New Hello.....Going Homeless in Las Vegas and Need HELP

[leslymill]

Welp I just watched BOB's YT video and FELT LIKE HE WAS TALKING TO ME. ...I was a Registered Nurse for 25 years and became homeless in 2004. My family took me in here in Las Vegas. I have only held part time retail jobs since then to pay for expenses. .....I have been watching Van Dwellers and RV livers for several years. It has been my dream and now suddenly this month....... I got evicted and abandon by my family..Yep....Every word you said. I suddenly couldn't work and employer encouraged me to take a leave of absence over resigning and hitting the shelters.....so I can try and get my situation in order. This is not going well for me....though. I took out a loan and bought a van. 1999 Dodge Ram 3500 Passenger with 93K. My mechanic checked it out for $25  and it may need about $500 for work before the year is up but is in good mechanical order. I need help getting it livable. I spent two days shampooing the carpet of a horrible oil smell that didn't really work and wonder if I can sleep in it with that smell or just pull the carpet out now. this Van was a Church school bus and they chewed a lot of GUM.  I have to be out by the 15th of July and will have no access to electricity or water to get this van into shape. That and the van will be full of crap I am afraid to turn loose. The funky Las Vegas apt. rentals are like hotel rooms and I have two cats. I am afraid I may have to abandon them.  I have a few things to do to get my truck  ready to put for sale on Craigslist but have been scammed there before. I do not need a hand out yet....I need a helping hand though. I am throwing piles of my possessions into the backyard in hopes if a garage sale. My truck is a Nissan 2004 with 68k miles on it. Manual everything and 2wd. I have to sell it to pay off the van and buy the insulation the Fantastic Fan, solar ...etc...So if anyone wants to buy my stuff so I can get out of this mess I have lots of household stuff that the sheriff will probably toss in the dump. I have reached out to co-workers, my church and my doctor. Nervous and nauseated about full time drudgery exhausting me to where I can't do anything else. I am trying to sell on craigslist. Mainly I need a shoulder to cry on ...Is anyone near Las Vegas who could help with advice?

 

[highdesertranger]

Welcome Lesly 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

 

[wayne49]

Hi Lesly,
Please post details about your Nissan truck in the Trading Post thread.
Thanks,
Wayne

 

[drysailor]

. I spent two days shampooing the carpet of a horrible oil smell that didn't really work and wonder if I can sleep in it with that smell or just pull the carpet out now.
Hi Lesly - If you've already spent 2 days on it & it's still bad, I would just trash it. If you really want carpet right now, you could check the larger carpet stores for remnants, or just use some underlayment as a temp fix. Home Depot has that stuff in 6' wide rolls, but an independent shop will likely just lop off the 10 or 12 linear feet you'll need, if they don't have remnants laying around. I'm assuming you won't try to stay in Vegas during the summer?

 

[leslymill]

. I spent two days shampooing the carpet of a horrible oil smell that didn't really work and wonder if I can sleep in it with that smell or just pull the carpet out now.
Hi Lesly - If you've already spent 2 days on it & it's still bad, I would just trash it. If you really want carpet right now,  you could check the larger carpet stores for remnants, or just use some underlayment as a temp fix. Home Depot has that stuff in 6' wide rolls, but an independent shop will likely just lop off the 10 or 12 linear feet you'll need, if they don't have remnants laying around. I'm assuming you won't try to stay in Vegas during the summer?

I am looking at apartments so I can return to my job till things get more settled. No I can't live in the van here right now. I need to decide on a permanent domicile state and Nevada seems the best choice though I am drawn to Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.The van needs a fan in the ceiling to make the smell of the carpet tolerable. I think I will pull it out and throw some 4x8 plywood down. I don't want carpet in it later anyway. I think I will just be storing stuff in there for now.

 

[A Savage Adventure]

Welcome, leslymill! I hope you're able to get things sorted out and get on your feet again!

 

[Moxadox]

Hi Lesly,

Sorry to hear about your predicament. Hopefully everything will settle out in a few months. Have you tried getting a storage room to keep your possessions in while you convert your van?

Sounds like the carpet needs to go. It's not healthy to be breathing those fumes. While your stuff is out, you can tear the carpet out and replace it with plywood decking. If you can, put some insulating material down on the floor before you install the plywood. That will help a lot!


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[glasschick66]

Welcome Lesly
One day at a time!
Since you don't have much time to be out, I would get the carpet out of the van and give it a sweep and start filling it with your possessions you want to keep. Make sure you can park it somewhere safe and get the truck in order so it is ready to sell...then go about everything else...make your to-do lists and breathe!
If the van is ok and ready to run...get it registered...and leave space for a bed and stuff just in case you need to sleep in it for a bit..

Do the top priorities first, the rest will follow as you are able to deal with them. Good Luck to You!

 

[leslymill]

Yes the van seller gave me a heads up on a good priced air conditioned storage to show items there as you sell them ...keeping your address private. Esp if I end up getting a shared rent place. Also my neighbor will feed my cats if I can't take them with me. The storage is good especially the more Antigua and rare stuff that might take a while to sell. Might be my best option since I am so slow at moving in this heat with all this, God forbid.... DRAMA.

 

[jonyjoe303]

pull out all the carpet and get rid of it. And for the meantime you can just put some rtech foam insulation on the floor. I avoid carpeting because once you insulate your van, if you drop water on the carpet it will remain there for days, van won't get hot enough to evaporate it. When I first got a swampcooler I was always dropping water on the floor and it was uncomfortable walking around on a wet floor. Best thing I ever did was get rid of the carpet, never regretted it.

You already on your way, you got a van (many people don't even have that), so you doing good. Vegas gets hot, so you need alot of insulation, rtech works good, its all I use, I got it on the roof/sides/windows/floor. Without the insulation nothing else matters, that should be your priority. Cover all the rear windows (its where all the heat comes in), it will help with heat and also improve your stealth. A swampcooler would work well in the vegas weather, better then just a fan. You be surprise how good a swampcooler will feel in a well insulated van.

picture of rtech foam from home depot (cost 9 dollars per 4x8 sheet) you can install this with a hotglue gun, just cut in small pieces and glue it the walls etc. hotglue drys quickly, you be done in a day. You can glue more layers to take care of hotspots. I got 3 layers of rtech on my roof, that finally reduce the heat from that area.

Nobody gets everything on there van done right away, you get the important thing taken care right away and slowly add things as you start living in it. 5 years later I'm still adding improvements here and there.

 

[A Savage Adventure]

Yes the van seller gave me a heads up on a good priced air conditioned storage to show items there as you sell them. The storage is good especially the more Antigua and rare stuff that might take a while to sell.

I'm in the final liquidation phase right now myself. Lost my house, though since I knew I was going to I managed a sale over foreclosure. I put everything in storage and have been selling it over time, though only recently has their been an uptick in sales.

There's even a thread on here where we've been talking about liquidating assets: https://vanlivingforum.com/showthread.php?tid=31199

I am at a critical point right now, but soon I will be able to walk away from the rest.

 

[leslymill]

Welcome Lesly
One day at a time!
Since you don't have much time to be out, I would get the carpet out of the van and give it a sweep and start filling it with your possessions you want to keep. Make sure you can park it somewhere safe and get the truck in order so it is ready to sell...then go about everything else...make your to-do lists and breathe!
If the van is ok and ready to run...get it registered...and leave space for a bed and stuff just in case you need to sleep in it for a bit..

Do the top priorities first, the rest will follow as you are able to deal with them. Good Luck to You!

Actually Amica, my insurance just called about the added VAN on my policy  to make sure it was not going to be a DWELLING. Go figure.... I reassured them I will use it for commute and reminded them how hot it is in Vegas right now. I asked about a policy I need for if I do make a dwelling out of it later.... It is called "Foremost". Probably expensive....sigh. I will set it up for camping asap but don't know how long I can donate to the rent treadmill...Oh!...and I ripped out all the wet mildewed carpet except around two seat belts at rear door. Can't find that $50 hex tool I bought to remove them on my truck atm...... I am leaving the carpet in the cab for now. Do I need to plug the seat screw holes with anything or leave them open.....and the four bolts for the back seat I can't get off or cut off so I will cover them will ply so they don't stab things....like me. Thanks for the support..It is appreciated when you feel somewhat alone.

 

[leslymill]

Hi Lesly,
Please post details about your Nissan truck in the Trading Post thread.
Thanks,
Wayne

Did a quick wash and wax for the truck portfolio...lol. I will try to get this ad up on the trade post and craigslist before morning.

 

[A Savage Adventure]

Foremost is who I have right now for my RV as a full-timer. I think my only choices here were them or Progressive and you couldn't give me a FREE Progressive policy, so I went with Foremost.

 

[glasschick66]

I would plug any holes you have...even with just silicone. Someone here may have a better solution....

Congrats on your progress thus far! I am sure it smells better already!

Keep us updated!

 

[DannyB1954]

my insurance just called about the added VAN on my policy  to make sure it was not going to be a DWELLING.

What is odd, my new insurance company, (American Family), would only insure my van if it was an RV, (they will not insure a cargo van they said). 1983 Dodge B250.
They sent someone out to take pictures of the interior to make sure there was a bed kitchen etc. Only then would they issue a policy.
My situation is different as I also have a house insured with them. Maybe that makes a difference.

 

[A Savage Adventure]

I think a cargo van would fall under commercial vehicle? Maybe that's why.

 

[leslymill]

What is odd, my new insurance company, (American Family), would only insure my van if it was an RV, (they will not insure a cargo van they said). 1983 Dodge B250.
They sent someone out to take pictures of the interior to make sure there was a bed kitchen etc. Only then would they issue a policy.
My situation is different as I also have a house insured with them. Maybe that makes a difference.

I paid cash and only needed liability. If I had a bank loan I was told to keep the passenger seats in it for the photo session because cargo is more expensive than passenger or commercial verses recreational.

 

[Enda]

Hi Lesly ~
I joined yesterday and am just chiming in to say hello. The struggle is real as is the village help. Blessings on your journey!

 

[Cranky Old Hen]

Wishing you the very best. This sounds like a challenge, but keep your eyes on the goal.