Full Timers - lease or sell house

[Riptorn]

This is definitely a tough one, and we struggled in making our decision. Ultimately we chose to sell the house and store all our furniture and belongings in a cargo container. And glad we did. Being on the road and not having to worry about a house and property made for stress free travel. It also opened the door to potentially finding a new place to call home.

We contemplated renting, but that meant finding the perfect tenants so we could come back to a house that was well cared for. And having renters isn't without its own headaches. You can get a management firm to coordinate all this, as you indicated, but the house is still going to be in the back of your mind. We wanted to be free of that, and to do so the choice was clear.

As others have indicated, getting out of the housing market and then back in can come at cost. But there are two sides to that coin and we don't have to think too far back in history to recall a downturned market. As attached to our home as we were, once we hit the road the emotional attachment was gone. Our focus has become our travels, new places to see, new friends we'll meet, and our motorhome ... which is more aptly thought of as our home.

Another full-timer corrected me not long after we started full-timing when I said we were homeless. She said "You're not homeless, your houseless. Your home is parked right there."

Good luck with whatever route you decide to take house wise. And as far as full-timing goes, I hope you enjoy it as much as we have. Safe travels.

[SloPoke]

My parents contemplated this very thing 30 years ago. They were in good financial shape and ended up keeping the house and proceeded to head out as "full timers". Even though they were all the way across the United States, they would eventually find their way back to the old homestead for one reason or another. Usually they were back for a medical reason, or a mechanical need on their 5'er that would end up in the shop for a month or two (as CW always takes 2 months to repair anything).

A month or two later, they were back out on the road. They did this for about 10 years until they found a new place that they wanted to live, sold the old house... moved and old age set in.

They always said... gotta have a backup plan. Keeping the house was their backup plan.

[wabirch]

Enjoying reading these comments. While not contemplating a choice any time soon, if my health was still good enough I'd try it for a year, maybe see if I am any good at being a camp ground host. Only then would I sell our place.

[SloPoke]

Originally Posted by wabirch

Enjoying reading these comments. While not contemplating a choice any time soon, if my health was still good enough I'd try it for a year, maybe see if I am any good at being a camp ground host. Only then would I sell our place.

I have to give some credit to those who are (or have been) a Camp Host.

Me? No way I could do it... Would not even try it for a week, not even at the most awesome campground in the world! Not trying to take this off topic, but I have talked to quite a few of those who were USFS camp hosts that were full-timers and were camp-hosts just so they can have a free campsite. My Hats off to them.

[wags999]

Originally Posted by Joan617

We are planning to be full time RVers later this year. We are trying to decide whether to fully commit and sell our house and belongings or store our things and rent the house (using a management company). Full timers- what did you do? Do you wish you had done it differently? Advice

What are your reasons for going full time? How much Rving have you done in the past? How long have you been "on the road"? Full timing is great for some, and a nightmare for others. From what I have read, most full timers last a couple years and than go back to part timing. We have part timed for 8 years traveling or work kamping for 4 to 6 months a year. Always look forward to getting on the road, and always look forward to getting back to our stick and brick. Older we get and more miles under our belts, the more we enjoy our stick and brick. I can see a time when we will travel less and stay "home" more...most of the friends we have made along the road are in the same boat.



If you have not traveled for long periods of time, months at a stretch, I would try it before you make such a major decision. Sometimes things sound romantic or exciting, and when you get in it, it doesn't live up to expectations.



Good Luck with your choices...


Is it spring yet?

[Scott_Trailer_Newbe]

If you are financially set, you can’t make bad financial decisions based off emotions. Sell it, invest the money and move on to your new lifestyle.

[whereswardlaw]

We did a 4 month road trip in our 1st RV after being laid off. Had a blast, but having friends and neighbors help take care of the house, mow the lawn, collect mail that didn't get forwarded to the mail service, etc. etc. (there's always something that comes up) we decided it would be less hassle to not have the house.

So, a year after our initial 4 month big trip we decided to go fulltime in the MH. We upgraded to a bigger rig for more fulltime comfort and decided to sell the house and virtually all belongings. Couldn't be happier.

We looked into a property management company, what the house would lease for, etc. and it all looked reasonable, I might have even made a little money, but the hassle of worrying about it, extra tax issues, major appliance breakdowns, paying to store a bunch of furniture... it all seemed like more hassle than we wanted to worry about.

We've now been on the road full time for 17 months and are not sorry at all that we sold the house (Especially since 1 month after we sold it, Hurricane Harvey hit Houston and flooded our nearly new house! We'd be happy even if the Hurricane hadn't hit it )

It took a lot of prep. My wife spent months slowly scanning all our family photo albums so we have them all digitally now and stored locally and in the cloud.

It has been very freeing to get rid of 30 years of built up junk. Oh, yeah I miss my drill press and band saw once in a while, but I really don't need them.

You can see some of our travels at whereswardlaw.com

Good Luck... I hope you enjoy full timing like we do!
Eric

[HoGo]

Should this not be a question you ask the above rather then folks w/o info on your financial health???

[Midnightmoon]

Originally Posted by HoGo

Should this not be a question you ask the above rather then folks w/o info on your financial health???

But many of us stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

Seriously, that is good advice.

[Donel1950]

Be sure to get good references on a property management company and really go over the small print near the end of your contract. Ours left us hanging with over $39,000 in repairs (not wear and tear) that we had to make after we fired them. It's alway that one company out of 100's that leaves a bad taste.

[Bduck100]

We began full time over a year ago and have not looked back. Sold the home and put furniture in storage. Our goal over the next 2 yrs is to find our Nirvana and then most likely stop as full timers. Our experience has been overwhelming positive. We stop periodically and store the motor home and fly to visit children and grandchildren. We are always excited about retrieving our motor home and continuing our trek.

[Joan617]

This is pretty much the same conclusion we have arrived at. Thanks for your input.

[Grandpawlee]

Originally Posted by Joan617

We are planning to be full time RVers later this year. We are trying to decide whether to fully commit and sell our house and belongings or store our things and rent the house (using a management company). Full timers- what did you do? Do you wish you had done it differently? Advice

We have been fulltimers for 15 years. We sold our primary residence right off but kept a rental that we had with good renters. Well two years later that went south while we were 2000 miles away. Our experience with management companies has been dismal. If they get it rented “all is well”! The mailman told us that the last occupants had 12 people getting mail there! No wonder things went south. Any way we spent more than a month and $10,000 to get it back to move in ready. Our advice: Unless you have trusted family that will keep a close eye on your home as a rental, and you think you might want to come back in a year, SELL OUT! Enjoy your freedom. Live the life you have dreamed of. Kiss your stick n mortar issues goodbye! We have toured the country and seen beautiful places and never regretted our choice!!

[rowemi]

Don't count on real estate appreciation, plus there are expenses like taxes, insurance, maintenance, management fees to have someone take care of your property. I think in most cases investing in a index mutual fund is a wiser move than renting out your home.

[spark of insanity]

I am 7 years away from retirement. I am currently getting rid of or throwing away a lot of junk I no longer need. The main thing is I am going to keep the house, get a mover and send my childs things to her if she is established or put it into storage. I plan to close up the house and travel full time RV. I will keep the house but use it as a base if I need to. Otherwise if push comes to shove, sell or rent and live near where my child moves to. Planning is key. I would say keep the house but get rid of what you no longer need, give away to the children and then close up the house and then decide. Good luck.

[ARMYG]

That is a hard decision to make. My wife and I talked about it and have friends that went full time. I love my garage tinkering/projects and she loves her sewing and other hobbies. Our bills are high, we pay between $500 and $600 per month for utilities and are always strapped for cash.. social security. pension income..We recently did a reverse mortgage which freed up $1000 per month. Sometimes we have to think outside the box to stretch our dollars. Those who went full time mentioned that after a while you wont miss the things you had when you owned a house. Still going full time eliminates the wasteful spending of owning a house.