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Ok Denny.It’s been close to a year since you posted this and nobody seems to be interested in giving you their thoughts so far. So… I will share a few of mine.
It seems to me that with regard to buying your own pad for your RV Vs. renting as you go (either staying put or moving from place to place) there are both advantages and disadvantages in either option. I think it would be much the same as with a sticks and bricks home.
When you rent a house or apartment you don’t have to worry about property taxes. When the water heater or furnace blows up in February, you don’t have to find the money and the contractor to fix it. You simply call the landlord.
But, you also can’t dig up the yard and turn it into a dessert landscape or put in a new flower bed without the landlord giving permission. Also, you don’t build equity in the property. You probably have to get the landlord’s permission even if you want to repaint a room. And if the landlord decides to raise the rent or not to renew your lease, you could be forced to make some changes.
Flip these things around and look at the ownership side. You DO have to worry about property taxes and how to get that furnace fixed, etc…
You DON’T need anyone’s permission to paint a room, Nobody is going to raise your “rent” unless you have an escrow shortage at the end of the year, etc…
Now let’s add the RV lifestyle to the scenario.
Why do people choose RV living? For some it is a financial decision. For those people, buying their own pad probably isn’t a viable option in the short term or near future. If they want to own their own pad, they will probably have to take a little time to recover from the financial speed bump that prompted their decision. They may already own property or they may have family that owns property which they can live on anyway.
For many though, it is the ability to live a mobile lifestyle that prompted them to choose RV living. They don’t want to be tethered to just one place. They want to adventure their way through life at their own pace. For these people, I would guess that owning their own pad isn’t a particularly appealing option.
Another consideration is the ordinances of the local community. Some may ban full time RV living on otherwise undeveloped lots in a residential zone. This may force one to go outside of the city limits, but even the county will likely have a few regulations that must be considered. If you are looking at a spot in an existing RV park, there may be certain legal and zoning issues that prevent the property from being sub-divided and so you can’t get a clear and legal deed even if you made an agreement for purchase.
Another thought is that if you took a loan and bought your own pad you would (likely) have payments to make. Now if you wanted to take off for a month or two and travel, you would have all your living expenses PLUS the payment on your pad. It might make some people’s budget go into crisis mode. I know mine would if I went full time for 3 months while still having a payment and utilities on my sticks and bricks home.
Bottom line is that while either option poses advantages, I’m guessing that many full timers wouldn’t be looking to buy a pad. Maybe it would be 50/50? I just don’t know. But if I was full timing and wanted to own a spot, I’d look at buying a small house and becoming a weekender. But that’s just me and this whole post is simply my opinion.
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