Living Full Time in an RV at 18

[jmmacy]

I just joined the forum. I'm 18 and i recently moved out of my parents house and in with a friend. It's an old house with a lot of maintenance needed and the RV life looks more appealing to me. I would have my own space. I would want to be stationary at an RV park. It would just be me and my three ferrets.

Do you think this is doable? I've looked a lot into full time RV living over the past year. I really like the idea of it. I don't need a lot of space. I've been looking at travel trailers mostly. Do you think it's reasonable to think that an 18 year old could afford an RV?

Is it a bad idea to invest in this?

[1bigmess]

Better call around to the RV parks and make sure they'll let an 18 year old in. Some have age restrictions. All have rules, and some have pages and pages of rules.

RVs require maintenance too. There is no free lunch. Different components and materials require different processes and products. Learn as much as you possibly can before you spend a single dime on changing where your live to an RV and a park.

[450Donn]

Ferrets dont like cold weather do they?
Depending on where you live winter could be a challange to heat an RV. Since your looking at stationary look for an older single wide mfg home already set up in a park. Way more room, easier to heat and cool, and resellable easily in the future.

[ransil]

You think the house is a lot of maintenance wait till you try an RV.
Look for a trailer park if you are not gonna move it, that is probably your in between.

[Newmar2856]

Contact some RV parks and get their monthly rates so you can compare living expenses.

You mentioned “investment” and I just want to mention that RV’s aren’t an investment and depreciate fairly quickly, but like you, I’d rather live in my own space and not be in an apartment or living with someone else.

[Finance]

Welcome to the forum. It’s a good idea to ask questions and do your due diligence before leaping off any financial cliffs.

I’d recommend check the prices on long term RV parks in the area you live and compare to rental rates for small apartments or housing. RV parks can be expensive.

RV’s CAN be less maintenance, but it all depends on many variables of construction and how well they’ve been taken care of. With no experience, you’ll be wanting someone who knows the particulars of what to look for to guide you in assessing any potential purchase. You don’t want to be sold something with hidden water damage for instance.

Inexpensive units will have cheap materials, not durable, particularly inside. They’re made for using occasionally as in vacationers, not 365 days a year. Think like the cheapest Walmart furniture you’ve ever seen. Stuff will break, the finish will rub through...

Don’t be sucked in by the YouTube videos of people living cheap in RV’s. Yes, it CAN be done. But in most cases it’s done either by compromising living quality (such as living on the streets or stealth camping) or it’s a glossy advertisement for the lifestyle with support from undisclosed financial support or sponsors.

You’ll get more specific and useful advice if you’re willing to share more details, such as what your financial situation is regarding budget and income. Best wishes as you chart your own course! It’s an exciting phase of life for sure.

[Tetonchief]

There is no free living in an rv. You have the expense of buying the rv. Then there is the expense of rent--the space where you are going to park it. Oh, and don't forget you will most like have utilities to pay for as well--sometimes wrapped into the rent but on long term often separate. Since it will be your"rv" all the maintenance is your expense--not the land lords. Because appliances etc for Rv's are speciality built compared to normal homes, they are more expensive. Unless you are very mechanically and electronically inclined, rv mechanics are expensive (up to $175 hour at dealers). Find a cheap apartment--let the landlord absorb the maintenance costs. The smaller the place the cheaper the rent the cheaper the utilities. RV's are "toy's," like boats and motorcycles--at least according to banks and insurance. No one 'needs" an rv--they are a luxury. If your job required you to travel extensively then an rv might be an economical way to go, but if you are staying in one place it is a money pit. If you haven't got a good enough nest egg saved up for "first and last plus security," suck it up and move home with the "rents" and play by the rules until you can walk away with you head held high and money in the bank.

[jmmacy]

Originally Posted by 450Donn

Ferrets dont like cold weather do they?
Depending on where you live winter could be a challange to heat an RV. Since your looking at stationary look for an older single wide mfg home already set up in a park. Way more room, easier to heat and cool, and resellable easily in the future.

I live in Florida so cold isn’t really an issue. And ferrets do well in the cold, just not at all in the heat, and that’s one of my concerns. I would have to run constant ac because ferrets can’t go over 80 degrees F without it being dangerous for them. The temperature right now daily is in the mid to high 90s at the worst part of the day. How expensive are manufactured homes usually?

[jmmacy]

Originally Posted by Finance

I’d recommend check the prices on long term RV parks in the area you live and compare to rental rates for small apartments or housing. RV parks can be expensive.

The absolute cheapest I can find for apartments around here is $1050 per month and that’s in the really bad part of town. Anything in a better area is easily $1500 to $2000. That’s why I’m thinking of RV’s. I live in Florida

[Sandy Swede]

Am I correct in assuming that you already have a dependable vehicle to get you back and forth to work from an RV park? I am also assuming that you have saved up several thousand $ in order to buy an RV or that you are going to the Bank of Dad for a loan.
As someone else suggested, look for a manuf home on a lot. Most of the lots are not owned fee simple, though. That means someone else owns the lots and you have to pay lot rent. Depending on where you are looking, you should be able to buy an older manuf home for $12 - 15k. One problem you will face in this option is that many manuf home communities in Florida are 55 and older.


My personal opinion, FWIF, is that for someone in your situation, buying an RV to live in full-time is a bad idea.

[Wbago97]

Have you identified an RV park yet? I would think full time rent will be about $500 per month plus electricity.

[1bigmess]

Or more. Prices might change as seasons change and availability changes for snowbirds.

[Old-Biscuit]

Although ferrets are legal to own in FL have you discussed them with ANY RV Park about 'their' pet rules?




DO you work?
Gone during the daytime?
Backup auto start Generator in case power outage?
Otherwise temp inside RV will increase VERY quickly!!

[Podivin]

You (we) are in snowbird country, most of the RV parks fill up with northerners from about November through March - give or take a month or so on either side. So your FIRST step is to find an RV park that will allow you to move in full time, start calling around - without that the plan is dead in the water.
When you're talking to them be sure and ask about what's included in the rental fee. Water, electric, trash - all of those things add up if you have to pay for them.
Unless you're in a shady spot it will be hard to keep an RV cool (below 80) when it's 95 degrees outside.
As mentioned an RV is not an investment, expect to lose money on it. In that way it's more like a car than a house.
Any living space, RV, house, mobile home, etc will require some sort of maintenance at some point - plan on that.
If you can work out all of those things then I feel the plan is sound, but don't buy the RV until you KNOW (!!!) you have a place where you can put it full time - and how much that place will cost you.
Your age, taken by itself, is not a reason to NOT live in an RV. If older folks can do it you can too. Your income is likely the limiting factor (I realize those two things closely tied together).

You should also look in to buying an older mobile home that's already set up in a park somewhere. That might ultimately be less grief for you, with likely no more cost. I expect that somewhere in your area there is one or more older mobile home parks around, go and check out some of those to see if it's a place you'd like to live. Go at different times of day so you can get a feel for it when everyone is home from work (don't get arrested for being creepy and hanging out where you're not supposed to be ) . A typical mobile home will likely have better insulation than a typical older RV, so it would probably be easier to cool enough to keep the ferrets healthy and happy.