Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 09-14-2019, 01:39 PM   #1
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2017
Posts: 153
Snowbird or full time.

Hi folks My dw and myself are looking into doing one or the other.we are debating on selling the house.we just aren't sure which way to go. We really enjoy have the house. So we can have all the grandbabies over. But at the same time we really enjoy our time in the camper. Can anyone help with some pros and cons on both? Thank you in advance for any and all input.
PaPaMooseP is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-2019, 02:02 PM   #2
Senior Member
 
AudiDudi's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2017
Location: Western Montana
Posts: 874
We kept the house and have a 5th wheel in Arizona that we spend the winters in. We also have the motor home for traveling around in the summers and back and forth to AZ. We usually take 7-10 days coming and going and take a 2-3 week trip, plus several 2-3 day trips, over the summer. Also a few short trips when in AZ.
__________________

Mike and JoAnne
Montana Summer / Arizona Winter
2016 Prism 24G /2002 HitchHiker 38LKTG
ACME EZTowing a 2015 Chevy Sonic RS Hatchback
AudiDudi is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-2019, 02:03 PM   #3
Part-Time Campground Host
 
cboss's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2019
Location: Upstate NY
Posts: 3,179
We snowbird. Leave home 1 Nov and return 1 May.
We love our camper, but is is nice to come back to the house. That way we have nice weather year round and a place to come back to for repairs, gardening, friends, etc. Not to mention all the stuff we've accumulated over the years that we can't take with us while camping.
__________________
Craig & Cath
2018 2902WS Rockwood Ultra Lite (with tons of Mods)
2022 F250 Lariat Super Cab, 7.3 gas w/10 Spd Xmsn
Equalizer Hitch w/4-Point Sway Control

Days camped since 2015(retirement): 1651
cboss is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-2019, 02:08 PM   #4
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2017
Posts: 153
Thank you folks for the input.
__________________
Retired
2019 Tundra 5.7L with tow package
2016 Shasta Oasis 26rl
PaPaMooseP is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-2019, 03:00 PM   #5
Senior Member
 
Oldbears's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2019
Posts: 166
We're not retired yet, but we've been in "retirement prep" for awhile... We built a 1 BR cabin and sold our 3 BR home about 5-6 years ago. The plan is to take seasonal volunteer spots and jobs in state or National Parks out west, then return to our mild TN winters. And when we get to a point where we're sick of traveling, or if we end up with health and/or mobility issues, that we will have our home to land in.

I built our cabin with "aging in place" in mind, so we have wide doorways, no narrow hallways, bedroom on the main level with lots of room around the bed for a wheelchair or walker, and a roomy bathroom with seats in the shower and handicap height toilet. I also built the porch so that a ramp could be added on if needed, and our stairs are low rise. Comforts that a camper just can't accommodate as we age.
__________________
2019 E-Pro 14fk
Oldbears is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-2019, 03:22 PM   #6
Site Team
 
bikendan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Goodyear, Arizona
Posts: 33,556
We've been retired for over 5 years now. For the past 3 years, we've been "Rainbirds"(the Western Washington version of a Snowbird) and have traveled south from February to May.
We will continue to do this until we decide to sell our house. The DW still prefers a home base, though I'm a bit of a gypsy and would love the fulltime lifestyle.
When we head south, we explore different areas to see where we would like to downsize to. I'm not a desert person but the DW loves heat and sun and the Arizona desert. I'm a surfer and want to be near the ocean.
So with our differences, it won't be easy to decide where unless we move to Costa Rica.[emoji847]
__________________
Dan-Retired California Firefighter/EMT
Shawn-Musician/Entrepreneur/Wine Expert
and Zoe the Wonder Dog(R.I.P.)
2016 PrimeTime TracerAIR 255, pushing a 2014 Ford F150 SCREW XTR 4x4 3.5 Ecoboost w/Max Tow Package
4pt Equal-i-zer WDH and 1828lbs of payload capacity
bikendan is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-2019, 03:31 PM   #7
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: Dandridge,TN
Posts: 614
keep the house but still travel we all get old and will need a real home to come to.
cfo111 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-2019, 04:15 PM   #8
Senior Member
 
Daycruiser's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Crossville,TN
Posts: 588
My two cents is if you can afford to do both then keep the house as long as you like and it will suit your needs down the road. Once I retire we won't be able to afford our house, it's very maintenance intensive and it costs a small fortune to keep it up. We'll be selling in about 9 months and going full time until we can find a place to live that we can afford on my pension, then shift back to part time.
__________________
Retired 2020.
46 Years RVing and no end in sight.
2018 Ram 3500 SB Limited, CC, 6.7/Aisin, 4X4, SRW. Comfort Ride Energy Absorbing Hitch.
2020 Cedar Creek Hathaway 34IK, Reese 19K Sidewinder PB.
Daycruiser is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-2019, 04:38 PM   #9
Senior Member
 
Funengineer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2019
Location: Rockford, Michigan
Posts: 473
Long story, short version. Sold house 3-4 years before retirement in an up market so we didn’t need to deal with selling in a bad market. Worked out pretty good. [emoji106] Moved to our northern Michigan forever “retirement” home (small HC accessible home) as soon as we retired. Spent every February and March in Gulf Shores Alabama. Youngest son and DIL had a baby in SW Michigan. Sell retirement house move to be close to children and grandchildren and still go to Alabama for two months each winter. Love being home more than we like being away. Yard work, projects, friends and family. Will always keep home as main base even though we travel extensively including our two months south. Everyone has different interests and desires. What’s right for some may not be for others.
__________________
TT: Flagstaff 25FBLS
Previous TT: Jayco, Rockwood and Flagstaff
TV: 2017 F-150 SCREW, 3.5L Ecoboost, 10 speed, 3.55, 7000# GVWR, tow package.
Funengineer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-2019, 04:57 PM   #10
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Kalamazoo
Posts: 2,139
my 3 year dream is our currant large 5th wheel on an inexpensive seasonal lot in michiagn (home) an inexpensive park model in flordia for winters and a small towable 1/2 unit to travel some in. Sell the house and loose the big truck to keep expenses to a minimum.
Kimber45 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-2019, 05:17 PM   #11
Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: Husk, NC
Posts: 72
Snowbirds in the past. Nov 1 to FL. Back to NC mountains around mid April. But this year we intend to be in AZ and NM during Oct & Nov. If all goes well, heading out for 3 months in the spring. We won't sell our house until they drag us both into the nursing home!!
__________________
___________________________________

2015 Brookstone 315RL
2016 GMC Sierra 3500HD Diesel 4x4 CC LB LEMON
Hatchee is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-2019, 05:58 PM   #12
Senior Member
 
Bluepill's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Pensacola, FL
Posts: 1,645
Friends of ours did something interesting. They bought two older 5th wheel trailers. They keep one in NY and one in FL. They have 6 month seasonal lot rentals for each, and at the end of the season they move them to "Storage" spaces in the campground property at greatly reduced rent. They don't own a tow vehicle, they just pay a small fee to the campgrounds for moving them.

She loves to decorate, and he likes smaller mechanical and carpentry projects. For the first few years they both worked to turn the basic trailer interiors into their dream homes.
__________________
2019 Coachmen Freedom Express 192RBS
2015 T12RBST Flagstaff Hardside

Disclaimer: The actual value of my "Two Cents" of advice varies just like a bitcoin.
Bluepill is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-2019, 06:03 PM   #13
Senior Member
 
Gumpster808's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2017
Posts: 1,271
BIL and wife have a house up north. They bought a park model in the campground they had been going to each winter.

Now they have a camper at the house to take grandkids camping while home for the summer as well as a place to go for the winter.

They like it better since the stress of hauling the camper south and north again is gone.
__________________
2014 3051S - First RV for us
Gumpster808 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-2019, 11:16 PM   #14
Always Learning
 
ependydad's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Four Corners, FL
Posts: 21,888
Wife and I are still working age with a family. We started fulltiming by renting our house. Our situation wasn’t good for renting; we bought it in 2005- right at the tail end of the housing bubble. We owed a lot on it and couldn’t get enough for rent to fully cover the mortgage. But, we wanted to be able to have a fallback plan in case fulltiming didn’t work out. After 2 years, we sold it.

When we want to see family, we swing through our hometown and will coordinate visits with family members there.
__________________
Officially a SOB with a 2022 Jayco Precept 36C
Checkout my site for RVing tips, tricks, and info | Was a Fulltime Family for 5 years, now we're part-timing on long trips
ependydad is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-2019, 11:28 PM   #15
Senior Member
 
frank4711's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2019
Location: North Port Florida
Posts: 2,050
Expect we will always have a home base ... family and grand kids
__________________
Frank & Cindy--- (SOB) 5th Wheel ---2019 Ram 3500 Cummins 6.7 SRW 4x4 8' bed--- Payload 4394------Remi & Sage camping pups---TST 507 TPMS ... B&W Patriot 18K---3.73 axle ... Predator 3500---2019 48 days ---2020 28 days Camping
frank4711 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-15-2019, 12:50 PM   #16
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2017
Posts: 153
Thank you folks for all the input. I retired 6 Years ago. Our baby is 24. We have talked to kids about it and they have said that if we go full time we can park at their houses when we want. Also the kids said they can plan trips to meet up with us. Part of my issue is that I love doing yard work. And some of the house maintenance.
PaPaMooseP is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-15-2019, 12:55 PM   #17
Senior Members
 
Butch & Lena's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Waukee, Iowa
Posts: 138
The DW and I have been Winter Texans for the past 6 years. We leave Iowa in December and go down to South Parde Island and return home in late April early May depending on the weather at home. We are in no rush to return early if the weather is not to our liking. We do a lot of face time with our family back at home. There are 3 other couples that live in our town and we all go down around the same time and return at different times. We will keep our home as it is a ranch and suits our needs for retirement. We will continue to do this as long as our health allows us to do so. Hopefully many more years.
__________________
2015 3010DS Sunseeker

2010 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited

Butch & Lena is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-15-2019, 02:33 PM   #18
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Posts: 160
You've essentially answered your own question. I would hope that you don't sell yet, especially if it feels good to get home after being gone for months, and if you miss family and friends when away. New adventure is wonderful but you are in a position to do both. You're lucky!
Maggiewaggie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-15-2019, 04:31 PM   #19
Global Nomad
 
Scheinin's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: In my 36CKTS 5th Wheel
Posts: 811
Full time. Kept the house, and our son lives in it. Comeback periodically to see the grandchild. Travel around the country to see our other relatives.
__________________
Steven J. Scheinin
2015 RAM 3500 4X4
6.7L CTD Dually pulling a
2016 Cedar Creek 36CKTS (Center Kitchen Three Slides)


Scheinin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-15-2019, 04:55 PM   #20
Senior Member
 
BandJCarm's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Between Pickles Gap and Toad Suck, AR
Posts: 6,070
Two houses. Snowbird. Sunbird. Stay home in fall to hunt. Periodically travel in the trailer to get away from relatives.
__________________
"Next to prayer, fishing is the most personal relationship of man" Herbert Hoover
"American by Birth, Southern by the Grace of God"Lewis Grizzard

FROG AR-0019-242
2016 GMC Denali 3500Dually--2017 CC 36CKTS
BandJCarm is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
snow

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Forest River, Inc. or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 05:55 AM.