How to finance a vehicle living as a Nomad?

[Skippy]

Does anyone know how someone could get a loan for a better set of wheels if financing is needed while living as a nomad? Would banks or credit Unions finance a person that has a mail forwarding service as an address? My plan would be to get a better vehicle minivan or cargo van and live in the vehicle to save money while working my full-time job! I could save a lot of money living in a van or minivan and not pay rent, watching my hard earned money go to someone else instead of paying myself!

Thanks for your help with my questions and I'm looking forward to meeting many of you at the 2019 RTR!

Skippy,

P.S. this name is an actual nickname that was given to me by many friends and co-workers. I intend to use this name instead of my real name which is Jeff! Thanks again everyone!

 

[Almost There]

That you are living as a nomad is not any of any financial institutions business.

By that I mean that you will always need a legal permanent address to function in society. The feds, insurance companies, banks, various state authorities will always need a legal residence address for you...heck even your boss needs an address for your payroll records.

Some of us who don't work full-time jobs use a legal address such as Escapees in TX.

For someone like yourself, it's wise to set up your legal residence with a relative or a trusted friend.

Do NOT tell the bank or finance company that you are living in your van...it's a guaranteed way to get turned down. All it does is complicate matters.

Your address is your address, think of your van dwelling as something you do for fun and to keep your sanity.

I'm retired, my sons' address is my legal residence. For all intense purposes I live there. Truthfully, I visit twice a year for less than 2 weeks each time. Any more than that and my DIL would cease to exist...  

If you're already renting a place, get your finances in order now by borrowing for the van. If you wouldn't qualify because of debt/income ratios, then 'move' your legal residence to family or friends, change all your ID over, then with lowered rental costs your expense income ratios will qualify you for the loan. That is, of course, if you have a decent credit rating to start with. If not then the first step toward freedom is repairing that credit rating.

 

[Moxadox]

Escapees RV Club has a full-timers RV loan program, if you're thinking of purchasing an already-converted van that counts as an RV. The requirements are mainly being able to prove your source of income. I just barely managed to get a loan with M&T Bank, through an RV dealer, but only because my family owns property. I keep an excellent credit rating, which helped, but my experience taught me that it's very difficult to secure financing without a permanent physical address. In fact, my insurance was higher because I have a mail forwarding address in addition to the family property address that I used for "garaging." This brings up the issue of "domicile," which we encounter over and over, especially as we age and need things like Medicare/Medicaid, Social Security, and any other government-type services that are state-specific. Your domicile determines your benefits, in part or entirely. If you want to know more, go to the Escapees site and search for "domicile." There is an article by a lawyer and lots of other resources. It's actually something we will all have to deal with eventually, especially for benefits and insurance.

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[mspriusV]

1. Look up Expertiate/RV/Virtual mail companies. Need street address not a PO box. Then ask if it works at dmv as address for license or what have ya.

2. Think about do you need your residence to be located in a certain general area for health reasons - for certain docs or hospitals or ins reasons.

3. There is a site where you can and should compare car insurance costs by zip codes within all cities/towns. Trust me it can make a difference.

4. Look up vehicle insurance rating level for possible ins discount.

5. When shopping ask about what the car registration is for it in that area.

6. In CA high mileage discount for registration at dmv also has to be old enough, too. I know, I tried. Lol.

7. Look at how much mail you get per month and how much is important mail. The more important and frequent time sensitive mail the more costly mail can be. As a result, all bills, mags, and coupons should be sent only via email or text to avoid snail mail charges for trashing/scanning/forwarding.

For packages from online purchases, try to use in-store pickup or say Amazon locker option. It's a pain having to figure out where you'll be in a week, when being a bit spontaneous on traveling time frame and route.

Storage unit is very helpful, especially when just starting out, but can burn a lot of money that could be saved and also can also turn into a crutch for staying in a particular area. If you do storage unit, I recommend 2 extra small ones with getting shelves to make use of height even for short people like me. One is your dailies/weekly items with definite keep and use items. The other is for clean sweeping stuff and selling/donating away. Plus, doing so will help ya be able to visual a bit better as to what all you have. Think of a 5 by 5 unit as the size of a stuffed wagon. The stuff in the back isn't seen in the unit without moving stuff, which is like in one's vehicle even in rv. It gets old quickly moving something to get to something else, which helps one donate/sell one or both of those items. Put a time restraints on length of storage units rental and allow yourself only a little grace period. Yes, this sounds easy but isn't due to just not wanting to load vehicle.

Stockpiling: don't do especially on items such as canned goods. They get heavy very fast. Plus, if you like me will forget what the hidden cans are. Hence, why I ended up donating so many cans to the RVers that I knew would appreciate them.

Let me know how it goes and share tips and tricks you discover along the way.





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[QinReno]

From my experience, what Moxadox said is pretty close to it. I don't think you'd ever get a loan by going directly to a bank, unless maybe you've been doing business with them for many years, and they are familiar with your financial situation. OTOH, if you buy from a dealer, those guys tend to be so keen to make sales, they will try very hard to get something sold, and they also tend to have a list of "many" banks and credit unions through which to get a loan. I bought my used van last fall from a GMC dealer, and he had a list of 7 or 8 lending organizations that they dealt with. So once you convince the dealer, it's his job to find someone to finance.

However, the first questions they'll ask is:
- rent or own, how many years at current address?
- what is your annual income?
- what is your FICO score?

 

[deadwood]

I live in my van full time and have a loan on it. I use Americas Mailbox for my address. One because I save a lot of money being a South Dakota resident. My income taxes are lower, my van registration is lower, my insurance is lower.

You do need to differentiate between a legal address and something like a mail forwarding or P.O. Box. They are not all the same. Make sure that the place you use can give you a legal address.

As far as my bank, employer, IRS or anyone else is concerned I am a resident of SD and have a legal address. It is even on my SD drivers license. You could use a friend or family members address somewhere as well. I like this setup because I am not dependent on anyone. If they move I don't have to worry about changing my address everywhere again. And if I need mail (which I rarely do) they send it out the next day to wherever I want it sent.

 

[QinReno]

@deadwood, I perceive you had purchased that van when you were living in some more or less permanent residence. Yes/no/maybe?

 

[John61CT]

You do need to differentiate between a legal address and something like a mail forwarding or P.O. Box. They are not all the same. Make sure that the place you use can give you a legal address.

IMO there is no point asking for that, they cannot guarantee it will work for **your** intended purpose, and certainly not wrt the future.

Has nothing to do with the service provider, the value of the address they provide not in their control.

It is up to the organization you are asking to believe you reside at that address, and the database lookup services they employ to maintain their "address blackball" list.

And those factors will change over time, most organizations' rules and methods getting more stringent, never more accepting.

> You could use a friend or family members address somewhere as well.

That is the most secure way, ideally someone stable and trustworthy.

If you are diligent about using a mailing address wherever possible, they should hardly ever be bothered by receiving your stuff, once you've established your DL / reg and financial providers there.

 

[Skippy]

Thanks for all of the great advice on trying to get financing for a vehicle while living as a Nomad!

I work full-time and plan on living in my vehicle to save money to purchase a better vehicle. I have very good credit but my current car is an old Ford Explorer and will need to be replaced soon. I'm hoping to use this old car until I can save enough money to buy something better but I don't know how long this thing will last! I hope to be able to boondock and stay stealthy while doing so. I live in Iowa and the weather gets very cold here in the Midwest during winter months. I was thinking of possible buying a better vehicle through one of those buy here pay here places even though my credit is in the upper 700-800 rating  "Do these places ask as many questions as a bank or credit union does?" I also believe that a UPS store might be able to offer a physical address, is anyone familiar with their services? Thanks for letting me ramble but I'm just trying to be clear!

 

[John61CT]

Even a credit card or PayPal credit at 20% will be better than those scam artists.

Always check you don't sign a contract that requires you to remain in state.

Many use a GPS + remote kill switch these days to facilitate repo and contract enforcement.

You will need a proper domicile address anyway - and read my post above, no UPS or other commercial letterbox service can provide that - so might as well do that first and save thousands of dollars in interest.