Community Forums

Vetrncwby · 10-04-2009, 07:18 AM

Hello all,

I have a dream to be a fulltimer when its possible. I was wondering what other fulltimers do as far as thier house is concerned. Do you sell it or keep it? Thanks for your comments.

Hitchhiker · 10-04-2009, 07:23 AM

Some sell them, others keep them as a home base.

Route 66 · 10-04-2009, 07:30 AM

It has a lot to do with the ability to afford to keep the house.

I believe most sell the house to travel fulltime.

TXiceman · 10-04-2009, 08:29 AM

If you keep it, will it set empty or will you lease it. Being a landlord on the raod is a major PAIN.

Personally, we will sell ours if and when we go full time.

Ken

Bones · 10-04-2009, 09:08 AM

We fianlly decided to sell everthing, best thing we ever did! Our children are enjoying any household contents they wanted in their homes and we enjoy seeing it put to good use when visiting! We are living our dream!

BigSkyBob · 10-04-2009, 10:04 AM

We sold our HUGE house on HUGE acreage prior to the real estate downturn. The house required endless maintenance and attention so we purchased a new smaller house on a half acre. We then ordered a new coach and our daughter agreed to sell her house and live in ours when we go south for the winter. The house we purchased gives her privacy when we are there in the summer months but it took us a long search to find that arrangement. So that works well for us but I realize our circumstance is possibly unique but it could be a possibility for some.

DocUSAF · 10-04-2009, 10:24 AM

We sold our family home, (my kid finally left the nest). We then downsized completely to a smaller unit that requires very little to no maintainence. We now enjoy/travel most of the year by motorcoach (snow-birds), and return to the homebase for med's/dental/check-up, ect. For DW and myself "Less is more"!.

paz · 10-04-2009, 01:16 PM

I believe most people sell, but you don't have to. We sold because we felt it wasn't a good idea to leave a house sit closed up for months at a time. You have to worry about the heat going out in the winter and cutting grass in the summer. We didn't want to saddle our daughter with running over to check on it all the time, and we didn't want the expense of the taxes if we weren't going to be there.

We also didn't want the hassle of renting the house out. A renter won't take care of the place the way you would.

Barbaraok · 10-05-2009, 08:38 AM

You really won't get the true experience of being a fulltimer if you are tied to a house somewhere. If you have to go back each summer to take care of it, etc., then that really is snowbirding. Nothing wrong with that - just another option on how to enjoy RVing.

Barb

mythplaced · 10-05-2009, 10:04 AM

I so want to fulltime..

But my DW won't hear of it. She needs to have a "home base"...

Just as soon as the market comes back somewhat we are going to sell the "big house" and find a smaller lower maintenance place, (in a state with low taxes)

Chickadee · 10-06-2009, 08:13 AM

G'morning from Mtn. View, Arkansas:

We're ALL just a picken and a grinned here, and it's GREAT.

Re: Sell/No Sell question,..... some do and some don't, and...quite a few who don't, DO after a year or so of fulltiming and worryin about and tryin to care for that house they had.

For example, we lived in Northern Minnesota and when we decided to hit the road we had NO desire to take the baggage associated with maintaining a home with us, so we sold the works and....this works for us. I'll tell ya one thing,.... you won't believe the feeling ya get after selling all that "STUFF" when ya finally discover that "stuff" and "things" are not what's important in life. We found that what others have said is true...."all that "stuff" and "things" end up owning YOU. Some folks need that....and that's o.k. But if you do sell all and hit the road, be prepared to experience a feeling of freedom you've not experienced before.

Steve & Lynette

Barbaraok · 10-06-2009, 08:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chickadee

But if you do sell all and hit the road, be prepared to experience a feeling of freedom you've not experienced before.

Steve & Lynette

I couldn't agree more!

Barb

Ken-55 · 10-06-2009, 09:57 AM

Steve,

Great question! We too, look forward the the day we can full-time. It's probably 10 or so years in the future.

I have a very small house, less than 1000' from Long Island Sound, in an area that was mostly beach cottages years ago. Some were updated for year-round use (like mine), others knocked down and replaced with traditional houses (some on double lots). I would estimate that the sq. footage of homes in the area varies from under 600 sq. ft. to around 3000 sq. ft. It's a nice area and would be convenient to came back to in the summer and around the holidays to be close to family.

If I could get zoning approval, (I'd need a variance to build closer to a side boundary) I would like to go this route:

RV Chalet

BUT . . . I can relate to Chickadee and Barb's feelings about freedom . . . sounds very appealing!

Sometimes, I think I'll just knock the house down, put in a concrete pad and hook-ups, a screened-in deck/patio and storage shed and use it as a "home" base??

10 years is a long way off . . . we'll see??

BTW: I checked out your web page. The video of your son is great!

Always-RVing · 10-06-2009, 10:56 AM

Living full-time (RV Only, No House) makes for a different perspective. Important things to consider are: (Not in priority)
(1) Get the biggest thing with the most options you can afford
(2) RV park or where you'll be staying/setting-up is high on the list
(3) All parties living in the RV need to be in agreement
(4) Have a backup plan
(5) 5th Wheel, TT or Motorhome choice (Generally, 5th and TT more for staying put (longer stays), MH more for on the go. MH is the expensive option but provides and encourages shorter stays and more frequent travel (turn the key and go))
(6) Try it b4 u like it idea? Non-sense... Make the decision, Sell the house, lighten the stuff, put the rest in storage and go for it. Don't look back