Hi Everyone. Well, after 15 years the RV-Dreams Community Forum is coming to an end. Since it began in August 2005, we've had 58 Million page views, 124,000 posts, and we've spent about $15,000 to keep this valuable resource for RVers free and open. But since we are now off the road and have settled down for the next chapter of our lives, we are taking the Forum down effective June 30, 2021. It has been a tough decision, but it is now time.
We want to thank all of our members for their participation and input over the years, and we want to especially thank those that have acted as Moderators for us during our amazing journey living and traveling in our RV and growing the RV-Dreams Family. We will be forever proud to have been founders of this Forum and to have been supported by such a wonderful community. Thank you all!!
Who's hoping to make the big move to full-time in 2017? What stage are you at, how's it going?
I thought I would be Class of 2016, but flunked 'getting the house ready to go', mostly because my time frame was unrealistic. Hope to graduate this spring, though. Would love to hear thoughts and ideas from fellow travelers.
Earlier this year we attended the Spring Rally and shortly after that we purchased a new Landmark 365 and a new truck. We hope to be on the road full time by next August.
Over the last few months we have been working on cleaning out and downsizing our personal belongings. After 30 years of living in this house there was plenty to go through. We have accomplished a lot, but we still have much more to do. One of the things I am really looking forward to is getting rid of my work clothes (suits) on my last day of work.
During the summer we had one garage sale, and since then we have donated many truckloads of stuff to the local thrift store. Since we won't be selling our home, we plan on keeping some furniture in the basement for potential future needs. Our daughter and her family will be moving in to take care of our house. Since the house is paid for, their only expenses will be taxes and utilities. And since our house has four bedrooms, we will have a place to stay when we come home to visit family.
We are also working on getting the RV ready for our full time life. We recently purchased baskets and storage bins to better organize the closets and cabinets. We've also been working on our travel plans for next year which include spending time in the southeast portion of the U.S.
Needless to say we are very excited - August 2017 can't come soon enough.
I'm looking forward to hearing from others who plan to full time in 2017!
Barb
-- Edited by Barb and Frank on Saturday 19th of November 2016 07:20:42 PM
We hope to be in the Class of 2017 also. Planning to retire sometime in the April-June time frame. Hope to sell the house to our niece. We'll be attending the Spring Rally to finalize exactly what we want in a MH and learn as much as we can about all aspects of full-timing.
We have spent the last year and a half downsizing via Ebay (and some give-aways to family). Proceeds going into the "RV Fund". We have been pretty successful emptying the house room by room. That was gives us smaller, more attainable goals. Also, with every potential purchase we ask, "Do we really need that?" and the answer is usually "no". Less drain on the fund. No restaurants/fast food for the past year and cancelled all ongoing outside activities (magazine subscriptions, museum/club memberships, Hulu, Netflix, etc.) Again, less drain on the fund.
Finally broke the news to the extended family a couple weeks ago. They have been very supportive. CAN'T WAIT!!!!!
We're just squeaking into the class of 2016. Start date of 09 November. Getting the house ready was a B_ _ _ _!! So much stuff that we assigned value to that our grown children really didn't want. This opened our eyes more than just a little, because these were the reactions they would have had after we were gone. We just got to see it. So I will tell you that stuff is just stuff. My parents lived in Homestead Florida when hurricane Andrew hit. All that was left of their home was the land it sat on. My baby blanket that my mother treasured, the newspaper clippings of when I'd done something noteworthy, little league trophies, heirloom pictures ... all gone. Sad but certainly survivable. What survived Andrew were the memories, which will live as long as I do. Once that we assigned importance to things that were really important, and let go of things that weren't, it got easier. All I can tell you is the ONLY WAY to get from here to there is to cross the bridge. Take comfort that every single one of us has been where you are and walked in your shoes. You can do this thing, others have ... so you certainly can also! Embrace the process and get ready to have the time of your life!
Not everyone will be supportive. I am a pilot, and when people learn that about me they generally have one of two reactions (1) That is so cool! or (2) What are you thinking ... do you want to die?
Similar reactions occur when people learn you want to (or are) full time in an RV. Modify reaction #2 to remove the "do you want to die" part and add "how can you not have a home to go home to?" and you'll be about where most people will respond to your choices.
As a pilot, I never worried about it and as a full time RV'er, I intend to do the same. They either get it or they don't, and either way, it's not my problem. Viva La Differance!!
Safe Travels
__________________
Ron and Janice
2016 Ford F350, King Ranch, DRW, 4x4, CC, 6.7 PS Diesel, remote control air lift system
2017 Durango Gold 381REF, Lambright furniture, MCD shades, morRYDE IS, 8K Disc brakes, GY G114 LR H Tires, 27,320 lbs CGVW
Hi Barb/Frank, Julie/Ray, glad to hear I am not alone in clearing out decades of accumulated 'stuff'. Smart to start with the Ebaying and garage sailing early on, since there's so much time that downsizing can suck up. I started with outside repairs and painting because it was getting urgent, but probably should have done things differently.
Ron, you are welcome to be our honorary member and coach, thanks for the perspective! I am amazed at how many people in their 50s, 60s, 70s are still in a heavy 'accumulation' phase, as though fairies are going to come down and deal with the excess, instead of their bereaved widow or kids. And others who don't realize there is an enormous glut of 'heirloom' furniture and other treasures piling up in houses and storage units, when most of the younger generation just wants minimalist stuff.
I've actually been getting a kick out of getting things to people on Ebay who actually want a particular item, rather than pressuring relatives to take this or that off my hands. And this is prime selling season, first for Christmas for giftable stuff, then in winter for collectors/hobbies/etc. It definitely falls off in the warmer months, so if anybody out there working up a plan has 'sell stuff' scheduled for April or later, rethink that.
Melody, you are right. It is AMAZING what people will buy. We have had so many things that we were just going to dump - not even try to GIVE away. We thought, what the heck - let's give it a try on Ebay. SOLD!!! Maybe only $10, but sell 10 of those and that's $100 more toward full-timing! Do all that 10 times and you have a thousand bucks. Sure it's a lot of work listing, shipping, etc., but the end result is worth it. For those of you who haven't gone the Ebay route yet, Melody is right - the month before Christmas is a great time to give it a try!!
I am due to hit the road 1/1/17. I am behind on getting ready because I wasn't sure what was happening until recently and then wait for the shop to get done with the trailer. I got 750w of solar on its roof and the lines coming in this last week, I hope to have it finished up this week.
I need to put more effort into the paperwork side of things, change of address, residence, insurance, etc. I am lucky that I have to have storage until I return here next summer, it makes some of the hard decisions easier because I can put it off until I feel better about getting rid of it all. A lot of it just gets chucked and should have been when we moved in here 14 years ago.
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2011 Amerilite 25bh pushing a 03 Expedition up the hills. 750w of solar, 675 Ah battery bank, 1250fc inverter, Champion 3500/4000
Excellent! Very much looking forward to meeting you also.
Ebay has made selling a much easier process as the years have gone on. The tip that first comes to mind is to be thorough in your descriptions. Don't leave out wear, damage, etc. no matter how insignificant it may seem to you. Buyers can be nit-pickers. If you leave out one little thing, some will jump on that and complain. Under promise and over deliver. It may cost you a few bucks in the price you get, but it makes for happy customers. In recent years Ebay's dispute policies have become heavily slanted toward favoring the buyer - remember this when writing your descriptions. Also, take advantage of all the free photos that Ebay lets you upload to each listing. Buyers love to look at what they might bid on.
We NEVER pay listing fees. You get a certain number of free listings every month. If you can, take full advantage of those. Occasionally Ebay offers "free listing days". Again, if you can (see next paragraph) take advantage of those. I don't think there is a way to get around paying the Final Value Fee, but at 30 cents an item to list, a thousand items would take a $300 bite out of your profits.
One important expectation to go in with is that selling on Ebay takes time. Like anything else, you can't just snap your fingers and the money starts rolling in. Fortunately Julie is retired so she can devote as much time as necessary to selling. We usually have between 300 and 500 items up and have had as many as 1,000. Everything takes time - writing the listing, taking photos, calculating shipping, doing the listing, answering bidder's questions, packing the item, going to the Post Office/UPS to actually ship. Don't list more that you will have time to handle.
If you don't already have one, a PayPal account makes transactions SO MUCH easier! Again they have to take their cut, but the process is so much smoother than other options.
Over the weekend we sold three more items. The $150 is great, but the bonus is that two of the three items are relatively large. More stuff out of the house!!
Excellent! Very much looking forward to meeting you also.
Ebay has made selling a much easier process as the years have gone on. The tip that first comes to mind is to be thorough in your descriptions. Don't leave out wear, damage, etc. no matter how insignificant it may seem to you. Buyers can be nit-pickers. If you leave out one little thing, some will jump on that and complain. Under promise and over deliver. It may cost you a few bucks in the price you get, but it makes for happy customers. In recent years Ebay's dispute policies have become heavily slanted toward favoring the buyer - remember this when writing your descriptions. Also, take advantage of all the free photos that Ebay lets you upload to each listing. Buyers love to look at what they might bid on.
We NEVER pay listing fees. You get a certain number of free listings every month. If you can, take full advantage of those. Occasionally Ebay offers "free listing days". Again, if you can (see next paragraph) take advantage of those. I don't think there is a way to get around paying the Final Value Fee, but at 30 cents an item to list, a thousand items would take a $300 bite out of your profits.
One important expectation to go in with is that selling on Ebay takes time. Like anything else, you can't just snap your fingers and the money starts rolling in. Fortunately Julie is retired so she can devote as much time as necessary to selling. We usually have between 300 and 500 items up and have had as many as 1,000. Everything takes time - writing the listing, taking photos, calculating shipping, doing the listing, answering bidder's questions, packing the item, going to the Post Office/UPS to actually ship. Don't list more that you will have time to handle.
If you don't already have one, a PayPal account makes transactions SO MUCH easier! Again they have to take their cut, but the process is so much smoother than other options.
Over the weekend we sold three more items. The $150 is great, but the bonus is that two of the three items are relatively large. More stuff out of the house!!
GOOD LUCK!!!
- Ray
Ray,
Thanks so much for all the details on selling via ebay. Many years ago I purchased on ebay - but have never sold anything. I imagine it might be hard for an ebay newbe to get started. After reading your message - I am determined to give it a try.
Many thanks!
Barb
-- Edited by Barb and Frank on Tuesday 22nd of November 2016 08:00:00 AM
Hi Jim, welcome to the class, look like you'll be the first one graduating if 1/1/17 works out for you! I had to get some storage space just to have elbow room to work around here, it's been really helpful. I'm processing out stuff from the house and also pulling boxes of stuff from storage, a few at a time, to deal with. After I hit the road, I'll be keeping a small unit, rather than trying to dispose of every last thing. Do you have any advice on domicile state since you're at that point, are you keeping Colorado residence?
Barb, sounds like Ray and Julie are Ebay wizards, I'm not that proficient. It is a great tool, but it can be aggravating while you're learning how to use it. I found a site called Auctiva that is easier to deal with, you build and store listings and photos there, and then they error check and shoosh them over to Ebay. I think when I started the Ebay software was really buggy and kept locking up. It also lets me store and re-do old listings so they don't disappear after 30 days if I'm out of town when they expire etc.. I pay a few bucks a month but they have a free version if you're just listing a few items a month. Just an FYI.
Thank you Melody. Having the storage does give me some elbow room and it feels good just to know some of it is taken care of and out of the way. I had planned on keeping Colorado as my domicile state for insurance and the fact that I will return to the mountains in the summer months. Now I find my insurance company pulled out and the replacements are not all that appealing so I may have no ties here. Back to square one I guess.
I do have a lot of sports memorabilia that I won't have time to ebay. Are there still ebay sellers that will handle it for a cut?
__________________
2011 Amerilite 25bh pushing a 03 Expedition up the hills. 750w of solar, 675 Ah battery bank, 1250fc inverter, Champion 3500/4000
I've been shopping for insurance using the link to RVer Insurance, so far it's not looking too good no matter what state you are in. Crazy system right now. Did Colorado scuttle the idea of trying single payer, because that would be a good reason to stay there if they are going to be the first state to try that, especially if you're a long time resident and they wouldn't challenge your status too hard.
I know Ebay has something called Ebay Valet, but not sure how well you come out financially using it. Maybe ask around on fan forums regarding reputable consigners, or ebay it yourself but in big 'lots' rather than individual items. Or, if the stuff is small like baseball cards and you have good wi-fi, there are a few hardy souls who buy/sell small items 'on the road'.
quick follow-up, apparently the discussion about health insurance for 2017 is over in the Researching RV Living section of the forum, some good current info.
We hope to be fulltime on the road late next year. I've notified my employer and am training my replacement. Stuff is getting sold or otherwise disposed of. 5th wheel camper, tow vehicle and hitch are purchased. Still have to get rid of more stuff and sell the house but if all goes right and health insurance doesn't get too buggered up, this is our last winter for the foreseeable future.
Dan
-- Edited by Dan and Ruth on Monday 12th of December 2016 12:07:03 PM
I am due to hit the road 1/1/17. I am behind on getting ready because I wasn't sure what was happening until recently and then wait for the shop to get done with the trailer. I got 750w of solar on its roof and the lines coming in this last week, I hope to have it finished up this week.
I need to put more effort into the paperwork side of things, change of address, residence, insurance, etc. I am lucky that I have to have storage until I return here next summer, it makes some of the hard decisions easier because I can put it off until I feel better about getting rid of it all. A lot of it just gets chucked and should have been when we moved in here 14 years ago.
Well Jim, did you make it? Today is 1/1/2017.
__________________
Ron and Janice
2016 Ford F350, King Ranch, DRW, 4x4, CC, 6.7 PS Diesel, remote control air lift system
2017 Durango Gold 381REF, Lambright furniture, MCD shades, morRYDE IS, 8K Disc brakes, GY G114 LR H Tires, 27,320 lbs CGVW
Ron, I see Jim posted an update over in "Introduce Yoursel", he did make the move!
I'm up to my armpits in caulk and paint, trying to get another room 'done'. It's not the painting of walls that takes so much time and effort, it's all the prep, the sanding, painting cabinets and shelves, etc.
What's everybody else into on their journey to get ready to roll?
Hi everyone,
I haven't posted on the site since I first started researching this topic last year, but I have since read thousands of entries here and on various owner's forums. I too am attending the Spring Rally and am hoping to sell my property and start rv'ing this year too.
Anyone looking at going the Class B+ or Class C route? After much research, I have narrowed it down to Phoenix Cruiser, Coach House, Born Free, Nexus, and possibly Jayco. These seem to have the best reputation for quality and customer satisfaction. PC is tops on the list because of their remarkable record of satisfied buyers, after sale service, and willingness to modify a coach to fit your needs.
I'd love to hear from anyone who is also contemplating going full-time in a smaller motor home. Note that I am a bit panicked at the thought of going from a big home to that small a unit, but the more I read about others doing it, the more it seems feasible. I want to visit federal parks and such areas and don't want to be restricted due to rig size. I also don't want to deal with a toad initially.
Thanks for the info on EBay...thought it was fairly difficult to do years ago but sounds like it may have gotten easier.
Hi Charmaine,
You might want to paste your question up in the forum topic that's strictly about Buying an RV, it might be the experts who would chime in aren't monitoring this thread. I don't have any good input on the motorhome brands.
My search was completely different, but I was amazed at how many models are out there, and it was a long process. I was so grateful there are dealers that will just let you roam around and sit in various units and really get a feel for what they would be like, measure storage capacity, etc. I got my first ideas about what direction to go at a big RV show, but then finding the exact model tooks lots more digging. Towards the end I found one that passed all the criteria but really 'felt like home'.
My husband Jim and I are very hopeful that we can take the plunge into full timing this year. We hope to have the house on the market by April 1st. We've decided to go with an MDT and a fifth wheel toy hauler, and we will have the Harley in the garage. We've started working with New Horizons on our design, and we can't wait.
We are on the waiting list for the spring rally, so we are hoping a spot will open up. Unfortunately the dates don't work for us for the fall rally.
I can't wait to meet all you fellow class of 2017 folks. I've been living vicariously through Howard's journal for a few years now and we've been to both the Hershey (3 times)and Tampa (2 times) RV shows.
There is so much work to do to get the house ready and to get rid of our stuff. But it really feels good as more and more stuff goes out the door.
My husband Jim and I are very hopeful that we can take the plunge into full timing this year. We hope to have the house on the market by April 1st. We've decided to go with an MDT and a fifth wheel toy hauler, and we will have the Harley in the garage. We've started working with New Horizons on our design, and we can't wait.
We are on the waiting list for the spring rally, so we are hoping a spot will open up. Unfortunately the dates don't work for us for the fall rally.
I can't wait to meet all you fellow class of 2017 folks. I've been living vicariously through Howard's journal for a few years now and we've been to both the Hershey (3 times)and Tampa (2 times) RV shows.
There is so much work to do to get the house ready and to get rid of our stuff. But it really feels good as more and more stuff goes out the door.
Happy RVing to all of you!
Hi JennieB,
Welcome to the class of 2017!
You must be very busy getting your home ready to put on the market. We are going full-time in August this year, and although we are not selling our home, we are significantly downsizing so our daughter, son-in-law and family can move in. So we've been cleaning out the basement and getting rid of an accumulation of 30 years of "stuff". At the end, we expect to store just our bedroom furniture and our dining room set along with some personal items in our current basement. Everything else will be given away or sold.
I hope you will be able to get into the Spring Rally - we went last year and will be going this year as well. We had a lot of fun and would love to meet you.
Good luck with the house!
Barb
-- Edited by Barb and Frank on Monday 30th of January 2017 07:59:23 AM
-- Edited by Barb and Frank on Monday 30th of January 2017 08:00:47 AM
Thanks Barb. It is all so very exciting. I work for the government and they are offering buyouts so we are taking the plunge. Jim will have to work until the house is sold, but then he should be able to stop working too.
Goodwill is going to get to know us very well over the next two months!
Is everybody hitting their milestones so far? Any setbacks?
I'm getting really excited, as I empty the house little by little and soon will have everything listed for sale that is going to be listed. Taking time every week to look ahead and plan my first journeys, etc. Lined up a place to camp locally if I need to, and started planning the trip to my domicile state. And yesterday I found a storage place that may be ideal, it's underground so it has natural climate control. I'm not keeping a ton of stuff, but what there is I would like to be secure. I know most people just park things with relatives, but seems like mine are all in expensive metro areas, flood zones, or tornado alleys.
Still a jillion things to make happen, but the green light is starting to come into view....
Well I am adding us to the class of 2017! When we started making our plans we thought it would be 2021 but we've decided "why wait?"! DH has had some business associates around his age pass suddenly recently having never enjoyed retirement!
Our house is listed and I will start purging via e-bay, Goodwill, Salvation Army and just plain trash bin this week! I have a treasure chest full of photos that need scanning and closets to clean out. I need to figure out what is priority to keep and tote around the country in the 5th wheel. I'd love to keep the Margaritaville blender and the movie popcorn machine! They may fit in well with our new life of leisure! But they are both pretty bulky and may be better off converted to cash.
We purchased an F-450 dually and a 5th wheel already and We are registered for the fall rally and hope to make that the beginning of our journey. As long as the house sells before then! It's the only thing stopping us!
Yay, Rex and Bonnie! Glad to hear you have found a way to speed up the process. I can't believe how much time we can waste dealing with homeowner 'stuff', as the years rapidly tick away.
It is hard to gauge what must go, based on a completely different lifestyle. I keep having to remind myself that my new life is not going to involve ceaseless rounds of painting, repairing and decluttering, there will be time for things I almost never do now! I'll be taking some kind of blender, I am determined to learn how to make a mango Margarita well during my journeys...
We, too, are in the class of 2017, which seems unbelievable after having been lurking, learning, planning and purging since September 2015! It's been forever and the blink of an eye :)
We listed our house in March 2016, sold in early October, and spent the winter housesitting for my husband's parents who live in Arizona for the winter. We also bought our home-to-be, a new 2015 Bighorn, last fall and left it in storage for the winter. A quick round-trip to Alberta and back (we live in central Sask) during the last two days with the dually we bought last fall, and we feel like things are finally coming together!
Two and a half more months of work until summer and we can officially say we are living the dream! We plan to head for the States in mid to late October for our allowed six months out of country. So far have a site reserved at the Alsatian RV Resort at Castroville, TX for the month of December. No other bookings yet; we might be brave and just head down and see what we find in person! But we plan to start on the Texas gulf coast and work our way west as winter progresses.
It is so exciting to think that, after all this time reading and feeling like we are getting to know people on the forum, that we are actually preparing to set out and just may meet many of you on the road. Amazing! Welcome to everyone in the class of 2017 - it is going to be a great year :)
It feels like everyone is just quietly lurking until they can meet up at the rally, but I'm not going to it, so I'll break the silence, 'cause there's lots going on. This is transition week as I gradually move into the camper, it's at a state park near home. The house has been staged, photographed, and the listing will go live on May 1. I'll then sort of 'commute' to the house daily to check on it, water the thirsty petunias, use the wireless, and continue purging stuff that's in storage. There's still a million things to do, but painting that last door was awesome. The constant to-do of painting/renovating has been hanging over me for 3 years, and that's finally in the rear-view mirror. Now to get all the cabinets snoop ready....
Oh, and I got my hitch-up time down to 33 minutes, yay!
No hot water in the Salem yet, because of the %^#$ design of my heater, as I try to get it unwinterized. But, I'll work it out. And perhaps I'll never have to winterize again, what a mess that is.
Well, with the light traffic on this board I'm getting the feeling nobody really cares, but for the record, I am OUT of the sticks-n-bricks at last! What a long tough road it was! I thought the hard part was over when the place was listed and sold, but wrong, actually emptying out a house after many years is a huge huge deal. Even after all the donations and purges and ebay sales, still had enough for a massive moving sale and another round of donations, then some long hard days of cleanup/clearout.
So at last this big cloud of stress has lifted. I've gotten some rest, and this morning went for a walk down to the lake, can't remember how long it's been since I had time to just 'be'. I'm camped out near my ex-home, in a lovely spot, and will take some time for a few last visits, and to organize the storage units (yes there was still stuff to store!) and then head off to Florida to set up domicile. Grateful for all the guidance I got from H&L at a rally and on this site, and for all those who have pitched in to share their knowledge. Thanks to RV-D and Technomadia I can communicate with my odd little hotspot setup, and so far my little trailer has been trouble free. (I'm noticing the bigger and more splendid the RV, the more technical problems, so in this case maybe small is better?).
Congratulations Melody - such great news! Yes, I agree - there's a lot of work involved getting ready to be a full timer.
We are on target for full time starting October 1st. We've been working on cleaning out our house for more than a year, but we won't be selling it - our daughter and her family will be moving in. In the meantime, we've been getting our fifth wheel ready for full time. We crossed one more thing off the "to do" list when we purchased a Sleep Number mattress yesterday to replace the factory mattress.
I agree about Howard and Linda and the RV Dreams forum being so helpful. Many, many people here have provided such great information. A special shout out to Bill and Linda (mostly Bill) who provided very detailed answers to all our questions. Our next project will be with Technomadia to get our internet set up.
Good luck on your journey - and keep up your posts to let us know how you are doing.
Melody ... the traffic is light on the board these days, but congratulations to you. We've been FT 9 months now. We will be attending the fall rally so looking forward to that.
__________________
Ron and Janice
2016 Ford F350, King Ranch, DRW, 4x4, CC, 6.7 PS Diesel, remote control air lift system
2017 Durango Gold 381REF, Lambright furniture, MCD shades, morRYDE IS, 8K Disc brakes, GY G114 LR H Tires, 27,320 lbs CGVW
I am on Day 2 of the journey now. Unfortunately dealing with the deep South in a heat wave as I travel, but, that's how things worked out. Wearing a big grin as the adventure begins to unfold!
