Not a VanDweller yet but I'm here to research

[ChileSauceCritic]

[size=small][font=verdana, geneva, lucida,]  Do to the fact that my area is being gentrified and my taxes have been going up dramatically every year for the last 4 years I have been thinking seriously about selling my house before I lose it but I would not be able to get another house outright for what I could sell it for  :idea: but I could get a helluva nice van, I'm a telecommuter so I would still have an income but without 70% of my current expenses I would only have to worry about food, gas, money for motel's on the rare occasion I run into bad weather and occasional repairs to said van .[/font][/size]
I may do a test run, like get a cheap used camper trailer, hitch it to my SUV and go out for a few weeks or months at a time when saving up a few hundred on my paypal debit card from odd jobs(as I still have bills to pay), when I see they are having meetup's or gatherings within a few hours of me I could head that way to learn more by being around them. and it would be a no risk investment as even if I end up not going into the lifestyle a camper is cool to have and would be better than the tent that I recreationally camp in every year that's starting to get ratty looking. And I see them on craigslist all the time I live in Texas so there is always some lifelong outdoorsmen dyeing of old age who's wife is wanting to get that thing out of her back yard lol,

[size=small][font=verdana, geneva, lucida,]And if I end up liking the life I can sell my house and go all in and buy a decked out 4X4 camper van.[/font][/size]

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[font=verdana, geneva, lucida,][size=small] [/font][/size]does that sound like a viable way to dip my toe in ?  :-/

 

[user 37446]

Well that example will set you back plenty of dough. YouTube search "vandweller" will be your friend. Be prepared to watch 100 differing videos or so then you'll likely know what you want. Some are cheap, some are fake, some are really decked out etc.

 

[ChileSauceCritic]

Lol I would not get the van until I decide whether the life is for me, which would be after a combined 5-6 months of long trips pulling an old camper trailer. but if I do end up liking it I would sell my house to pay for the rig and bank the rest. the reason I would want a 4x4 van is it seems the best balance of comfort, stealth, and access to harder to reach area's.

 

[bullfrog]

There are several ways to deal with your house. There are people doing AirBnb that will lease your house and deal with all the hassle and possibly buy it from you if you decide to sell. No worries about getting paid rent from an individual or being a landlord. If zoned properly you could put your RV in a garage in back or elsewhere on the property and do both.

 

[ChileSauceCritic]

Actually that was my first thought but doing the numbers I would have to spend much more time with the camper trailer if I went that route, which would be harder to stealth and limit some of the out of the way places I want to see.  Even now I've camped in places you couldn't get a front wheel drive car to and my Subaru outback is not even true  4X4 but all wheel drive with knobby tires. 
But I have gotten some good advice for my test run phase, on small things I did not even think of, like unplugging everything except my refrigerator when out on the week or month long trips so my expenses are lower while deciding, while putting the difference away for gas money for the next trip. 
But realistically to go full time I would have to sell the house to have the upfront money for the rig I would want.

 

[jacqueg]

Lol I would not get the van until I decide whether the life is for me, which would be after a combined 5-6 months of long trips pulling an old camper trailer. but if I do end up liking it I would sell my house to pay for the rig and bank the rest. the reason I would want a 4x4 van is it seems the best balance of comfort, stealth, and access to harder to reach area's.

Um, I wouldn't call that beast stealthy! But it would sure get you wherever you wanted to go.

You are wise not to sell your house until you know for sure you really do prefer camping out over living in a house. Welcome to the forum and have fun.

 

[ChileSauceCritic]

Well the thing about a van is you can cheaply have magnetic signs made up that you can stick on your van, and you can switch out the signs depending on where you are, signs like "Pedro's plumbing" or "Pete's pest control" or "Arnold's AC/Heating repair" "Pablo's pool cleaners" etc etc etc

 

[bullfrog]

Don’t put a plumbing company sign on your van in Texas for the next year or so you won’t get any sleep! Lol!!!

 

[vanstu]

Well CSC you definitely seem to be in the learning curve of van life...

keep educating yourself-- (I started van life in 1985--part time-- living in a VW camper and I'm still learning.)  This forum is a great place to start.

I think your idea of getting a camper trailer for your SUV is excellent-- It'll give you an idea of the pros and cons of the life and what you will need/want in a van build for yourself- (power-water-internet etc). Since you already go tent camping you are ahead of a lot of people already.

On 4X4 vans-- they can be hard to find and expensive. (although GM made an AWD van but has since discontinued it-- and it was only the half ton and I would go with something tougher as when you add the weight of water/batteries etc you will need it.) You also have the added problems that a transfer case/trans-axels (CV joints) engenders. I have traction control for my RWD van and I carry snow chains for the rear tires in case things get really hairy. Get good tires. If you are going to full bore offroading I would also recommend a portable electric winch for emergencies.
Note that I said portable. I wouldn't permanently mount it as it might risk your stealth-- I try to blend in with all the other work vans. If you park that behemoth that you showed on a street everyone will know you're living in it-- why ask for problems?

Another thing-- keep your eye on the present Covid eviction ban-- when it expires there WILL be a flood of people tossed out on the street and many will get into vans out of desperation-- this will cause vans to get harder to find and more expensive. (supply vs demand?) It is why I am in the process of upgrading mine now before it gets bad--time may be of the essence.

Welcome to the forum

 

[jacqueg]

 Well the thing about a van is you can cheaply have magnetic signs made up that you can stick on your van, and you can switch out the signs depending on where you are, signs like "Pedro's plumbing" or "Pete's pest control" or "Arnold's AC/Heating repair" "Pablo's pool cleaners" etc etc etc

I travel full-time in a white cargo van. Hardly anyone ever notices me. But they sure would if I were in a lifted 4x4 van. Because that's a (spendy) custom job, and it would be a very rare plumber or HVAC guy who used one for a work van. If you a put trade sign on a van like that, anyone paying any attention at all would suspect that you weren't what your sign proclaims you to be.

 

[highdesertranger]

Putting fake business sign's on your vehicle comes up from time to time here on the forum. It's a bad idea. Now you have commercial enforcement scrutinizing you to. Plus it could be considered fraud if someone wanted to push the issue. Now-a-days most businesses must show their license number on their sign, What are you going to do about that? Stop at scales? your just making it harder on yourself.

"Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive" Sir Walter Scott

Highdesertranger

 

[ChileSauceCritic]

Well CSC you definitely seem to be in the learning curve of van life...

keep educating yourself-- (I started van life in 1985--part time-- living in a VW camper and I'm still learning.)  This forum is a great place to start.

I think your idea of getting a camper trailer for your SUV is excellent-- It'll give you an idea of the pros and cons of the life and what you will need/want in a van build for yourself- (power-water-internet etc). Since you already go tent camping you are ahead of a lot of people already.

 Well I used to also take roadtrips for weeks at a time in a van I had in my late teens-early 20's which was pre-internet/smartphone so it should be easier now.

On 4X4 vans-- they can be hard to find and expensive. (although GM made an AWD van but has since discontinued it-- and it was only the half ton and I would go with something tougher as when you add the weight of water/batteries etc you will need it.) You also have the added problems that a transfer case/trans-axels (CV joints) engenders. I have traction control for my RWD van and I carry snow chains for the rear tires in case things get really hairy. Get good tires.

  Not that hard to find here in Texas which is my starting point. 

If you are going to full bore offroading I would also recommend a portable electric winch for emergencies.
Note that I said portable. I wouldn't permanently mount it as it might risk your stealth-- I try to blend in with all the other work vans. If you park that behemoth that you showed on a street everyone will know you're living in it-- why ask for problems?

 You bring up a good point, here in Texas it would not raise too many eyebrows as a work truck( have seen them before), but now you got me thinking it's not something you would see very often in most of the country so maybe outside of Texas, Colorado, New Mexico and other places where a significant percentage of the population drive 4X4's those "Pablo's pest control" magnetic signs on the side of the van won't fool anyone, where as here I've seen marked delivery vans that look like that.  
[img=600x400]https://i.pinimg.com/originals/83/5e/20/835e208454b0401e1ca78ea69e1d6d67.jpg[/img]  

Another thing-- keep your eye on the present Covid eviction ban-- when it expires there WILL be a flood of people tossed out on the street and many will get into vans out of desperation-- this will cause vans to get harder to find and more expensive. (supply vs demand?) It is why I am in the process of upgrading mine now before it gets bad--time may be of the essence.

Welcome to the forum

That worries me , right now you can get something like this used for around $13,000 in decent condition but a bit scratched up or a few dent's I see them in offerup  and Craigslist  from time to time, So I could sell my house(for about 60K quickly) and get enough for it and bank the rest, but as more and more people are forced into vanlife I do see the possibility of dealerships taking advantage. I would not be surprised if they start selling vans "ready to live in" as people are selling their homes before they lose them or a 4 year car note on a van is cheaper than back rent for their apartment .  
[img=600x400]https://res.cloudinary.com/outdoors...s/29859/images/baek8h1vxhbflboknz1u.jpg[/img]

Putting fake business  sign's on your vehicle comes up from time to time here on the forum.  It's a bad idea.  Now you have commercial enforcement scrutinizing you to.  Plus it could be considered fraud if someone wanted to push the issue.  Now-a-days most businesses must show their license number on their sign,  What are you going to do about that?  Stop at scales?  your just making it harder on yourself.

"Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive"  Sir Walter Scott

Highdesertranger

I used to have a magnetic sign on my old truck when I had a PC build and repair business and never got hassled, but then again that was almost 20 years ago.

 

[eDJ_]

I hope you can find something better than the "Ham Can" you have linked to.  Leave that to the "vintage buff's" who like restoring stuff.   You can find better rigs that are livable in estate sales too.  Remember there are Pro's out there looking for them too and they are networked,  so you'll have to have your $ ready and move fast.  One guy I know where I live in southern Ohio has bunches of buddies who work on rural sanitation trucks who spot potential deals for him and he was at the newspaper company each night  when the first papers came off the press to get the classified ad's to be first to see what was listed by 9:30 pm.   Later he made friends on the inside in the composing room who were putting the ad layouts together by 2:30 pm in order to be 7 hours ahead of the first papers. 

If you can 1) get your house cleaned up and ready to show for sale, 2) get an appraiser to look it over to give you a solid idea of what it should sell for (this will cost a bit but they may offer suggestions for some simple things you can do to improve the value further so you can get a better price still...and they may cover the appraisers fee too) .  3) be able to get a good realtor to sell the place for you while you are out camping on the road.

If you are able to work online presently,  you may do some remote working from home if you have high speed internet there.  This should be as important as getting a rig to travel in.  Thus when you go on the road you could take a job with you. (if you aren't doing this already) 

Below in my signature line are a couple of links which may be helpful. 

This link is active in assisting people getting started working in working from their rigs while on the road.  There are also links to finding trades jobs, free training, and apprenticeships in this as well.

Good luck :thumbsup:

Education and Skills needed to work online from your rig

 

[afblangley]

[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Really[/font][font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif] think about your[/font][font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif] use case scenario[/font][font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]-[/font][font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif] t[/font][font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]railers and vans have vastly different suitabilities. I'm not sure experience with one could help inform a decision about the other. [/font]

Some folks find the transition from a house to an RV to be traumatic. There are lots of inconveniences associated with a home on wheels, and the wrong vehicle can exacerbate the situation. If you decide a van is the best vehicle for you, one that is stand up height, with a bathroom, kitchen, heater, and an adequate energy setup will be a lot easier to live in.

 

[ChileSauceCritic]

Well I got a good sized barebones camper trailer last weekend dirt cheap, I will only put in things in the camper that can be taken out and transferred to a van if I go full time.

 

[JasonMcD]

Go watch Bob's videos if you haven't already. There really isn't a better place to find all the information you need in once place, from mechanical issues to van-life mentality. He has pretty much covered everything. I still go back sometimes and re-watch them to pick up things i might have missed.

Good luck on your travels.

P.S. killer van.