Greetings! (and a request for help finding a rig)

[TheCatsPajamas]

Hello, everyone,

This is my first post on this forum. I have been stalking this and other RV forums for the past two years. I have been living with family for almost a year after leaving a bad relationship and am looking forward to being out on my own. I will have to go into debt a little bit to make it work. But I have no house to sell, so if I want to live on my own, I can either pay 500+ in rent to stay in one place and live with people I probably won’t like, or pay that much against my credit card for awhile and have my own space, free to move wherever I want.

I have never RV’ed before but it sounds like a wonderful lifestyle. I've been very inspired by this website and others. I figure I might as well try it and see. So I’m looking at super cheap used travel trailers and truck campers. But I’ve never gone beyond RVtrader and Craigslist… I feel like such a newbie and I’m so intimidated to go to a dealer or RV show, or contact anyone to look at a used rig… I was wondering if anyone in the Puget Sound area would be willing to help me out. Just to go along to look at possible buys as moral support. I’m trying to buy something in the next couple of months. I hope this request is OK to post. I'm happy to Skype or anything beforehand so you can see who I am.

I grew up in the PNW and lived in the Midwest for the last 10 years… so I hardly know anyone in this area anymore. I am an introvert at heart but I need some balance, I need to get out of my shell. So I would love to meet up and connect.

About me: I am a musician, I love science fiction, and I love nature. When I was a kid, I had a recurring fantasy of being dropped off in the wilderness and being forced to survive on my own. On car rides I would stare out at the forests and imagine this… I guess I am still imagining this!

 

[OutdoorFT]

Welcome. While I can offer little use of actual help, I can moral support from the Northeast.

If you want to go with a truck camper, youll obviously need a truck..and a heavy duty one. Those are pricey. However, travel trailers dont necessarily need a huge truck. Depending on size and weight, you can use a 1/2 ton puckup (f150 or 1500 series pickup).

Are you planning on staying in 1 place for a while or move every few days?
Are you alone? Pets?

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

I will have to go into debt a little bit to make it work. But I have no house to sell, so if I want to live on my own, I can either pay 500+ in rent to stay in one place and live with people I probably won’t like, or pay that much against my credit card for awhile and have my own space, free to move wherever I want.

I, too, am currently far from the Pac NW, so I will be unable to directly help.

But I do want to say you don't want, or need, to use credit cards for this.

Interest on credit card debt can be anywhere from 10% to 18%, sometimes more.  Cash advances are always more.  Interest on a car loan can be as low as 4%.  The difference is that credit card debt is unsecured, whereas a car loan is secured by the car itself.

So try very, very hard to get a car loan if you can't afford to pay cash.  Ordinarily, we would urge you not to go into debt, but the argument that it is better to pay a car loan than rent on an apartment has some validity..

If you interested in a truck and truck camper spend some time reading the articles over on Truck Camper Magazine, a free web publication.

http://www.truckcampermagazine.com/

 

[highdesertranger]

Welcome TheCatsPajamas to the CRVL forums! To help you learn the ins and outs of these forums, this "Tips & Tricks" post lists some helpful information to get you started. We look forward to hearing more from you. highdesertranger

 

[ArtW]

Welcome, CPJs, to be very honest, if I were planning on mobile living in a truck / trailer combo, I'd get a cargo trailer and do a very basic build out, unless you absolutely must have a flush toilet, etc
And I'd definitely try for an auto loan or other secured loan rather than use a credit card
My payment on my travel trailer is $240 / month at 5% interest, if I were paying 18% instead, oh boy

 

[TheCatsPajamas]

[font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Are you planning on staying in 1 place for a while or move every few days?[/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Are you alone? Pets?[/font]

Thanks OutdoorFT for your advice about truck types for trucker campers vs TTs. I'll be alone, and will probably get a pet or two. A small to medium dog and possibly a cat. Probably stay in one place for awhile, but I'm not sure I can predict what I want to be doing until I'm doing it, lol.

if I were planning on mobile living in a truck / trailer combo, I'd get a cargo trailer and do a very basic build out, unless you absolutely must have a flush toilet, etc

[font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Thanks ArtW, I've thought about conversions, esp a box truck conversion, but I'm really not at all handy, and I figure I better make sure I want to be doing this before putting all the effort/money into doing a conversion. And yes, I would love a flush toilet, but more importantly, a shower, even if small [/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]I'm also thinking about a used Class C...[/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Thanks everyone, your advice about loans has been gratefully noted.[/font]

 

[ArtW]

well , a conversion doesn't have to cost a lot, or require a lot of 'handiness' it all depends on your required comfort level
Porta Potti for a toilet, solar shower with privacy tent for showers outside, a metal bedframe with bins under, dispan for a sink, jugs or water for drinking dishes
I lived in an old Travel Trailer with no plumbing at all for over a year, but I was not amused by the dinky little closet they called a toilet, the door was narrower than the porta potti and my 2 hands, so I had an ahward time getting it out of there
I'd have rather had a cargo, for all the wasted space in the layout, but everyone to their own
My current TT has a flush toilet, bathtub, etc, and it's great for living stationary on my land with sewage and shore power, but if i was traveling much, I'd likely have been happier with a cargo
this would be as easy to do in a cargo as a van
http://www.vanlifecrisis.com/2015/09/the-320-1-hour-van-conversion.html
actually he has a more elaborate version here
http://www.vanlifecrisis.com/2014/12/van-life-crisis-1-week-no-skill-van.html
but it's really up to you, you know what you will need to be happy, i'm just offering food for thought
A class C would probably be my own choice at this point, given that it should have enough power to move itself lol

 

[OutdoorFT]

Class C might not be a bad choice. Minimal baggage to where its more than space for 1 person.

 

[Tracy Coyote]

Hi CatsPajamas!  Like you, I'm hoping to find some kind soul who will check things out for me, cuz I haven't a clue & can't afford to make a mistake.  Dreams can guide you, BTW.  Happy hunting!

 

[DannyB1954]

A good deal is a good deal no matter who the seller is. Try to keep an open mind about dealerships. Just don't let yourself get pressured into buying more than what you are shopping for.

I recently bought a used toy hauler trailer from Johnnie Walker RV in Las Vegas. http://www.johnniewalkerrv.com/ they got me financed through a local credit union at less than 7%. My payment is about $124 a month on a $9k unit. The main body frame is aluminium with fiberglass panels as a skin. Should last me many years. I thought about converting a cargo trailer but after buying the trailer and all the parts that make it comfortable, (heater, water heater, shower, kitchen, bathroom, holding tanks, air conditioner etc.), it would have cost me more for something that was not as nice. Labor is a big thing when building anything. You think a week or two, and several months later it is still not done.

Sure a business needs to make money, but if they didn't, they would not be there to help you in the first place.

Often to sell a new unit they will take in a trade that they really don't want to spend a lot of their resources on, (advertizing etc.). They know more about what to look for when taking in the trade as far as it's value. If something is rotted, they will probably find it before I would.