Am I crazy, need advice

[Oldmopars]

Hello, my name is Scott and I have been around this site for several years but never on this forum. I have bee hanging around YouTube and other sites/blogs dealing with Vandwelling or full time RV living for a while now.
It started in 2010 while I was in Alaska. I had been discouraged with life and finances for many years. I had the opportunity to run into a guy that was living in a great 4x4 Ford Van. He would travel around Alaska during the summer working on Church camps and then in the winter he would park at a borrowed cabin and house sit for the winter. He showed me his van and told me about living in it. He still had a good job, and worked remotely over the internet. This started the wheels turning and I soon after found this site.
Fast forward to now. I am married, 3 kids that are all adults(by age anyway) and are soon to be out of the house. I am building a tiny house for my oldest daughter out of a 1991 GMC Ward school bus. My son is 22 and wanting to go to truck driving school and my youngest is in college in Oregon.
We have a house and unlike the normal American average that Bob talks about, we are paying about 10-12% of our income for the house. It is smaller 1200sf, but nice and a good large lot. We are buying it from my Grandmother. My wife has a new car, and we have very little other debt. My wife and I both work and together we easily make over $100K a year.
So, you are asking, whats the problem? I'm not happy. Don't get me wrong, I love my wife, she is the best thing to ever happen to me, and I love my family, so this is not the problem. I hate living in the Seattle area. We live in Graham, about 1-3 hours south depending on how horrible the traffic is. The weather sucks all but 3-4 months of the year.
My job is good, but, I travel 5 days a week. This is good and bad. I love to travel, I love to see new parts of the world and this country. I have traveled a lot. Between my 14 years in the military and this job, I have seen all but 10 states and have been to over 10 countries. Recently I spent 2.5 weeks in England. As a side note I had a Mazada 6 rental car that I took all my bedding from the hotel and put it in the back of the car, folded the seats down and slept in it while I drove all over the UK, clear up to John-O-Groats and then down to Whales.
Biggest issue with my Job is that I do all of this travel, 5 days a week every week, without my wife. I love her and want to be with her. She likes her job, but it is hard on her and she drives over an hour each way to get there.(hence the new car)
So, let me add in another few things here to add to the complication. I served in the US Air Force for 14 years, 7 before 911 and 7 after. So I qualify for the Post 911 GI bill. The Government will pay for 100% of my school, books, fees, etc and give me a housing allowance to live on for up to 3 years. It goes according to zip code, but I would get about $1500-1700 a month and free school.
I am also going into the VA to get evaluated for some issues, Asthma, Depression, Arthritis, and some other things all in my records. I should be able to get some money for disability. I have been out for 10 years and they will owe me back pay for the whole time, could be 20K+, enough to pay off the car and maybe all my other smaler bills. So, I could go to school and be getting $1500-2000 or more each month for the next 3 years plus a large lump some up front.
Again, while I love my job, I am getting to the point where I am in a lot of pain to do it. My joints hurt so much after standing for only 5 minutes, I have to sit down. My job is physical, I install, repair and train on industrial equipment. I don't know how much longer I can do it, getting training for a new job would really help.
One last thing is that no man in my family in the last 40 years has lived past 65, my dad died at 56. I am 46 now and facing the reality that I could be in my last 20-30 years right now. I would like to enjoy life now, not sure how long I will live after retirement.
I also have a bus of my own. Its a 1985 International Bluebird, 38ft and I am converting it to an RV. I love it, very roomy, Diesel, lots of windows etc, very cool.
So, I guess you can see where this is going. I want to rent out my house, quit my job, have my wife quit hers and hit the road in the Bus when its done. I would like to travel with my wife, spend time together. I would go to school online. In the off months I could work camp to supplement my income. I could rent my house, I pay about 1000 a month for it and about 200 for property taxes. I could rent it out for $1200-1400 a month. It would not help much, but I would at least keep it while someone else pays the mortgage. 
Am I crazy? Could I make this work? Do you see anything I am missing?
Sorry this is so long, but I needed to talk it out, any advice would be very helpful.

 

[cyndi]

Have you had this conversation with your wife? If she's not all in, then what?

 

[29chico]

How does your wife feel about a life on the road? 

The only other issue I see with your plan is keeping the house.  Having rented out housing for decades my philosophy is to never have a rental that is not nearby.  This is for two reasons:

First: if you are nearby to a rental you can do a fair bit of the upkeep yourself.  This is very important to how economically viable a housing rental ends up being.

Second: once the tenants realize that you are not the one coming over to take care of things, they are likely to slack off on taking care of of the place.  Or worse...

The housing market is pretty good right now and should spike a bit more in the Spring, the best time to market a property.  Have you considered selling the house by getting a big down, 30% or better, and carrying the note yourself?  Would you even want to live in the house once you are retired?

I just sold my last rental, a four-plex, at the end of August and did just what I am suggesting you consider doing above.

 

[Oldmopars]

Have you had this conversation with your wife? If she's not all in, then what?

I have talked to her, and she is open to it, but very apprehensive. I do understand. It would mean giving up a lot on her part and she would have to move way out of her comfort zone. However, I know that once she opens herself up to it and hits the road with me, she will enjoy herself and the freedom it gives. She does like her job, but tells me all the time how she would like to stop working. We have also talked a lot about a tiny house and she is up for that. So maybe do the travel thing for a few years, then park the bus on some land as a tiny house.
She will go with me, no matter what, she trusts me and will follow me. But, I do want her to be on board and not force her. I think we are getting there. I still have a year to go before the Bus would be ready anyway, so I hope to get her more on board over this next year.

 

[rvpopeye]

Welcome aboard Oldmopars!
You can make it work if you want to.
How does the Mrs. feel about your plan?

 

[Oldmopars]

How does your wife feel about a life on the road? 

The only other issue I see with your plan is keeping the house.  Having rented out housing for decades my philosophy is to never have a rental that is not nearby.  This is for two reasons:

First: if you are nearby to a rental you can do a fair bit of the upkeep yourself.  This is very important to how economically viable a housing rental ends up being.

Second: once the tenants realize that you are not the one coming over to take care of things, they are likely to slack off on taking care of of the place.  Or worse...

The housing market is pretty good right now and should spike a bit more in the Spring, the best time to market a property.  Have you considered selling the house by getting a big down, 30% or better, and carrying the note yourself?  Would you even want to live in the house once you are retired?

I just sold my last rental, a four-plex, at the end of August and did just what I am suggesting you consider doing above.

I have thought about that. I am in a good spot with the house, if I sell it I could walk away with $75-100K. I have thought about buying a plot of land and having that to retire on in the bus. Just travel for a while, maybe even use the land as a summer location and winter farther south, or vise versa. Then when we retire we would still own something and could then chose to built a little house or keep the bus to live in. Maybe after the 3 years are up, move to the land and get a job.
At this point I am still looking into all the options and welcome your insights. I do know having a rental could be a big pain in the rear.

 

[jaxtonsgram]

Hi. I am Nora. In sort of similar situation. I am 58 and hubby 68. We still have some rentals we are trying to sell. We live in the upper Peninsula of Michigan and although we love it here esp in summer, winters are getting old. Soon we plan to sell everything and travel. Since we don't want to live here forever anyhow, we will travel till if and when we can't or don't want to. In the meantime we'll be looking for a possible place to settle down. Has your wife been on here?  There are many women married and single that she could talk with about this lifestyle. Nora

 

[Oldmopars]

Hi. I am Nora. In sort of similar situation. I am 58 and hubby 68. We still have some rentals we are trying to sell. We live in the upper Peninsula of Michigan and although we love it here esp in summer, winters are getting old. Soon we plan to sell everything and travel. Since we don't want to live here forever anyhow, we will travel till if and when we can't or don't want to. In the meantime we'll be looking for a possible place to settle down. Has your wife been on here?  There are many women married and single that she could talk with about this lifestyle. Nora

No she has not, but that is a good idea. I have had her watch some YouTube videos, but some are better than others.
I am also thinking about maybe selling the house and buying land in the South, maybe outside of Flagstaff and then some land up North, maybe Oregon and then travel between the 2, snowbird style. With cheap land and owning it, we would never have to pay for park fees. and we could follow the good weather.
I have given a lot of thought to this because if I bought a 5-20 acre lot in both places, we could invite other RV and Nomadic people to stay on our land for free or a very minimal charge just to cover upkeep, trash, etc. It would be a totally off grid place, but with solar, composting toilets, and maybe a large water tank on site, it could be a great place and still have the sense of being in a community (Not a commune).

 

[jaxtonsgram]

Since you are new here I didn't know if you saw that ther is a girls room for only women. It is under share your story. Good place to chat with other women and learn. Nora

 

[cyndi]

Scott! I'm such a slacker! Thanks, so much, for your service and sacrifice! We're grateful for all you've done so we have the freedom to live how we choose.

And I agree with Nora. Your wife should *talk* with the girls, here. We'll have her convinced in no time. I happen to know there's a few in your neighborhood (the Seattle area)

 

[Gunny]

I too thank you for your service and hope the VA approves you quickly.

Most of those 'life decisions' will have to come from you and your wife, but don't wait until your physical impairments keep you from functioning to decide.

I did 23 in the Corps eons ago, still fight the VA on occasion. There are folks on here who can and will tell you how to convert your bus or at least try and then are the lousy mechanics like me who will give you moral support.

Check in often, let us know how you are doing..

Rob

 

[Oldmopars]

I too thank you for your service and hope the VA approves you quickly.

Most of those 'life decisions' will have to come from you and your wife, but don't wait until your physical impairments keep you from functioning to decide.

I did 23 in the Corps eons ago, still fight the VA on occasion. There are folks on here who can and will tell you how to convert your bus or at least try and then are the lousy mechanics like me who will give you moral support.

Check in often, let us know how you are doing..

Rob

I am well on my way converting the bus, I am over on Skoolie.net and have loads of help there. Here is the current state of the bus. I have a rather nice RV that is donating all the RV related stuff(stove, tanks, grey/black/fresh tanks, etc)

 

[OutdoorFT]

Awesome job on the flooring. Sounds like a good plan.

 

[IGBT]

Hey!

I hear you on the weather and long commute in Seattle area.  We were in the same place and decided to build our own RV and hit the road (married but no kids).  It has now been 6 months on the road since we sold our Seattle house and we are loving it (currently near St. Augustine, FL where it is 75 degrees and sunny every day....how is Seattle in November?   )

I would have offered some help on your schoolie if we were still in the area.

 

[jimindenver]

Beautiful floor

 

[ArtW]

get the bus done, take some vacation time, have the wife take some vacation time, and go out and do the lifestyle you have in mind for a 'quick hop' if you both love it, sell the house and boogie, if not, well, you got some decidin to do, re who wants what, and who can live with what

 

[Ella1]

Scott said, "I want to rent out my house, quit my job, have my wife quit hers and hit the road in the Bus when its done. I would like to travel with my wife, spend time together. I would go to school online. In the off months I could work camp to supplement my income. I could rent my house, I pay about 1000 a month for it and about 200 for property taxes. I could rent it out for $1200-1400 a month. It would not help much, but I would at least keep it while someone else pays the mortgage.
Am I crazy? Could I make this work? Do you see anything I am missing?
Sorry this is so long, but I needed to talk it out, any advice would be very helpful."

I'm on the other side of this. Personally,  I think if you really study the rental market in your area, find some reliable property managers (talk to other landlords, ask who they recommend as property managers--maybe there is a real estate investment association, or a landlords association in your area,  and get input from them, interview them, (google questions to ask property managers ).  You think you could rent it for $XX, but you really need a few professional opinions to have a better idea of that.

Check several of the real estate websites too, (Realtor.com, Zillow, Trulia, Redfin, etc, to improve your knowledge base as to rental and sales markets. I know Realtor and Zillow provide some same, some different info.

You can probably get home warranty insurance too, to cover the systems in your house. (I've had American Home Shield and was not happy Google lawsuits against them.) I've had others, too, and they pretty well paid for themselves, in not in actual use, in peace of mind.
You will probably still have items the management company will take care of. All this should be addressed in your agreement with the PM company.

Consider reading BIGGERPOCKETS, a RE website forum that addresses all aspects of renting, including finding property managers, finding tenants, evicting, selling, etc. everything. Join that group to ask questions. It might help you make up your mind. Being a landlord is not for everybody.

But neither is constant travelling.
Maybe rent for a year or so until you know how the mobile life is for you.

Re your thoughts on buying property to sit on someplace else. There have been discussions here, and those threads should be read and studied. It seems almost no matter where you buy, there are county or city regulations about even "camping" on land that is your own for more than a few day, so that is not as easy as it once was. Maybe someone will provide a link or two.

Best wishes.

 

[Oldmopars]

Thanks guys, it has been a lot of work, and I know that it still has a lot to go. I am planning on a full solar system, composting toilet, and large water supply. The plan right now is 92 gallons fresh water, 800 watts solar and I think 8 6V golfcart batteries. I figure I will need around 75 gallons grey water also, but still up in the air on that.
This will be RV #5 I Think? We have done a lot of RVing over the years, but we do need to get out and do a lot more long term travel.
For me, My goal would be to see all 49 drive-able states and parts of Canada before I am too old to do it anymore. However, I do know that it will need to be over a long period of time to keep the costs low and the craziness to a minimum.
For the last 25 years she has put the stop to any travel, now she is seeing that it is important to me and is coming around and more open to it. I think she knows that she has made me compromise for 25 years and now she knows that it is her turn open up to compromise on her side.
I still have a way to go on finishing the RV and I still need to get things ironed out with the VA and figure out what I want to go to school for. I think I may still have a year and a half before I can hit the road if it all works out. It will give us some time to make sure we are on the same page and to rid our lives of the small debt we have and the stuff we need to purge.

 

[sassypickins]

Hi Scott. I am grateful to you for your service to our country.

There is a great travel story here:

http://robgray.com/graynomad/wothahellizat/index.php

It's been a while since I read it, but as I recall, he said he'd been tossing the travel idea around but didn't think she was into it, then one day she surprised him, saying she wanted to quit her job and travel with him.

He made sure she had what she required to be comfortable, designing with her in mind -- a bookshelf in a particular place next to a particular recliner, proper kitchen and storage, a bathtub... They traveled Australia for years and it seems she was quite content with the lifestyle. Eventually they bought a bit of land and now he's busy perfecting a land-based home built using containers.

 

[TrainChaser]

Finish your bus (at least for the basics) and go out for a few days at a time with your wife.  Don't make a bunch of plans, just decompress.  Some baby steps might do wonders for her.  Ask for her advice.  Ask what she thinks and how she feels about it.  And then LISTEN.

Re: selling or renting the house.  You don't like the Seattle area; do you think that area (the traffic, the weather, etc) is going to improve or get worse?  If it isn't going to improve, why go back once you leave?  

What would be the point of renting it -- just to get more money when you sell it?  Things rarely go as you hope they will.  An aquaintance of mine:  She and her husband got a great job offer from somewhere else in the country, rented out their nice home to some decent people :dodgy: .  Then the 'decent people' were transferred elsewhere, so they turned the house over to a coworker w/o telling the owners.  The coworker never paid the rent.  No one ever answered their calls.  Husband finally flew back to find out what was going on, and found the house trashed.  Between the loss of rent and the cost of repairs, was it worth it? 

And if you do want to buy a piece of land to 'camp' on, make sure you check the local regulations FIRST.  Many counties will only let you live in an RV on unimproved property for a specific period of time (like six months) while you build a home.  They won't let you do it indefinitely.