question on a logistical issue

[Cotie]

Now that the brutal Massachusetts winter is sort of winding down, I can start in earnest liquidating my stuff and get my place up for sale.


But, I'm trying to work out something.

I know that after starting I can set up residence in a different state and use a mail forwarding service, such as escapees, as my address (I assume that's still true).

But, after I sell my house and acquire a van and actually leave, there will be a limbo period where I'm still a resident of Massachusetts. 

After I sell my house the registry of motor vehicles is going to want a new address for me. And, my bank will want a new address. At that point I won't have a new address. 

Has anyone else dealt with that and have a solution?

Thanks,
Cotie

 

[cyndi]

Welcome to the CRVL forums, Cotie! 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.

If you're using Escapees or one of the other mail forwarding services then that becomes your new address. You can have a car registered in one state and reside in another.

Technically, I am a resident of Nevada. My car is registered in MA and my Moho was registered in AZ.

 

[ttpadilla]

That's a good question, but I don't have any answers for you. I plan to leave my residence info the same for now. I just paid registration on my two vehicles, which is good for two years, so we'll see what happens at the end of that time. All of my bills are paperless, so I don't have to wait for mail forwarding for that, and my bank has never asked me to update my address. I use mobile banking for deposits, and do everything else on line. I might let them know that I'm going to be traveling for a while so they don't flag my "away from area" purchases, but I'm hoping to switch to cash for point of sale purchases anyway. Hopefully others here have some better info for you. Good luck!

 

[Almost There]

Now that the brutal Massachusetts winter is sort of winding down, I can start in earnest liquidating my stuff and get my place up for sale.


But, I'm trying to work out something.

I know that after starting I can set up residence in a different state and use a mail forwarding service, such as escapees, as my address (I assume that's still true).

But, after I sell my house and acquire a van and actually leave, there will be a limbo period where I'm still a resident of Massachusetts. 

After I sell my house the registry of motor vehicles is going to want a new address for me. And, my bank will want a new address. At that point I won't have a new address. 

Has anyone else dealt with that and have a solution?

Thanks,
Cotie

I've got the same logistical problem...the bank, the government (several levels...lol), the insurance company, health care etc etc all want a physical address for you to live at. Somehow, they can't wrap their brains around - 'I live on wheels'..

I've arranged to 'board' at a friends' place on the next block over. We'll switch my legal address over to her place. It's between her and I that I never spend a night there...   The government has no place in our bedrooms...

 

[Iggy]

I've been "homeless" for two years but still keep a po box in Oregon. I was in the DMV last year renewing my vehicle tags and asked the lady helping me if there was any problem with not having a home address. She advised me to keep the po box and just use my last home address when asked for a residence. So I will until there is a problem. A couple friends and a church said that I could use their address if I needed to.
I pay all my bills online so the po box is barely necessary anymore. I go months without checking it.

 

[akrvbob]

You can set up the forwarding address today by mail and that has no impact on anything. There is a Post Office form you have to fill out to get the new address, but you can download and print it and mail it to the forwarder. You can have two addresses and you never have to go there until you want to become a resident!! Just before your ready to go change all your addresses to it except the car insurance. That has to be in your home state. When you actually leave where you are now, go to the new state and get a DL and change the title and registration on the van and also get new insurance for the van. It MUST be in the state where the vehicle is registered or the state will cancel your regisration.

It really is no big deal! Escapees now has mail forwarding in FL, SD and TX so it's pretty tempting to go with them. Contact them and they will have a page for each state describing in detail exactly what you need to do to become a resident of each state.

When you factor in health insurance, SD is no longer as appealing as it used to be. There are no policies available in SD on the exchange that have nation-wide policies while both TX and FL do.
Bob

 

[WriterMs]

Bob had some new info for me on healthcare and how some states offer policies that do not confine you to a local network.

When I got my van, I made the trip up to Madison, SD, to become a legal resident there. The state has laws set up to allow you to become a legal South Dakotan by staying only one night (receipt from motel or campground needed to prove you did) and then getting your vehicle registered there and getting a driver's license. All of that was cheaper than my previous home state.

I then called a couple of SD insurance companies for vehicle insurance. I found one that regularly insures fulltimers who are SD "legal."

But I ran into the same thing signing up for health insurance. I had to be in the network for the coverage to pay for much of anything. I may look into switching states of residence again because of that.. since Bob mentioned the states that have nationwide policies. (thanks Bob)
Carla