This weekend we took time to write out a couple RV budgets for two scenarios: Selling the house vs. Renting the house out. There are certainly pros and cons for both scenarios and I'll share some of the obvious ones below. We are leaning towards renting the house out. We believe our house would rent out quickly due to the high-demand elementary we are zoned for and the neighborhood is very nice and quiet. This would give us that safety net for in case we decide we are not up to full-time traveling, or if something unfortunate happens and we need a home to return to.
In our budget, we tried our best to estimate how much we will spend on an RV payment, truck payment, RV and truck insurance, maintenance for both, health insurance, etc. It seems doable and I'm glad we took the time to write it down, it really helped my husband see that it is possible!
Selling the House
PROS
-free from HOA fees, insurance, maintenance/upkeep expenses
-depending on the sale price, it could provide a monetary cushion and help us meet our financial goals before we travel
CONS
-no safety net should we need to 'come home'
-no property investment
Renting out the House
PROS
-provide a small income stream to help our full-timing budget (icing on the cake)
-safety net should we need to 'come home'
-property investment, increases in value unlike our RV and Truck (aka wheel estate)
CONS
-headache of keeping up with tenants
-worry of tenants bailing and having to return home to deal with re-renting house
-still responsible for HOA fees, insurance, maintenance/upkeep expenses
-no monetary cushion to get us off in a more secure situation
We have some friends here that we could ask to be our 'property manager' who we would then pay to help us with any issues that might arise with our tenants. If you know any full-timers who are renting their home, I'd love to contact them for advice! Our soft launch date will be early June 2016 so we have some time before we make final decisions.
Monday, January 5, 2015
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
It begins with a dream
It all started about about two decades ago. Every summer, my family would spend a minimum of 2 weeks traveling the roads of Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and South Dakota with our pop-up and eventually travel trailer. RVing was something we did nearly every month, driving to the local state park or traveling further to visit family and meet up at a campground for a long weekend.
At the time, I certainly did not appreciate it. In fact, I would flat out get mad when my dad would announce we had 20 minutes to pack up because we were leaving for a road trip. Road trip. Fast forward to present day - those two words make my heart skip a beat... I love traveling.
My husband, Robert, grew up in a family that did very little traveling. When we first met, it was a struggle to get him to understand why I would want to spend money on a trip vs. buying 'stuff' with our earnings. Eventually, he came around and we started doing our own little road trips. When our first daughter was born, we slowed down a bit and focused on making ends meet, me being a stay at home mom while finishing my Associates degree. After our next daughter was born, we began traveling again. Mostly trips just the two of us.
This entire time, I missed camping. Missed the freedom that came with being out in a campground, enjoying His creation and spending time with other campers who had the same passion. In 2011, we decided we would buy a fifth-wheel and live in it until we could figure out a way to travel and make money on the road. We didn't make it. In fact, we ended up building a home in a nice area on the outside of Waxahachie and have been here in our brick and stick home since then.
Although I love our home and we are very happy with what we have, I have a part of me that is longing to be out on the road. Some may say because my mother and step-father travel full-time in their RV that this causes me to want to follow. My desire for this lifestyle began for me a long time ago and seeing them be successful only fuels my passion more for doing so.
Exactly a year ago this month, an opportunity for me to leave my 'corporate job' and work from home presented itself. Through God's grace and guidance, we successfully made that transition in May 2014 and have not looked back since. God has allowed us to focus more on our family and continue to work in a field where I believe I'm making a difference.
With this new career and the flexibility of working out of a home office, the idea of traveling full-time in an RV has been creeping back into my brain and my soul is itching to give it a try. We've just started talking about it again this past week - but my head is jumping in all the way and my heart is racing with ideas. Ask anyone and you'll find out I am a planner at heart. Event planning, project management, entertaining, whatever it is - I enjoy researching ideas, planning out how something can look or play out, and then implementing the action needed to get it done.
Will we make it work this time? Will we be able to transition from a 1700sq ft home with two cars into a RV? Who knows! This blog is to give me an outlet to share my wandering thoughts and my passion for one day wandering the great outdoors.
At the time, I certainly did not appreciate it. In fact, I would flat out get mad when my dad would announce we had 20 minutes to pack up because we were leaving for a road trip. Road trip. Fast forward to present day - those two words make my heart skip a beat... I love traveling.
My husband, Robert, grew up in a family that did very little traveling. When we first met, it was a struggle to get him to understand why I would want to spend money on a trip vs. buying 'stuff' with our earnings. Eventually, he came around and we started doing our own little road trips. When our first daughter was born, we slowed down a bit and focused on making ends meet, me being a stay at home mom while finishing my Associates degree. After our next daughter was born, we began traveling again. Mostly trips just the two of us.
This entire time, I missed camping. Missed the freedom that came with being out in a campground, enjoying His creation and spending time with other campers who had the same passion. In 2011, we decided we would buy a fifth-wheel and live in it until we could figure out a way to travel and make money on the road. We didn't make it. In fact, we ended up building a home in a nice area on the outside of Waxahachie and have been here in our brick and stick home since then.
Although I love our home and we are very happy with what we have, I have a part of me that is longing to be out on the road. Some may say because my mother and step-father travel full-time in their RV that this causes me to want to follow. My desire for this lifestyle began for me a long time ago and seeing them be successful only fuels my passion more for doing so.
Exactly a year ago this month, an opportunity for me to leave my 'corporate job' and work from home presented itself. Through God's grace and guidance, we successfully made that transition in May 2014 and have not looked back since. God has allowed us to focus more on our family and continue to work in a field where I believe I'm making a difference.
With this new career and the flexibility of working out of a home office, the idea of traveling full-time in an RV has been creeping back into my brain and my soul is itching to give it a try. We've just started talking about it again this past week - but my head is jumping in all the way and my heart is racing with ideas. Ask anyone and you'll find out I am a planner at heart. Event planning, project management, entertaining, whatever it is - I enjoy researching ideas, planning out how something can look or play out, and then implementing the action needed to get it done.
Will we make it work this time? Will we be able to transition from a 1700sq ft home with two cars into a RV? Who knows! This blog is to give me an outlet to share my wandering thoughts and my passion for one day wandering the great outdoors.
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