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aknavy · 11-20-2016, 06:36 PM

The wife and I plan on going full time next spring. We moved to Texas last year, and are renting. When we leave, we will have no physical property ties to either state, but do to never completely transitioning all our ID's and registrations to Texas, I'm pretty sure we can complete residency in either state. Medical is Tricare, so not an issue. Can anybody thing of an advantage of one state over the other?

CarolynanBob · 11-21-2016, 08:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aknavy

The wife and I plan on going full time next spring. We moved to Texas last year, and are renting. When we leave, we will have no physical property ties to either state, but do to never completely transitioning all our ID's and registrations to Texas, I'm pretty sure we can complete residency in either state. Medical is Tricare, so not an issue. Can anybody thing of an advantage of one state over the other?

Do not think one has an advantage over the other. We chose Florida because we may buy a winter home there.

Might be easier for you to set up in Texas initially as Florida will want a VIN and Mileage verification. They can inspect it there in Florida. We had a highway patrol person verify those and filled out the form. Then when we were on vacation in Florida we got the driver license and registration. We did it this way because we won't be in Florida with the motor home and toad for a few months.

johnhicks · 11-21-2016, 09:10 AM

No vehicle inspection in Florida.

Check vehicle insurances rates.

ewacowboy · 11-21-2016, 09:17 AM

Take a look at the vehicle registration costs in each as well as the sales tax if you plan to upgrade your vehicles in the near future. South Dakota is a popular domicile due to the 4% sales tax on vehicles.

twogypsies · 11-21-2016, 11:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnhicks

No vehicle inspection in Florida.

Check vehicle insurances rates.

There's no inspection in Texas either.... if you don't stay in Texas. You can check this spot when registering online - that you're traveling.

If you do drive through Texas or stay, then you have 3 days before you have to do a easy, reasonable cost inspection. The inspection shouldn't be a major issue when choosing your domicile state. There are other more important things to think about - taxes and medical, for instance.

Pacakazz · 11-21-2016, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnhicks

No vehicle inspection in Florida.

Check vehicle insurances rates.

That is true, there is no actual vehicle inspection here in Florida, but in order to register it you have to physically bring the coach to the DMV, for VIN and mileage confirmation.
And make sure you know where your VIN plate is, because they will not look for it. I know this from experience

gfs1943 · 11-21-2016, 11:41 AM

If your GVWR is more than 26,001 lbs., Texas requires a Class B driver's license. I don't think any special license is required in Florida.

aknavy · 11-21-2016, 12:24 PM

So far, the responses confirm what I was already thinking. Florida seems to be the choice for me - I travel there frequently, so shouldn't be an issue with registration, and it's our first stop on the trip. Our licenses and CCW permits are Florida as well, so less hassle there. Lack of vehicle inspection means that when warranty goes away on the truck, so can emissions stuff, should it prove to cause issues.

johnhicks · 11-21-2016, 08:08 PM

You download and print the appropriate form from Florida DMV, have your local (wherever) police department note the VIN in the appropriate place on the from, sign the form, and then you send it in with title/registration fees. No need at all to present the vehicle in Florida. I had the entire police department of Cleveland, Georgia, including the chief, trying to find the second VIN so we could fill out the Florida form. We found it with the aid of a flashlight and a hand mirror.

I found that when I retitled/registered the toad from Texas to Florida the Geico rate almost doubled while Progressive offered a comparable rate for the same coverage; needless to say I switched the toad to Progressive.

8824rv · 11-22-2016, 06:59 AM

[QUOTE.................... I found that when I retitled/registered the toad from Texas to Florida the Geico rate almost doubled while Progressive offered a comparable rate for the same coverage; needless to say I switched the toad to Progressive.[/QUOTE]

While we're not true full-timers, we spend the majority of our time (8-10 months) in our 5th wheel on the East Coast. We've made the cross country trips and now "commute" between summer in the Northeast-new England and winter in Southeast and Florida. We still own a home in North Carolina and stay there for 4-6 weeks in the spring and again in the fall.

I called my insurance company to see what the cost for our Escape and F250 would be. Yikes! It would nearly triple if we resided in Hillsborough (Tampa), or Dade (Miami) counties. When I used my sister's address in Brevard County, the increase was minimal. (NC insurance rates are reasonable, but the higher rates in some parts of Florida would have offset a good chunk of the income and vehicle tax savings I could realize.)
So I did a little more research and found two mail forwarding services in Florida that will give you an address in a county with low insurance rates.
https://www.sbimailservice.com/
https://www.myrvmail.com/
There are other threads that discuss both of these services, check them out.