income. That's something we're trying to figure out as well. Thanks so much in advance for welcoming us to the forum and sharing your vast collective knowledge.

My wife and I have been FT for just over 5 years. We love it. But we have been camping together for a long time before FT. We began with a small tent. Kid(s) arrived so got bigger tent. Kids need to pack more "stuff" so went up to tent trailer. Kids got older and needed more stuff upgraded to truck and trailer. Kids moved out so we needed less stuff. We got older (and wiser) and wanted less hassle setting up and breaking camp so went with small C. Began using small C for work travel. Needed more room went with larger C. Prepared for retirement and full timing thus upgraded to a small A. But keep in mind, we rarely stay put for longer than two weeks. We love to see the country. Thus, we were well aware of our undertaking. Oh, there have been times where we have stayed much longer than we originally though. That is part of the beauty of full timing!

Our short list of why the small A works for us: We are not into "resort" camping. We like Provincial/State/Municipal/COE type parks as well as boon docking. Our home base is in the west and most of the parks we like to use had smaller sites thus a 40 footer most times would not fit. We can fit almost everywhere. (Just an FYI times are changing and so are campgrounds. Lots will now fit larger units now. I am just saying why we went with what we have.) Our class A is gasoline powered thus less expensive to repair and maintain. It provides us with better use of living space than the Cs did, There is more and bigger storage space outside. Larger tank capacities (important when you do not have a full service campsite). A built in generator that allows us to be "fully" self contained when shore power is not an option. And then there is that great big windshield that can be used to see the great outdoors when you are stuck inside. We have used a tow vehicle since we purchased our second class C. Our first toad was a vehicle that was not intended to be towed flat. It didn't stay with us long. We have now used three Jeeps for toads. Again, a personal choice that works well for us.

You and your partner are obviously aware that you really don't need a lot of space. When we had our 3800 sqft stick and brick we used four rooms once the kids were gone. You do not say if you are retired yet. If you are, then you will probably know that you get to "really know" your partner once you are together 24-7-365. Before you retired you probably only had a part time relationship. So before you jump totally into the fire just make sure you can get along.

I really recommend that you rent different types of RVs before buying. There are so many pluses and minuses to each type. Personal taste and life style will be a big factor in YOUR choice. If you and your partner are minimalists, then you can survive in a smaller space. We have friends that FT as well who are not. They have a 40 ft coach and tow a full sized pickup loaded including the front seat when they are on the road and still don't have enough room for their "stuff".

You need to take your time and do a lot of home work before you take any plunge. Once you THINK you have made a decision, perhaps you should rent "the one" for a month and go for a test trip. By the way, we stayed on South Padre for 6 weeks. We didn't stay for free. We had to buy a permit for $25.00. If you do go, watch for storms and wind. Move inland if you think one is coming. We woke up one morning surrounded by the gulf.

We sold our stick and brick. Renting it out we discovered would not work. You can hire a management company to look after things but they don't do much other than collect the rent and skim their fee. We would have angered our (friends) long time neighbors 'cause rental houses usually bring down real-estate values. The proceeds of the sale are invested safely so that when one of us says "enough" we can buy another with no worries.

As far as finances are concerned. Our monthly bills are now pretty low. We have our cell service (including no limit data for the hot spot). Food, which is now a better quality because it's fresher and not frozen. (Small fridge and freezer so we shop every two to three days). A very varied menu because of location changes. We are now just outside of New Orleans and we love Cajun style foods. Clothing needs are 99% casual. Insurance, gasoline, service and maintenance for the Coach and Jeep plus entertainment. You can spend lots or you can spend little. Your choice. We know Full timers that just move from north to south depending on temperatures. They have a serviced lot in the north and boon dock all winter in the south. They don't have much money but they are very happy and comfortable with their predicament. We planned our life style many years ago and are confident that our nest egg will last us out. Including pics of our beach site on South Padre and a map showing where we have traveled in 2022. Just an FYI, we are Canadian and can only stay out of our country for a specific number of days. We move north and south according to temps.

Good luck and safe travels.

Darrell