Planning Van Purchase

[aleg]

Hello everyone!

I'm a 24-year-old Chilean Software Engineer, and I'll be moving to Seattle in September since I accepted a nice full-time job offer in a big tech company. I'm planning to save and invest most of my income to retire earlier and be financially independent. Compared to my country, rent prices in Seattle are super high, and I wouldn't like to pay that amount of money just to sleep in there after work, so I've been thinking about living in a vehicle for a long time (even if I have to work from there because of COVID-19 I think it worth it). If I have to come back to my country in the worst-case scenario, I could sell the van and get some money back, something that won't happen if I rent an apartment. 

Considering I'm single and that renting a studio or an 1-bedroom apartment in Seattle could cost at least ~1.5k I would like to invest the amount of 1 year of rent (or at most 20k) in a van conversion. I've lived in Seattle before, so I know rain and cold weather will be a problem because of rust and possible leaks. I was thinking about buying an RV or Truck Camper until I watched some of Bob's YouTube videos on choosing a vehicle and I feel buying a Chevy Express or a pre-1999 Ford Econoline would be a better idea. Furthermore, I'm thinking about insulating the van by myself and maybe pay for adding a high top. Also, I don't care that much about gas mileage and aerodynamics since I won't be moving that far each time (only during vacations), so another option could be a box truck. I found this blog about a guy who lived for about 5 years in a box truck while working at Google, but I feel that keeping a box truck insulated and warm would be harder because of the extra space.

I would like to get some advice from people who already lived with that kind of weather, so I prepared the following questions:
1. Which kind of vehicle do you recommend me considering my context?
2. How much would you recommend me to spend on buying that vehicle considering the budget I have for the whole conversion? Do you recommend any specific year and mileage range?
3. Where should I start looking for vehicles? I'm currently using Facebook Marketplace and CL and also looked into some auction sites such as Ironplanet to have an idea of the market prices.

Thank you!

 

[crofter]

Welcome to the forum!
-crofter

 

[crofter]

Here is a link to vehicle searches I used to find my ProMaster cargo van. You can stand in a low roof PM if you are a short person, cabin is 6'x10'x5 1/2' high. I built out my PM cargo van for $750 using used camping gear and plywood materials. 
-crofter

https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/inven...itySelectingHelper.selectedEntity2=&zip=97008

 

[RvDreams]

Welcome aleg to the CRVL forums! To help you learn the ins and outs of these forums, this "Tips, Tricks and Rules" post lists some helpful information to get you started.

Most of our rules boil down to two simple over-riding principles: 1) What you post should provide good information (like your introductory post), and 2) Any response to someone else's post should make them feel glad they are part of this forum community.

We look forward to hearing more from you.

 

[aleg]

Welcome to the forum!
-crofter

Hi crofter! Thank you for the advice. I've read and heard a lot of rust issues with the RAM ProMaster and since I'll be living in a super rainy city I thought it wouldn't be a good idea to get one of those.

 

[IGBT]

I would not take the risk of living in a van if you are in downtown Seattle (like working at Amazon).   Property crime is pretty high and there is zero enforcement.

If you are in Redmond at Microsoft, you could maybe do it.  Microsoft has showers and stuff...my wife was a software engineer there and would take a shower after biking to work...they even provide the towels and laundry service.

But they pay a metric crap load of money as salary to software engineers, so  do you really need to live in a van?   Could you not just rent a room in a house share?

 

[mattvei]

I second the room share. I'm retired and been renting rooms in private residences for 10 years. Upside, if you get in the right one will be like having full use of a house with no mortgage, taxes, insurance, maintenance. Downside, most of your landlords will be under some kind of financial stress. So learn how to search public records online to catch foreclosures, liens, etc. And look at return addresses on mail in mailbox for return addresses from attorneys, IRS, etc. Easy to find on Craigslist. I use a good recliner to sleep and relax in which saves a lot of space. If you still want van, check city code enforcement. Seattle and surrounding areas are having a big homeless problem, so rules are changing constantly

 

[Artsyguy]

Having a Chevy Express 2500, standard roof as my weekend/vacation van, I would NOT consider LIVING in any van that I couldn't stand up in. Maybe being 6'2" and being older has something to do with it, but that would be a deal breaker for me.

 

[aleg]

Here is a link to vehicle searches I used to find my ProMaster cargo van. You can stand in a low roof PM if you are a short person, cabin is 6'x10'x5 1/2' high. I built out my PM cargo van for $750 using used camping gear and plywood materials. 
-crofter

https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/inven...itySelectingHelper.selectedEntity2=&zip=97008

Hi crofter, thank you for the link and advice! I really like the ProMaster because of its space and its height and squared corners, but I don't know how it will handle the humidity of the Seattle area. From what I have investigated, those are being built by Fiat and that makes me think twice on purchase one of those. How has your overall experience been?

 

[aleg]

I would not take the risk of living in a van if you are in downtown Seattle (like working at Amazon).   Property crime is pretty high and there is zero enforcement.

If you are in Redmond at Microsoft, you could maybe do it.  Microsoft has showers and stuff...my wife was a software engineer there and would take a shower after biking to work...they even provide the towels and laundry service.

But they pay a metric crap load of money as salary to software engineers, so  do you really need to live in a van?   Could you not just rent a room in a house share?

Hi IGBT! Just let's say I'll be working in Redmond. I know to salary is super good and considering that I could afford to live anywhere. The thing is, in general, I consider myself a minimalistic guy (I don't have a lot of possessions besides my bike, guitar, laptop, and clothes) and I kinda like the van lifestyle.

The closest I've been to live on the road was when during my vacations I traveled for a couple of months with my dad at his work (he is a truck driver) and I really enjoyed that time, I felt kinda free. Also, when I was at the university, I used to sleep in there on a couch for half of the week because I lived too far and wasn't able to afford a room or an apartment closer (I did it for like 2.5 years), so I don't think would be that hard for me to adapt to the lifestyle. Regarding your last question, multiple times I have rented and shared an apartment and had some really bad experiences, so I would prefer going solo.

 

[aleg]

I second the room share. I'm retired and been renting rooms in private residences for 10 years. Upside, if you get in the right one will be like having full use of a house with no mortgage, taxes, insurance, maintenance. Downside, most of your landlords will be under some kind of financial stress. So learn how to search public records online to catch foreclosures, liens, etc. And look at return addresses on mail in mailbox for return addresses from attorneys, IRS, etc. Easy to find on Craigslist. I use a good recliner to sleep and relax in which saves a lot of space. If you still want van, check city code enforcement. Seattle and surrounding areas are having a big homeless problem, so rules are changing constantly

Hi mattvei, I've considered university residences since there are some of them that accept young workers. The cheaper I've found were rooms between 700-1000 bucks and their surface wasn't much bigger from what I could get by living in a box truck or even a big van. I still have plenty of time to consider my alternatives, so I really appreciate your advice, maybe I should start looking somewhere else. Thank you a lot!

 

[aleg]

Having a Chevy Express 2500, standard roof as my weekend/vacation van, I would NOT consider LIVING in any van that I couldn't stand up in.  Maybe being 6'2" and being older has something to do with it, but that would be a deal breaker for me.

Hi [font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Artsyguy, [/font]I'm a short guy compared to you. I have considered the high-roof vans, but more than the height I'm prioritizing the build quality, reliability, and maintenance cost since I can add a high top later. If I don't go for the Chevy Express, I was thinking of getting a Ford Transit, because of the bad comments on the ProMaster and the maintenance cost of the Sprinter.

 

[crofter]

....rented and shared an apartment and had some really bad experiences, so I would prefer going solo.

So true. Lots of drama hidden in craigslist housing ads. You could pursue a house share with your bedroom being the driveway, but you are still sharing the place. Some cities call this arrangement "alternative dwelling units" .
-crofter