I have always loved Tiny Homes. Between being a renter for the majority of my life, a home owner for part, and a creative soul-going tiny is not much of a stretch for one like me. Recently, as I have just divorced my spouse, I have reentered the work force and looked into moving out. To be on the other side of leasing is…gross to say the least. What you pay for, versus what you get, and how hard it is to find something that pays enough? Don’t even add in pets, WHICH EVERYONE HAS THESE DAYS. So, I said F It, why not own where I live and lease my space? (For now anyways…)
This is how I started my RV lifestyle. Yeah, I am one of those people and honestly-I can’t tell you when I was happier. So let’s start with why rent vs why buy a RV. Here is the scenario:
My partner and I are looking for a place, we have 2 cats. Realistically we only need one bedroom or even a studio. We both make money, but if one follows the general rule of “2-3 times the rent in income” then we are capped at about $1500 per month. Trying to find something that doesn’t actually cost more than that with pet rent/insurance, utilities, etc is impossible. Add in not great credit and a record-we could look but man what an exercise in futility.
So we sat and asked ourselves, how do we stay in budget but also be smart? I have some money, I put some down on a fifth wheeler and we looked for a place to park it. Why a RV? It essentially has everything you need to live, as long as you can plug in and hook up, do your laundry on site-its not that different than an apartment.
1500 per month, plus utilities-it essentially goes to waste as you don’t see any return on that money spent.
Purchase the unit out right (if in budget) or put money down and get financing (this will build credit) and rent a space with hookups (eventually you could buy a space too).
Realistically, either way-we end up at about $1500-$2000 between all the other factors that eventually come into play. If you purchase an RV and have a payment of less than $500 and the space is $1500 plus utilities, then you open up to: owning your home, being able to rent it out, being able to sell it for money back, or being able to vacation/travel. Insurance for RV’s is about $500 per year.
It does take some maintenance to live in an RV-it’s different but not that drastically more compared to renting/home ownership. If you lived in a rental or owned a home, you are maintaining to some degree anyways. RV’s I think are unique in the way that you are maintaining a vehicle and a home. But once you are in the swing of things, its just another day in the RV life.
We got a fifth wheel, and there a couple of types of RV’s you can get. The maintenance tips below will be applicable to most types of RV’s but vary slightly depending on the type of RV.
Black water tank: this is what the toilet empties out to. This needs to be emptied once nearly full. It is simple enough to do so on your own: connect the hose, empty. Empty the gray tank next. Clean out the black tank with a dedicated hose and a cleaner. (There are services that will do this for you, or plug into a full hookup place)
Gray water tank: this is what the kitchen sink empties to. You would empty this after the black tank. You can connect to water lines for this. Each tank should have a dedicated hose.
Fresh Water Tank: You can connect or put water into the tank. Each tank should have a dedicated hose. Always use a water filter when plugging in.
Battery: You can have up to two 12 volt batteries. Plugging into power charges the battery. You can go off grid with solar, generator. There are 30 amp and 50 amp options. Always use a surge protector when plugging in.
Propane: There is typically two, you can use one if you need to refill the second one. You can get these filled most places.
Whether you are leasing or renting, you need some start up money. When one is leasing, unless you are leasing a furnished home-you need couches, dining table, chairs, kitchen stuff, bed, etc. When you have an RV, you have a different list:
Hose for black tank rinsing
There are some stuff that are good to have but you can acquire as you go:
30 amp to 50 amp converter
Power extension cord (30 or 50 amp)
Storage or bike racks for RV hitch
For the general house stuff, there is decent storage on a RV but you need to be smart where you can. So far for misc house stuff we need:
RV pans (I found some that the handle is removable, travels well)
Plastic ware (glass will break potentially with traveling)
Keurig (can be good for tea or coffee)
Some of that stuff I am sure you are thinking, if you have one already why do you need a new one, and the answer is-stuff for RV’s (depending on what it is) is made differently. Total so far is about $500-$750 to get set up in the RV. Furniture for leasing would be much more. Walmart is your friend, Harbor Freight, and so is your RV Dealership.
The unit will use gas, water, electric to run the unit as a whole. There are some adjustments to make if you are going to be on the road but it is not too bad really. We are using a family member’s truck to move the Casita to its final destination, but should we keep it-we plan on getting a truck to pull it. I would like to save up to pay the Casita off and then make truck payments.
This opens up the question of-do you stay or do you go? If I don’t want to lease, why lease a spot? Leasing is a great option in the short to medium term. Once you get medium to long term, that question has a different answer. At some point, it would be better to own the land you are on and the unit you are in. So, essentially for $200k, one could buy a unit to live in ($50k), a truck to pull it (if needed-$50k), and a spot to park it ($100k). OR, you could sell it and upgrade to a permanent mobile home. There are a lot of options, and that is part of the beauty of it.
For now, the question comes-where to park it. California, like anything else, seems to be picky about being RV friendly. The search for long term parking was kind of atrocious, but I was in for shifty search experience either way (leasing or RV’ing). But I kid you not, I made a google sheet for this.
For location reference, I am in California (SoCal) and my finding was one of the following:
Limit of 6-25 Weeks (at a time)
Water, Sewer, WIFI, and Trash were included/Electric was usually sub metered
Age restricted (older communities)
Amenities tend to include minimal parking, pool, and laundry
We actually got into one, and it wasn't bad. But we were on the wait list for like 5 or so. As the move in day for the original one was coming up, we got a call that one of the wait list ones had an opening. I called back right away and we told the other one we were no longer interested. On labor day, the unit was moved from my family's house to the spot.
It has been really nice so far. Still working on pairing down, settling in, and all the after homework of moving out. But no regrets and looking forward to going home, wherever I choose to park it!
