Full-Time RVing, Getting Ready To Hit The Road, What About The House?

Full-time RVing – Getting Ready To Hit The Road As An RV Full-timer

Unless you have relatives who are willing, and actually able to watch and maintain your residence, you’re better off selling and investing the money. Just keep in mind that while you travel the highways of America in your RV, asking someone else to watch your house is quite a burden they may eventually tire of.

Of course, don’t sell your residence unless you’re quite certain that living full-time in your RV is something you really want to do. Ditto for selling all your stuff before you know absolutely that full-time RVing is what you’re going to do.

An alternative is to find a property manager to rent and keep your property maintained. Just be forewarned, don’t expect to come back and find your residence in the same condition you left it.

On the other hand, the rental income could provide a good source of supplemental income, particularly considering the low rate of return on most investments today. That way there is no income tax on the sale, a portion, if not all, of the rental income will be tax-free because of depreciation deductions, and if property prices are on the rise in your area, it could be a good long-term investment.

All your “stuff” is pretty much going to have to go. Family heirlooms should be placed in safekeeping with trusted relatives. You are going to be deeply disappointed if you expect to recover more than pennies on the dollar for most of your prized possessions.

This is not necessarily a bad thing if you learn the lesson imparted from the experience. All that hard-earned money you spent was for things that, for monetary purposes, became practically worthless the moment you purchased them. Their only value was in the utility you derived from them.

How many collectibles, tools, and jewelry do you have stashed away because they were a “good investment”? You’ll be fortunate to recover a fraction of what you spent for them.

The lesson learned above will serve you well on the road: buy only those things you absolutely need. Collect only those things that will be most meaningful on your journey.

So, how do you get rid of all your “stuff”? Things you absolutely cannot part with, store with a relative, or friend, as long as you are certain you aren’t imposing a burden on them. Renting a storage unit is probably a bad idea for several reasons including the long-term costs, and damage from water, temperature extremes, vermin, dust, neglect, and theft.

Set up a booth at a flea market and see if you would enjoy being a flea market vendor. Sell your stuff at a garage sale, or get an account at Ebay and sell online. If you do try selling through Ebay, keep in mind that you are going to have to do a lot of work. To get the most for your things, you will need to provide good photos, write excellent descriptions, pay listing fees, wrap, pack and run to the post office to ship each individual item, and some of your items may not sell at all.

If you do a good job, you may actually get more selling through Ebay, but you are going to do a tremendous amount of work, and unless you have something truly valuable, your extra earnings per hour of work may not be worth the effort. The main thing is to lighten the load for your full-time RV camping lifestyle.

Next Chapter – What ab0ut mail forwarding and credit cards?