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Old 12-14-2015, 11:39 PM   #1
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Temporary full time purchase?

We've bought a nice piece of land in the northwest, and will be building a new home over the next year. Planning on buying a fifth wheel to live in during that time.

We've owned three different diesel pusher motorhomes, and a fifth wheel toyhauler. So we're pretty familiar with the whole RV thing, but have not lived in one for any real length of time.

The property already has power, septic system & a well.
I'm thinking something about 36-40' would be reasonable. Some units I've seen online that look good are:
Glendale Titanium 39'
Carriage 37'
Hitch Hiker 38'
Various Keystone units 36-39'

Thinking between 2005-2010 or so. Max price of around $25k.

After the year, we'll sell it, or put it on a vacation lot in the mountainous region. I expect to actually tow it very little besides bringing it to our property. My Chevy 2500HD should be fine for that limited amount of towing.

Thoughts, comments, etc?
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Old 12-15-2015, 12:11 AM   #2
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Cedar Creek, I own one and if the time comes to replace it would buy another without hesitation. Have full timed in it for over 2 years.
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Old 12-15-2015, 06:46 AM   #3
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Anything can be made to work for just one year, but then building a new house frequently takes longer than planned. Carriage and Hitch Hiker would be better choices, but it also depends on price and condition of each unit. Also what about W/D? In an RV, they are pretty limited in what they can do, but then how do you feel about using a laundromat for a year or more?? Or maybe use a portable storage building with it's own water heater and residential W/D. That building could also store tools, etc out of the weather and yet out of the RV as well.

When our house burned in a wildfire, we lived 3-1/2 months in an RV park. It was nice using their W/D and showers when I got really dirty working each day. But I had to store many things under the RV as there was no other option. Built the 18x44 ft RV garage first and then moved the RV into that for the remainder of the project. That also gave me storage and work space for things like staining and varnishing the cabinets, etc.
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Old 12-15-2015, 07:02 AM   #4
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Originally Posted by dayle1 View Post
how do you feel about using a laundromat for a year or more??

dayle1, I think your estimate of a year is a little long. Personally, I've found that it generally only takes around 6 months for the clothes to dry in a laundromat!
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Old 12-15-2015, 01:52 PM   #5
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Thanks, Larry. The property does already have a small cabin, which I'll use for an office. It also has a decent garden type shed, which we would put our washer & dryer in. I'll have a standard type 500 gallon propane tank installed, which should keep the RV supplied nicely, then plumb it to the house. If all that fails, we'll do laundry at our daughter's home, half an hour away...

The site also has a nice hot tub, so we've got that going for us.
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Old 12-15-2015, 03:27 PM   #6
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Thoughts, comments, etc?
I did what you're suggesting - Gasser class-A, 32" or so. Bought at auction. We did it for 9 months. We put in a 250 gallon water tank before the well was drilled and neighbors filled it for us.

We built a pole barn and did laundry in it.

Biggest issue: When it got cold, water lines would freeze and constant use of propane in the winter. You've got the propane issue licked.

We sold the RV for a bit more than we paid for it. If I had to do it again, I'd probably do a 5th wheel.
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Old 12-18-2015, 07:30 PM   #7
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Since you aren't planning on using your proposed 5'er on the road, yes, your 2500 can probably safely tow your coach home. Get the real numbers for axles, gross and combined weights, and actual weights of the axles of the truck.

I'd suggest you look at DRV, New Horizons, and Teton as brands that would be suitable for your use.

You HAVE checked with the zoning powers that be to make sure that what you want to do is legal, haven't you?
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Old 12-19-2015, 12:16 AM   #8
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Since you aren't planning on using your proposed 5'er on the road, yes, your 2500 can probably safely tow your coach home. Get the real numbers for axles, gross and combined weights, and actual weights of the axles of the truck.

Yep, I think the truck can handle it... We regularly (and quite easily) towed a 16,000# toyhauler with it for five years.
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Old 02-17-2016, 08:21 PM   #9
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Having looked at several units, our top choice is the Montana 3582RL. This model has a good size kitchen, and the split bath we prefer. While Montana's are not a particularly high end trailer, they seem adequate for our use. I've increased our budget to the mid $30k's, as the older trailers I saw seemed pretty dated & worn. Haven't actually come across any Mobile Suites or Carriage units to look at, guess they aren't too popular here out west... Unfortunately, the only decent deals on Montana 3582's seem to be either in TX or farther.

Dealing with RV salespeople has been the usual annoyance: uneducated, flaky, non-listeners, etc.
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Old 02-19-2016, 02:50 PM   #10
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Not sure how far you want to go, but there is a 39' Glendale Titanium in Mesa, AZ that is in your price range. If you have any questions about this trailer, let us know since we know it's background.


http://www.rvtrader.com/dealers/Powe...39QS-116473071
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