Quote:
Originally Posted by ME_Andy
I like the idea that you guys have brought up of living in a small, efficient RV. But I was wondering if anybody has crunched the numbers about whether it's more cost-efficient than a house? Or maybe, a better investment?
It seems to me that an RV or trailer+truck wouldn't be worthwhile vs. a small house.
Truck+trailer: ~$50 k
Monthly rent in RV park: ~$500
So basically you halve your payment and your $ down, but you own a depriecating asset instead of an appreciating asset and you'll be paying rent forever?
I can totally understand how a tiny house makes financial sense, though.
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This is a good point. In the long term, I think a house would end up being cheaper for most people. In my situation, though, I believe it was a good choice.
I'm currently in the military and married, so I receive a housing allowance every month (about $1200 in my area). Before we got the trailer, we were living in the on-post housing, which charges the full housing allowance but covers utilities. Most of my coworkers live off post and pay about $700-900 plus utilities for 2 bedroom apartments. My options for buying were buy a house, or buy an RV and rent a site at an RV park.
Buying a house probably would have been the best option if we had done it when we first moved here the beginning of 2013, but with a year and a half remaining here, we'd likely have lost money selling it and I don't want to stay here or deal with renting. An RV is the best of both worlds, lets me keep some of my housing allowance and we can just pack up and leave when its time to move.
Something to note is that the price of the RV can be just about whatever you want. Our truck, trailer, and some more-or-less necessary other things came out to about $25k. Truck and trailer are both 2003s, so depreciation has already done most of its work.