Selling up and getting a motorhome (1 Viewer)

[mldavies]

We’re in our 40s and at the early stages of selling up, getting a motorhome and travelling round the UK and then Europe. I’ve searched these forums but have some general questions I’m hoping the more experienced owners can help with.

• We want to have a car but a MH with car garages is super expensive. How easy would be it be to just tow a small car instead if we’re doing a lot of driving. As some places may be remote we really can’t do without a car.
• What are the top 5 priorities for you when it comes to choosing your MH? I know this is very personal but we’re deciding on whether we go for the bigger, slide out models or compromise on a smaller model. We also have a dog if that changes anything!!
• Any general advice on living out of a MH vs occasional holidaying?

Thank you so much for sharing your advice!

 

[Richard n Ann]

Be careful burning your bridges. I get sick of van living after about 10 weeks, would never sell the house.

 

[MichaelT]

Only you can decide layout and size to suit what you want and need. If living full time a small 6 or 7 m motorhome will become very claustrophobic especially in winter but easier to park.

Remember unless you have an EU passport you are limited to 90 days in 180 over there.

 

[MichaelT]

Be careful burning your bridges. I get sick of van living after about 10 weeks, would never sell the house.

Same here

 

[Jev88]

1). Layout
2). Layout
3). Layout



Towing a car on a trailer works all over the world, A-frames are.argued about all the time and are technically illegal I. France and Spain although many try their luck. You should find MH park ups near most towns and cities in Europe but not catered for in UK. Park 4 Night apps and others are useful.

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[ceejayt]

big, big topic.

Have you ever tried to spend an extended time in a smallish space? You need to answer that question first - can you manage in close confinement and if you can - how close 'close confinement' because that will dictate what motorhome you buy or if you buy one at all.

Towing a car is perfectly feasible and quite a few do but it does make it more difficult to manouveur and requires more thought about planning where to stay i.e. not as easy just to pull up and wild camp. Have you thought about a scooter instead that you can keep on board?

Plenty of full timers on here to give you advice. And just to reiterate have you thought about keeping your property and renting it out instead of burning that bridge?

 

[twerly]

We’re in our 40s and at the early stages of selling up, getting a motorhome and travelling round the UK and then Europe. I’ve searched these forums but have some general questions I’m hoping the more experienced owners can help with.

• We want to have a car but a MH with car garages is super expensive. How easy would be it be to just tow a small car instead if we’re doing a lot of driving. As some places may be remote we really can’t do without a car.
• What are the top 5 priorities for you when it comes to choosing your MH? I know this is very personal but we’re deciding on whether we go for the bigger, slide out models or compromise on a smaller model. We also have a dog if that changes anything!!
• Any general advice on living out of a MH vs occasional holidaying?

Thank you so much for sharing your advice!

Have you tested living in a MH yet? hardly anyone finds their perfect layout with their first van. I would thoroughly recommend hiring for a month, as previous poster there is a massive difference between touring and living. Very large homes with slide-outs or car sized garages will find suitable roads and sites much more restrictive.

 

[PP Bear]

Many like me, did loads of research before spending money on a motorhome. By the time I had visited loads of shows, looked at dozens of models and layouts I had completely changed my mind on what I first thought I wanted. Had this one over 10 years and it’s still perfect for me.

Selling up bricks and mortar to buy a motorhome these days is a very brave move. If you don’t know enough already about the kind of questions you are asking, then keep your house, do lots more research before making such a huge decision.

Good luck

 

[Spriddler]

Welcome to Fun.
Like Richard n Ann I'd never give up my house, possibly downsize to free up capital, possibly rent it out and buy a less expensive m/h and try long periods in it.
Winters in the U.K. are too grim for me and if you are married and one of you doesn't have an EU passport you can only spend 90 days in 180 abroad
Do you intend to work in the m/home using electricity? Solar panels and probably Lithium batteries will be necessary, if not essential.
In Spain it is forbidden to use an A frame to tow a car.
If you are going to load the necessities of full time m/homing you'll have to consider the available payload.
Here's an excellent guide.............

The Motorhome Buyer's Guide

Download our Free Motorhome Buyer's Guide packed with essential tips, checklists, and expert advice. Distilled wisdom from 60,000 members

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

 

[Jim]

Two things..

Living in a van is easier than you think, people who are against it throw up loads of what ifs, plenty are valid, but they are all easily overcome. If you want to live in a van, you can.

Living in a van costs more than you think. Yes it's cheaper than bricks and mortar, but many of your bills will remain. Don't spend all your money on a van. You'll need an emergency fund.

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[Richard n Ann]

A friend of mine had a smart car on a trailer for a year, he found it too much hassle manoeuvring, parking etc.

I've always had a 110cc scooter on the back in Europe and it works well. Taking a motorcycle this year though and that will work even weller I think

 

[PP Bear]

Also, full timing in a motorhome will limit you for load capacity on many many vans, so do your research as some, even new, only offer around 350kgs and that’s it, you’ll need much much more than that for the both of you full timing, or risk running overweight and all the hassles that go with it. Even upgrading a vehicle’s suspension will give you more load capacity, but time spent investing this alone can save you a lot of heartache later down the line.

You really do need to start looking through YouTube and the such likes, as there’s only the 1 manufacturer that makes a slide out for the UK, unless you’re looking at yank RV’s.

 

[mldavies]

Be careful burning your bridges. I get sick of van living after about 10 weeks, would never sell the house.

This is one of our worries so we plan on doing an extended trip first to see how we feel longer term! Thank you!

 

[mldavies]

Only you can decide layout and size to suit what you want and need. If living full time a small 6 or 7 m motorhome will become very claustrophobic especially in winter but easier to park.

Remember unless you have an EU passport you are limited to 90 days in 180 over there.

Thanks. It’s finding a MH that’s big enough to live but also isn’t going to restrict where we can go. Lots of research needed!

 

[Puddleduck]

Another thing to consider if what would you do if the motorhome needs repairs which means you will be effectively homeless?

We have a friend who is a full timer but spends time parked up here whilst he saves for his next trip. His van has needed repairs a few times and at present he is stuck in a remote part of west Scotland with a steering issue. As he has a dog checking into an hotel has not been possible.

Personally I would not leave the property market completely but consider downsizing and then letting out. Experience with my parents and their friends has shown that some people do not respect rented property and if the property you are renting out has emotional ties then any damage is magnified. A property without emotional ties can be let out to provide some kind of income and then sold on or provide a short term refuge at a later date. (I am aware of possible changes to no fault evictions should you wish to reclaim your property and that would need to be factored in).

I'm with twerly with renting a van for a month or 6 weeks. You may even find you hate driving it.

EDIT: Just a heads up that you are restricted as to how many posts you can make before you need to pay a subscription.

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[Carpmart]

When I look back on our TOAD usage, it was largely driven by getting the dog around.

We have a 300cc scooter in the garage and electric bikes which we use way more than the scooter. The scooter gives us range to explore up to (self imposed) 50km radius, give or take. Any further and we move the Motorhome to another area and explore from there.

WRT selling and full timing. We are now spending nine months away (in Europe) and three months at home (in UK) a year. When at home we do a few rallies and bit of touring too. If you get the right Motorhome, it’s a very nice way to live.

 

[mldavies]

big, big topic.

Have you ever tried to spend an extended time in a smallish space? You need to answer that question first - can you manage in close confinement and if you can - how close 'close confinement' because that will dictate what motorhome you buy or if you buy one at all.

Towing a car is perfectly feasible and quite a few do but it does make it more difficult to manouveur and requires more thought about planning where to stay i.e. not as easy just to pull up and wild camp. Have you thought about a scooter instead that you can keep on board?

Plenty of full timers on here to give you advice. And just to reiterate have you thought about keeping your property and renting it out instead of burning that bridge?

We’re planning on doing an extended trip to test that out so watch this space!! I do have a motorbike licence so we are considering having a bike or moped instead so we can still get around but this is obviously less useful in a winter!

We are considering whether we rent or sell. Selling would allow us much more money to spend on a MH and not worry about finances so much but then it’s obviously much more risky!!

 

[mldavies]

Have you tested living in a MH yet? hardly anyone finds their perfect layout with their first van. I would thoroughly recommend hiring for a month, as previous poster there is a massive difference between touring and living. Very large homes with slide-outs or car sized garages will find suitable roads and sites much more restrictive.

We’re planning on a more extended trip to test that out! That’s the challenge, a balance of space vs accessibility!

 

[ceejayt]

We’re planning on doing an extended trip to test that out so watch this space!! I do have a motorbike licence so we are considering having a bike or moped instead so we can still get around but this is obviously less useful in a winter!

We are considering whether we rent or sell. Selling would allow us much more money to spend on a MH and not worry about finances so much but then it’s obviously much more risky!!

How about a 'downsize' ? Sell but buy something much smaller so you still have a place to land. This will also make some things much easier for you because you will have a real address - this is important when it comes to insurance, doctors and all sorts of other things.

 

[BikerGraham]

Welcome to the fun.

Take your time and do lots of research.

Layout and Payload Will be even more crucial

Seriously think about not having some form of property to fall back on.

Good luck

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[cyberyacht]

As has been mentioned above, think long and hard about changing from an appreciating asset to a depreciating one. Economically, there could be no going back. Back in the early 2000's many sold up and bought in Spain on booming market which subsequently dropped. Circumstances changed but a return to the UK was then no longer viable as they could no longer afford the UK property market.

 

[pappajohn]

You're in your 40s now.
Sell up and buy a motorhome then in say 10 years you have had enough.
What are you going to do, most of your money is gone, the vans worth a lot less than you paid for it and your only option is rent for the next 30 or 40 years.
Think carefully.

 

[PaulyP]

I’m selling my house and will move full time into my 38 foot static caravan, I will then be buying my motorhome based on a long wheelbase sprinter style, my partner has a lodge down in Hastings so we will have a northern and southern base and can then tour from either, I don’t need a big detached house anymore, the static is big enough for my needs and is open all year round. We can travel for months at a time and be flexible enough to go anywhere.

 

[offagen]

We have no thoughts of full-timing, we too find the permitted 90 days in Europe as much as we want to do before getting back to home comforts for a while. However, we are all different.

Just out of interest, can the full-time members here advise how things like insurances, RFL, MOT and other official matters are addressed if you have no UK address (having sold up). Do you use a relative or friend's address to get round that?

If you want to spend more than 90 days (6 months with a visa?) abroad do you move outside of the EU countries and, if so, where, and what restrictions on stay might there be? Only the hardy would want to full-time in the UK but I'm aware that many do.

 

[peterc10]

You say you are in your 40s. When did you past your tests? If it was after 1996 you cannot drive a vehicle with a plated maximum weight over 3.5T. So that limits you to smaller motorhomes and small payloads. I would doubt you will be able to get something to successfully full time in. The only way to get over this is to get some training and pass a test for a C1 licence.

Also as others have said insurance for full timers is hard to get and very expensive if you find it. At the moment the only company I know who offers it is Comfort, but they charge a lot of money.

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[Dickyb]

Welcome to the fun

The most important thing is membership on here as the help and information will get you through most if not all situations.

We’re new to motorhoming too bought the first one last November but had camping and caravaning experience all our lives, we’re 50’s and just retired, weve done various length trips upto nearly 5 weeks and loved it, we never want to come home and have just discussed full time living, we know we’d need a bigger motorhome and have weighed up the pro’s and cons, we’ve a few more uk trips planned this year till we do our 90 days in the eu from mid December to mid March to hopefully escape the British Hopefully then we will have enough experience to make a decision, maybe do 20 years and then rent somewhere for the time we have left or even find a place to settle on our travels, good luck with whatever you decide

 

[stewartwebr]

Another thing to consider if what would you do if the motorhome needs repairs which means you will be effectively homeless?

We have a friend who is a full timer but spends time parked up here whilst he saves for his next trip. His van has needed repairs a few times and at present he is stuck in a remote part of west Scotland with a steering issue. As he has a dog checking into an hotel has not been possible.

Personally I would not leave the property market completely but consider downsizing and then letting out. Experience with my parents and their friends has shown that some people do not respect rented property and if the property you are renting out has emotional ties then any damage is magnified. A property without emotional ties can be let out to provide some kind of income and then sold on or provide a short term refuge at a later date. (I am aware of possible changes to no fault evictions should you wish to reclaim your property and that would need to be factored in).

I'm with twerly with renting a van for a month or 6 weeks. You may even find you hate driving it.

EDIT: Just a heads up that you are restricted as to how many posts you can make before you need to pay a subscription.

Very sound advice, you always need a bolt hole and at some point we shall all unfortunately need to give up life on the road due to ill health or age related issues. What will you do then?

 

[nicholsong]

I am another one advocating not selling, but renting out your property.

I am not full-timing but left UK full-time and the rental from my property keeps us in a nice lifestyle here.

The rent increases annually and maybe some capital value increase. What would be increasing for you living in a MH? Not pensions, since you are not old enough. Maybe you are an investment wizard, 5% of investors are, the rest keep the fund managers and brokers in business.

 

[Puddleduck]

I’m selling my house and will move full time into my 38 foot static caravan, I will then be buying my motorhome based on a long wheelbase sprinter style, my partner has a lodge down in Hastings so we will have a northern and southern base and can then tour from either, I don’t need a big detached house anymore, the static is big enough for my needs and is open all year round. We can travel for months at a time and be flexible enough to go anywhere.

That's a good plan. I do know that several static caravan sites require the units to be replaced when they get to a certain age, so again it is buyer beware.

 

[PaulyP]

That's a good plan. I do know that several static caravan sites require the units to be replaced when they get to a certain age, so again it is buyer beware.

I’ve had mine 7 years and it’s now 9 years old, was told at the time of purchase the they were on a 20 year lease, but new owners now have the site so things could change, may look around for a new site but I like this place as a base.