daredevil
Well-Known Member
I would freak out if I didnt have a place to call home.
Need second opinion, Am I Crazy or Not
- Thread starter demon seed
- Start date
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If I were in that passion I would sell everything BUT the demon get a home for half the price of yours get two mopeds and strap on the back of that bad boy and go for it.that way you always have someplace to call home and a place to keep the demon....that's my thuat....Artie
hemihenry
Active Member
I did this about 4 years ago and now I'm going crazy! I too have several Mopars and a Winabaygo and have went to so many car shows and other places that I'm now board to death! Just came back from Ocean City Maryland and did not have a good time at all. Money isn't everything. You need to keep busy and not get board like me. Try to use a little more vacation and some different travel. Don't rush.
Dart_Doctor
Asa style
well i didnt read the hole thing but the 1st post im kind of in a hurry but i think u should keep the home incace some thing happens .. the rest can go ... but if u want to keep the mopar well park it here i will keep her in tune tell u get back lol
Dart_Doctor
Asa style
oh rent the home out for now that mite help ya
scampy72
Well-Known Member
sounds awesome to me, but id keep the demon instead mate....;)
maybe sell everything get the RV and just a small apartment or house to call home.... or just a garage with a loft (old barn maybe)
maybe sell everything get the RV and just a small apartment or house to call home.... or just a garage with a loft (old barn maybe)
dodgedifferent2
Well-Known Member
what about your grandchildren? do they have a place to call grandmas house to bring her red hood and basket of goodies? after all they need to hide from the big bad wolf
demon seed
The Original Demon Seed
It'll be a long time before there are any grand children, trust me.
damnimcooltom
Too Cool For School
You can bring the Demon down to me, and I'll be sure to give it some exercise once in a while.
caferacerx
BAND MEMBER
this is a really REALLY BIG beautiful country and it would be a shame not to take your time, a L O N G time seeing it all
..........I say...follow ur dream...........we r planning pretty much 2 do the same thing.....dually truck and 5th wheel.........kim............
demonseed, this is my intentions with my wife also, once owr children grow up and move out!. i love traveling and getting to see the country! go for it, and like you said, if you bore of it, then you can still settle somewhere else. you seem like you got it all planned out already!.lol
caferacerx
BAND MEMBER
the thing about a 5th wheel set up is your stuck in the truck while on the road, hundreds of miles day after day sitting in the cab of a pickup can be trying,
where as in a motor home you can move about while traveling (if your not the driver that is) watch TV, get some sleep in a real bed, make something to eat, even use the bathroom, and a happy passenger can make ALL the difference
where as in a motor home you can move about while traveling (if your not the driver that is) watch TV, get some sleep in a real bed, make something to eat, even use the bathroom, and a happy passenger can make ALL the difference
Yes, you're crazy LOL 
Seriously though, sounds like a nice plan and that's a beautiful coach. Why don't you guys rent one for a month or two first before making the big leap. You'd be surprised how cramped a motorhome can feel for any long stretch of time. I like the idea, but not sure about full time.
Seriously though, sounds like a nice plan and that's a beautiful coach. Why don't you guys rent one for a month or two first before making the big leap. You'd be surprised how cramped a motorhome can feel for any long stretch of time. I like the idea, but not sure about full time.
demon seed
The Original Demon Seed
Yes, you're crazy LOL
Seriously though, sounds like a nice plan and that's a beautiful coach. Why don't you guys rent one for a month or two first before making the big leap. You'd be surprised how cramped a motorhome can feel for any long stretch of time. I like the idea, but not sure about full time.
Like your idea C but around here ya can't rent one that big.
demon seed
The Original Demon Seed
Yea we thought about the 5th wheel also but discounted it for the same reason. Doing a lot of travelling I'd rather do it in a Coach
lou3500
Fla. Cuda Guy
Our retirement plan is a fifth wheel enclosed race car hauler with at least 24-28 foot living quarters for my barracuda and travel to shows/swap meets sellin our stuff. We don't mind close quarters we have lived in mobile homes and travel trailers for the past 25 years and when we get bored the kids houses are home.I'm not a motor coach type of guy i would rather do the fifth wheel thing.
WildCat
Well-Known Member
there are a lot of FULLTIMERS out there
not wanting to rain on your parade, BUT my thoughts on owning a motorcoach is kinda like owning a boat.
DEFINITION OF A BOAT: hole in water you throw money in
Motorcoach: SEE boat, just on land, dig a hole and throw it in and burn it
My grandparents did just that in 1970. Grampa sold everything, bought a 20' Champion motorhome and grandma just cried. They travaled and fished all over.
Grandma was being treated for a kidney infection and not too long after the adventure began they said she had cancer. Travel stopped, got an apartment within a mile of their old house and she died a short time later. Grandpa still went fishing some, but kept an apartment because he was never gone that long. Not much fun alone.
I have had the use of a 36' diesel pusher and in it's day was a top of the line coach. They drive great and you can see a lot from up there. BUT there are a lot of places you cannot go with it. SELL THE HONDA AND GET A SATURN, or a JEEP. They can flat tow without any mods. I can hook or unhook Moms Jeep in about 2 minutes and be on the way.
It has a cummins and allison 6 speed and gets about 10 mpg (@ 4+ per gallon) you can stay in a lot of NICE HOTELS for the cost of fuel and what they charge at campgrounds
I have taken it to Carlisle and a few other car shows pulling my 24' car hauler and got 8.8 mpg, the thing was 66 1/2' long not the easiest to get around in. Talk about hard to find a place to park.
So since I have been in motorhomes and traveled some with them for the past 40 years if I were planning on traveling and doing it in a motorcoach here is what i would do.
Sell the house but buy a place to park the coach INSIDE the 6 months you are back north of the border (the weather really ages the coach) a pole barn with a hookup inside and apartment travel till it is no more fun, then give the coach away and go back to a normal life. Resale on used coaches isn't very good.
My parents bought a place in Florida in a retirement community, very reasonable, they both loved it. dad passed 7 years ago and I figured mom would move back home. NOPE, sold her house here and lives full time in Florida and she still LOVES it.
Now for repairs, the cost to keep a motorcoach on the road is HIGH, tires are expensive, oil change, 3 gallons of oil and a filter that is 18" long, oh labor cost $$$$$ and batteries X 5 in the diesel pusher I use. 3 coach 2 starting
Campgrounds, full hookups probably $35-55 a nite maybe more depending on location and time of year, walmart & sams club in most area will let you stay in their parking lot for FREE, but then you might need to run the generator for heat or cooling, most generators use close to 1 GPH depending on load (make sure it is a quite diesel not propane)
New or used they will need repairs. I don't know anyone that has a maintenance free coach, always something to do.
So the thought of FREE SPIRIT travel is not FREE or leisurely
Personally I would rather stay in a nice hotel and have someone clean the room and cook breakfast than have to have the wifey cook and make the bed. It isn't retirement for someone.
Too each his own, if money is no object, you can do whatever you want, just make sure you have a place to call home, you never know when you might need it.
For the last 15 years I could take the motorcoach anytime I wanted. I prefered to stay in hotels drive my truck and haul my cars in enclosed trailer.
The only real advantage is if there is no hotels in the area you want to visit.
Check out renting a house or check out retirement communities in the areas you might like.
keep doing the research, don't make any life changing moves you might regret
IF I were to want to buy something to travel in I would get a Freightliner coach with a stacker trailer, could take BIKE, Car and have plenty of living quarters. If you had to have the vehicle worked on at least you wouldn't have to get a hotel room of stay at the repair shop.
MY 2 CENTS
not wanting to rain on your parade, BUT my thoughts on owning a motorcoach is kinda like owning a boat.
DEFINITION OF A BOAT: hole in water you throw money in
Motorcoach: SEE boat, just on land, dig a hole and throw it in and burn it
My grandparents did just that in 1970. Grampa sold everything, bought a 20' Champion motorhome and grandma just cried. They travaled and fished all over.
Grandma was being treated for a kidney infection and not too long after the adventure began they said she had cancer. Travel stopped, got an apartment within a mile of their old house and she died a short time later. Grandpa still went fishing some, but kept an apartment because he was never gone that long. Not much fun alone.
I have had the use of a 36' diesel pusher and in it's day was a top of the line coach. They drive great and you can see a lot from up there. BUT there are a lot of places you cannot go with it. SELL THE HONDA AND GET A SATURN, or a JEEP. They can flat tow without any mods. I can hook or unhook Moms Jeep in about 2 minutes and be on the way.
It has a cummins and allison 6 speed and gets about 10 mpg (@ 4+ per gallon) you can stay in a lot of NICE HOTELS for the cost of fuel and what they charge at campgrounds
I have taken it to Carlisle and a few other car shows pulling my 24' car hauler and got 8.8 mpg, the thing was 66 1/2' long not the easiest to get around in. Talk about hard to find a place to park.
So since I have been in motorhomes and traveled some with them for the past 40 years if I were planning on traveling and doing it in a motorcoach here is what i would do.
Sell the house but buy a place to park the coach INSIDE the 6 months you are back north of the border (the weather really ages the coach) a pole barn with a hookup inside and apartment travel till it is no more fun, then give the coach away and go back to a normal life. Resale on used coaches isn't very good.
My parents bought a place in Florida in a retirement community, very reasonable, they both loved it. dad passed 7 years ago and I figured mom would move back home. NOPE, sold her house here and lives full time in Florida and she still LOVES it.
Now for repairs, the cost to keep a motorcoach on the road is HIGH, tires are expensive, oil change, 3 gallons of oil and a filter that is 18" long, oh labor cost $$$$$ and batteries X 5 in the diesel pusher I use. 3 coach 2 starting
Campgrounds, full hookups probably $35-55 a nite maybe more depending on location and time of year, walmart & sams club in most area will let you stay in their parking lot for FREE, but then you might need to run the generator for heat or cooling, most generators use close to 1 GPH depending on load (make sure it is a quite diesel not propane)
New or used they will need repairs. I don't know anyone that has a maintenance free coach, always something to do.
So the thought of FREE SPIRIT travel is not FREE or leisurely
Personally I would rather stay in a nice hotel and have someone clean the room and cook breakfast than have to have the wifey cook and make the bed. It isn't retirement for someone.
Too each his own, if money is no object, you can do whatever you want, just make sure you have a place to call home, you never know when you might need it.
For the last 15 years I could take the motorcoach anytime I wanted. I prefered to stay in hotels drive my truck and haul my cars in enclosed trailer.
The only real advantage is if there is no hotels in the area you want to visit.
Check out renting a house or check out retirement communities in the areas you might like.
keep doing the research, don't make any life changing moves you might regret
IF I were to want to buy something to travel in I would get a Freightliner coach with a stacker trailer, could take BIKE, Car and have plenty of living quarters. If you had to have the vehicle worked on at least you wouldn't have to get a hotel room of stay at the repair shop.
MY 2 CENTS
I would try to place a wanted ad on craigslist or something similar in your area. Rent one from a private owner instead of a company IMO. Used coaches are pennies on the dollar. The values are rock bottom right now due to the price of petro. Maybe check into some repos for sale too!! Good Luck....sounds like fun and don't forget to give us a shout out if you make it this way :tongue2:
Watch renting the house thing. If you get bad renters, they will trash the house, get behind in payments, and it will take about 3 months to evict them (while they do more damage to your house). Then you get to go through the wornderful court system to evict them.
Why sell your house to get an expensive RV that will have high maintenance and high depreciation. Usually a house increases in value/equity.
And how long will it take to get bored living out of an RV? Wouldn't take long for me.
Why sell your house to get an expensive RV that will have high maintenance and high depreciation. Usually a house increases in value/equity.
And how long will it take to get bored living out of an RV? Wouldn't take long for me.
Terry, without reading the rest of the replies, I will throw my 2 cents worth in.
I think you may regret going that route. You are putting your eggs in one basket so to speak. My wife and I have been talking about the same type of thing as we are also in your age bracket and above. Our house is also way to big for just the 2 of us and we are in a similar financial situation as you, (maybe not quite as good). We have done a fair bit of research into what we want to do. Here is what we are thinking.
Build a new smaller house in an area we like that is not grown up.
Sell our present house, big profit there. Not just money wise but in the amount of work to keep it up.
Rent an all inclusive condo in the area of Florida we like for the winter months. (they can be had cheap and are rentable for any time period you want)
Keep her Murano for transportation to and from Florida and any other place we would like to travel.
We would also probably sell our cottage. It would hurt me a little but I can live with it.
Dispose of all vehicles we don't need.
The big advantage to going this route is you can walk away from the condo at any time. You don't need insurance, don't pay taxes or upkeep. They are much cheaper and more convient than owning your own place.
As far as seeing other parts of the continent, we would do that as well, but stay in hotels. What you save in gas from the R.V. pays for the hotels.
Just our thoughts. I don't think there is a perfect way to do it, but the way we are thinking about gives us a bit of a safety net.
Have fun no matter what you decide.
Jack
I think you may regret going that route. You are putting your eggs in one basket so to speak. My wife and I have been talking about the same type of thing as we are also in your age bracket and above. Our house is also way to big for just the 2 of us and we are in a similar financial situation as you, (maybe not quite as good). We have done a fair bit of research into what we want to do. Here is what we are thinking.
Build a new smaller house in an area we like that is not grown up.
Sell our present house, big profit there. Not just money wise but in the amount of work to keep it up.
Rent an all inclusive condo in the area of Florida we like for the winter months. (they can be had cheap and are rentable for any time period you want)
Keep her Murano for transportation to and from Florida and any other place we would like to travel.
We would also probably sell our cottage. It would hurt me a little but I can live with it.
Dispose of all vehicles we don't need.
The big advantage to going this route is you can walk away from the condo at any time. You don't need insurance, don't pay taxes or upkeep. They are much cheaper and more convient than owning your own place.
As far as seeing other parts of the continent, we would do that as well, but stay in hotels. What you save in gas from the R.V. pays for the hotels.
Just our thoughts. I don't think there is a perfect way to do it, but the way we are thinking about gives us a bit of a safety net.
Have fun no matter what you decide.
Jack
shadango
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2009
- Messages
- 814
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The same could be said about owning an old Mopar, couldnt it?
Its only a "hole in the water" if you buy it on a whim -- you don not have time for it or lose interest qucikly and do not use it regularly.
But if its a hobby you love, the toy is worth the cost IMHO.
I ride a street motorcycle . Some guys I know spend money every year for chrome and insurance and yet they put maybe 1,000 miles on the bike, waiting for only the perfect day to ride (and in SW PA, there are not many of those). That is the very description of a "hole in the water".
I have the same expenses but ride every day, sun or rain or snow. It actually saves me money in commuting costs as well as the cost for prescription anti-depressents since riding helps keep me sane. LOL
Sound to me like you have wanted to do this. I agree with another poster who said you should rent one of the same units you are looking to buy first. AT that price, it could be a major disappointment if you buy it and then find that after a month you hate it. Living on the road takes a certain sort of free spirit -- if you have lived in a house all your life it could be a major shock.
But man, sounds like a great plan to me.
Would love to know what you are invested in...my 401K tanked like everyone else's and I will probably never retire now....LOL
demon seed
The Original Demon Seed
Quote: Would love to know what you are invested in...my 401K tanked like everyone else's and I will probably never retire now....LOL
Well first off it's what I don't invest in, like absolutely no mutual funds. Why would you want to give them 2-4% of your money and if the market tanks you can bet they'll still take there cut. I also send no money to the States, haven't for 3 yrs. I also don't buy banks cuss their dividends suck. What I buy exclusively are ETF's, most with I Shares (Blackrock). ETF's are essentially a basket of investments like the Energy (XEG) one will have stocks in it from oil, gas and power companies. Their fees are usually around
.5% and mostly I'm into Real Estate Trusts (REITS), Pipeline Trusts and what are called Real Return Bonds. Essentually if they don't pay out a minimum of 5%/yr. they don't get my money. I just resently started buying a monthly income ETF that pays 5-6%/yr and the distributions deposited monthly in my accounts which most ETF's do anyway. So far this year even with all the ups and downs of the markets it been mostly up and I'm up 9% for the year.Your ETF's work the same in the US as ours but you got to do your homework. All the banks here in Canada, and I'm sure in the US, allow every client to open Self Directed Investment Accounts both registered and non-registered. Your 401K's and our RRSP's would go into the registered account and are tax deferred. Once open you go online and buy what ever you want on any stock market in the world and pay a one time broker fee of 10 to 20 bucks, more homework.
Well first off it's what I don't invest in, like absolutely no mutual funds. Why would you want to give them 2-4% of your money and if the market tanks you can bet they'll still take there cut. I also send no money to the States, haven't for 3 yrs. I also don't buy banks cuss their dividends suck. What I buy exclusively are ETF's, most with I Shares (Blackrock). ETF's are essentially a basket of investments like the Energy (XEG) one will have stocks in it from oil, gas and power companies. Their fees are usually around
.5% and mostly I'm into Real Estate Trusts (REITS), Pipeline Trusts and what are called Real Return Bonds. Essentually if they don't pay out a minimum of 5%/yr. they don't get my money. I just resently started buying a monthly income ETF that pays 5-6%/yr and the distributions deposited monthly in my accounts which most ETF's do anyway. So far this year even with all the ups and downs of the markets it been mostly up and I'm up 9% for the year.Your ETF's work the same in the US as ours but you got to do your homework. All the banks here in Canada, and I'm sure in the US, allow every client to open Self Directed Investment Accounts both registered and non-registered. Your 401K's and our RRSP's would go into the registered account and are tax deferred. Once open you go online and buy what ever you want on any stock market in the world and pay a one time broker fee of 10 to 20 bucks, more homework.
Frankie
Member #9641
Demon seed said:
Opinion: Yes you're crazy.
2nd. Opinion: And your mother dresses you funny, too.
Brad426
Well-Known Member
I have a buddy that was thinking the same way for his retirement. Now Brent is a guy who researches everything to death and spent a year looking into the full time Rv thing. I did it myself when I retired (for the first time at 38). I got bored and could not keep up to the 65+ party folks...LOL. Brent went on a one month RV shopping trip to AZ & CA. After he crunched all the $ and pros and cons. He and his wife bought a Nice top end SUV and went on tour. They found that buying a $100,000.00 plus RV, paying on average $30.00 to $60.00 to park it. was way more than traveling in style & staying in very nice places. Gawd forbid something on a desil pusher breaks and all the other cost. Mysel I bought a very clean Leasure Travel Class B with 17K miles and self supporting. It's great for the two of us, parks any place and the 5.9 is great on fuel. My advice is know what you want to travel like and look at it on paper. DON'T sell you Mopar, store it and yiou stuff until you settle or take it with you. It's way cheaper than buying a Provost bus with marble floors. I have found that once I get some place & camp set up. I'm bored, what's next? The adventure is on the road and being flexable economicaly. There are lots of great full time RV sites as well. Good luck & enjoy life.
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