Will you eventually buy a home again?

[CampDaven]

Originally Posted by RodgerS

I don't plan on selling my home. I like to play tennis and tennis is best played with tennis players having similar skill levels.

One day I may find a location I like better and then I will sell and buy. If you own your home outright, as I do, there is no reason to sell it and there is always the option of renting it out.

Ones health may change so it is always good to at least retain enough equity to buy a small home again in a retirement community. Obviously, this is a very personal question.

I also plan to continue traveling overseas, sometimes with extended stay. I really don't see myself living in an rv full time or limiting myself to locations where an rv can go, and an rv can always be put in storage, just having someone maintain the home.

Once someone has spent some time overseas in good locations, the rv is simply another option among many. The cost per month, in a lot of great overseas locations is about $1,500 to $2,500 a month. Some examples are Cozumel, Equador, Panama, Thailand, Vietnam, Belize, Costa Rica, Italy, Argentina, France, Nicaragua, Portugal, Spain, and Australia.

I gather you will not go fulltime and will keep your house. Perhaps you posted on this thread without understanding the question by the OP.
But regarding your concern, there are tennis courts at most good RV resorts and the talent is quite varied. Many of them can easily clean my clock!
Happy trails!

[twogypsies]

Originally Posted by flaggship1

We have planted ourselves in the RGV for the winter. Come visit. We'll put something in the smoker and see what happens...

The chances of getting to the RGV are slim but gosh...the smoker sure makes it enticing. Thanks a lot!

[flaggship1]

Originally Posted by twogypsies

The chances of getting to the RGV are slim but gosh...the smoker sure makes it enticing. Thanks a lot!

My pleasure! I will say that Delia's Tamales are rather enticing as well... lol

[consolenut]

Sold the house never doubted it. House you never own property taxes rising are like a mortgage for life. $15 for RV tag is a great thing

[markandkim]

We will rent of go into a nursing home. Never buy again.

[Dr4Film]

Since this thread has been resurrected I will add my two cents worth as I used to be a Full-Timer for 14+ years.

To answer the question, I didn't think so BUT.....

The last house I had owned was way back in 1990 and was sold just before my second divorce was finalized. I moved to California to take on a new job in the film industry but told myself not to buy property as this was just temporary. Well that temporary job lasted 15 years and in retrospect I should have purchased property. Hindsight is great, Eh!

I purchased my 2002 Monaco coach while in CA and had lived in it since 2003. I had a 1992 Airstream Landyacht first and lived in that for one year before deciding that I needed something larger with more storage. I left the workforce in 2009 and spent one year getting the coach ready for extensive road travel and left CA in 2010 with no intentions of owning real estate ever again.

Fast forward to 2016. After three trips to Alaska and back from both Florida and California, I had finally decided to stay around the East Coast area to be closer to my ageing siblings and spend time with them. I had spent a few winters in Flagler Beach FL at the Beverly Beach Camptown RV Resort because it is close to the ocean and also close to where one of my brothers and SIL stay for the winter at Surfside Estates. We both like surf casting for fish along with a wide variety of outdoor activities.

The monthly rent in the past at the RV resort was always affordable, around $800 per month, but in 2016 they had raised the rent significantly due to major renovations. So it was costing me close to $1500 a month with taxes for a small RV site which is not even within sight of the ocean. The sites on the ocean side are now $3000-$1600 per month plus taxes. Anyways, I stayed there for the winter of 2016 but then started to look at houses in Flagler Beach as I knew a mortgage would be cheaper than $1500 a month plus the money would go toward equity in my pocket versus some other persons pocket.

I found the perfect place that spring and closed on it in April 2016. The main criteria was it had to have a RV Port to park my coach while staying for the winter. The other criteria was that it had to be affordable, just large enough for the two of us and not require a lot of maintenance.

So now my investment portfolio has been diversified even more to include real estate and the upside is that home prices have jumped since our purchase back in April 2016. That's money going into MY pocket plus I now have a sizeable tax deduction versus the "standard deduction" and a great place to live out my aging life.

The house requires very little inside maintenance, 2 bedroom, 3 baths 1400 sq/ft all on one floor. My wife can go through the house in 1-2 hours cleaning time and I've been working on the outside to personalize it the way I want it and get it to 90% maintenance free.

Plus I even have an ocean view from the rear deck which faces east.

Never say never!

Dr4Film ----- Richard

[Afubar]

Originally Posted by Afubar

Absolutely Not! Lawn care, fencing, irrigation, and all that jazz. Nope, not me. Much rather the upkeep on my MH.

Well, once again, I need to eat my words. I said after I lost my boxer, Cash, I would never get another one, wrong, adopted Chevy, a young rescue boxer and have never regretted that decision.

However, because he was young (somewhere between 16 months to 2 years old) he proved to have way more energy than I. So, as a precaution to keep from being dragged off my feet (yes, I took him to obedience class) and to ensure that he got enough exercise, I started looking for property where I could park the MH and fence an area that Chevy could run and play off leash. I found an acre of land with access to sewer,water, and electricity for the MH and enough land to fence in for the pup.

One bonus to the property is that there was an older house on the property in need of alot of work, plus since I parked the MH behind the house no one can see it and I have total privacy. From what I have been told, the small house came off of FT. Stewart, built around 60 years ago for officer housing after WWII and was moved to its present location around 20+ years ago. I have torn out the bathroom and am in the process of remodeling it myself, then next will be the kitchen. I have no interest in ever living in the house but am having a blast working on it. Have already totally replumbed the water lines with pex tubing, built a well house and installed an electric sub-panel to it.

Even though my Newmar Mountain Aire is older there just isn't any work needed to the house portion and I 've missed puttering with stuff. It keeps me from sitting on my backside stuffing my face, plus I'm covered by the VA medical service it is less complicated by staying near one clinic. Because I paid cash for the property I no longer have a lot rent or mortgage payment.

The pup enjoys his freedom to play and I can putter to my hearts content. Win, win!!

I still consider myself a full-timer.

[Bumps]

My thoughts (beginning with some of your thoughts):

Sky_Boss hit the nail on-the-head when he said, “Let's face it ... I think it is naive to not consider some form of S&B as being an end state. It could be one of our choice or [out of] necessity.“

As T55watson said, “Very few people FT until they die. Have a plan.”

We agreed with Air Baron where he said, “…we will buy a home again ... a much smaller house that we can ... make wheelchair-friendly for a couple of tired ex-full-timers. We hope to find one with a lot just big enough to park the motorhome, one with minimal grass and landscaping.” And, “Best to have a Plan B, because RVs and their baths are not wheel chair friendly.”

twogypsies thoughts align with ours. When full-timers begin to phase out, “They will want a small dwelling, maintenance free in mild climates ... You can get by on very little after full-timing. You will be used to minimal space and not buying, buying, buying.”

--------------------

There have been a lot of great comments since I first chimed in on this thread way back in 2014. We are planners, so having a PLAN was the recurring theme that caught my eye. There are risks in life, and one of the ways to address those risks is to take steps to mitigate them.

For us, we retired in our late 50’s. For the third successive year, we have found ourselves wintering near the water in Texas. Of all of the places that we have traveled, this area seemed to make the most sense. Knowing we eventually wanted a viable Escape Plan, we just completed the purchase of a small, minimal-maintenance, single-level, house (water-front, retirement and RV-friendly community). We plan to return here each winter instead of paying those ever-increasing fees to an RV Park while we wait out the cold and snow up north.

The price of housing is uncertain, especially when there are so many chance and fluky geo-political factors these days, so buying sooner-rather-than-later made sense to us. We are young enough that having real estate in our portfolio is still a great strategy in-and-of-itself, regardless of full-timing, we thought.

What happens if I were to die unexpectedly? It would be a tremendous burden on the DW to have to deal with all of the “concerns” of traveling in a motorhome by herself. And then to think of [for either of us] navigating the transition to a SnB alone and getting it “all fixed up our way” in a timely fashion?

One thing is sure: Changes are inevitable; there is a lot in life that we cannot predict. Like many in this forum, we recognize that life and quality-of-life is uncertain. Having an Escape Plan, and working the PLAN, was top-of-mind to us. In the meantime, in this chapter of life we are actively embracing the road to adventure – soaking up all of the opportunities that this amazing season can conjure. And behind-the-scenes we have comfort that there now exists a great foundation for our/my/her version of an Escape Plan.

M2C,

\ken

[computerguy]

The house goes up for sale in the next few months. I have no plans to buy a house again.
Should I live long enough and not be physically nor mentally capable of traveling in my RV I plan on parking it somewhere or renting a small place where it is quiet and I can live the rest of my days in peace.
I don't want the responsibility of owning and maintaining a house anymore.
I thought I did fairly well for myself over my lifetime. Compared to some people out there, well, I'm way down there on the totem pole though. I did accumulate lots of "stuff". Almost lost it all in the Great Recession 10 years ago. "Things" just don't matter anymore. You can't take it with you when you die. Experiences do matter.
The only thing that would change this is me hitting the lottery. Then I MIGHT buy a small place in the backwoods of Colorado somewhere as long as I could have someone else do the maintenance. We all know the odds of that happening...

[ctpres]

FT and sold s&b. Will we own again - YES - but 1. Where - state or city must be in warm area - no snow, still looking. 2. When - when for whatever reasons we can't or don't enjoy FT life any more. 3. What - It will be age appropriate housing. First floor or elevators, townhouse or condo, two bedroom one for us and one for caretaker if ever needed, under 1,000 sq ft., near transit stop, medical facilities and shopping. NOT in old folks community or housing and not in RV but could be park model. Still thinking about it but not very often.

[southernlady]

We are going to be full timing end of next week when we close on the S&B.

We plan on buying again at some point but not sure where. Unlike most, I do NOT want to be in the humid south in the 9 months of summer! I seem to be mosquito bait. Only time I wasn't miserable in the summer was in the upper mid west when we did a three week vacation in a pop up that got us hooked on the RV lifestyle (just never again in a pop up or travel trailer WAY too small).

That's why, on Monday the movers will be here to put all our antique family heirlooms that none of the next generation wants yet in storage. They may never want it but we are realistic...we KNOW we will need to stop at some point and plant roots again. And when we do, we will need furniture.

How long we travel...maybe 3 years, maybe 5, maybe 10...who knows. But I do know we will stop at some point.

Like someone mentioned...haven't found where yet but there are many places in this country we have yet to see. For now, we are going to be house less.

[Dr4Film]

Originally Posted by southernlady

That's why, on Monday the movers will be here to put all our antique family heirlooms that none of the next generation wants yet in storage. They may never want it but we are realistic...we KNOW we will need to stop at some point and plant roots again. And when we do, we will need furniture.

Been there and done that! Trust me, what you will end up paying in storage fees will never be recovered even if you end up selling the anitques. When I started my Full-Time RV living style I rented a storage facility for all of my "stuff". Well 18 months later most of it was sold for less than two months storage rent. Not too smart on my part.

Granted, heirlooms are not replaceable but just how much are they REALLY worth?

I spent about $10,000 for all new furniture and appliances for our 2 bedroom 3 bath 1400 sq/ft house we moved into last April.

When the times comes furniture will have gone through many updates and style changes. Furniture and appliances can be replaced anytime.

Dr4Film ----- Richard

[southernlady]

Originally Posted by Dr4Film

Been there and done that! Trust me, what you will end up paying in storage fees will never be recovered even if you end up selling the anitques. When I started my Full-Time RV living style I rented a storage facility for all of my "stuff". Well 18 months later most of it was sold for less than two months storage rent. Not too smart on my part.

Granted, heirlooms are not replaceable but just how much are they REALLY worth?

I spent about $10,000 for all new furniture and appliances for our 2 bedroom 3 bath 1400 sq/ft house we moved into last April.

When the times comes furniture will have gone through many updates and style changes. Furniture and appliances can be replaced anytime.

Dr4Film ----- Richard

I do understand what you are saying.

Unfortunately the furniture made nowadays is throw away or made from poor quality "wood".

What I am storing is solid wood. Maybe outdated by today's standards but we much prefer the antiques. And I want to keep them. So what are they really worth? You can't pay me enough to sell them. I will let my heirs do that when the time comes. Or they can keep them. Each piece has a story behind it.

Example, the full size bedroom furniture was my grandmother's grandparents. My China cabinet was made by a local German trained woodworker who I met as a child. He made two, one was for my grandmother, the other was for the DuPont family.

The appliances are NOT going into storage. Being sold as part of the house. In fact, nothing with a plug is being stored. Electronics do not store well.

This is a choice we have made. We know of the expense, we know that after a certain point in time, the storage will cost more than replacing the pieces. What the money can not replace are the memories.

Liz

[SpaceNorman]

My hope is to sell the stick and brick house we've lived in for the past 30 years and enjoy fulltiming until one of two things happens: One of us has a catastrophic health event that forces us to stop travelling (hey, we've all seen the Lion King ... and know how this ends). Or until the morning we wake up, look at one another - and both say "I don't want to do this any more!" Whether that day comes within a few months or after several years - I have no expectations.

When that day comes - we'll take the proceeds from the sale of our current stick and brick house - and put down roots again. If we leave the fulltime lifestyle of our own accord - I expect we'll find ourselves a small place in a manufactured housing community or condo (hopefully somewhere warm!). If we exit the lifestyle as a result of a health crisis - we'll have to see where that takes us. IF it comes to that, I'm thinking that NOT being tied to a house will be a plus - since we'll be able to easily go where our medical needs take us.

I just need to finish convincing my wife that our fulltiming adventure is just a temporary phase of life ... and that we're going to be without a house - we're simply taking our sweet time moving.