Question for full timers

[luvrbus]

LOL after writing checks for our property taxes F/T is looking better every year,damn shame you never own property you just lease it from a government agency

[Bus Lurker]

Don, with the fires down here in Ventura this week, my wife and I stayed in our home with no power one night.  We are not far from the San Andreas fault and recently it has started to rumble.  When the big one hits and if your coach is fully self contained with full fuel tanks, you will be golden. 

When the big one hits, the thought of having to go to a public shelter is not appealing at our age.  Having a coach ready to go even if we park it in front of our house when there is a tragedy is appealing to me.  I know I sound like a prepper.

I don't have a coach yet, but this is the back of my mind.  This week the State of CA said they are mulling outlawing gasoline engines by the year 2040.  With their mindset in Sacramento I can't see them allowing the motor home exemption for two stroke Detroit engines much longer.  Many of my truck driver friends have been forced to sell perfectly good tractors out of state because CA would not renew their registration because their engines were not "clean" enough.  I am just saying we may not have the Detroit Diesel loophole much longer.

Mike

[luvrbus]

I look for Ca to outlaw the 2 strokes in RV's in Jan 2023 when they enforce the requirements all trucks and buses must be 2010 or newer engines.there is going to be a lot of bus for sale then 

[chessie4905]

They should take that state and shove it up their San Andreas fault.jmo, of course.

[kyle4501]

We like having our cake & eating it too.

I hope to down size to a small house with a shop big enough so I can do as much maintenance on the coach as I can. (Will need to be in an area with a very low cost of living . . . . )

That way, we can travel when we want to, & still have a base to call home.
We are trying to reduce our stuff now, if we haven't used it in the past several years . . . .

Well, that's what we are trying to plan for. . . . .

[PP]

I think Don (windtrader) might have the answer to his own question. Rent out your place fully furnished and use the money for travel in the bus. Moving down the road is expensive, parking in an RV park or your kid's back yard, not so much. Just budget your travels according to your income and you'll be fine. Then if you decide it isn't for you, kick out those great renters that have totally trashed your house and possessions while you were an absentee landlord and spend the rest of your life rehabbing the old place. Where's Crabby Milton, here's a subject for him to rant about.  Oh, when did that pipe start leaking??? You mean chimney's don't clean themselves, what? Smoke damage? Shoot, I didn't know the roof was leaking.  Just wait till you get home, in the driveway and right back out. haha

[Dave5Cs]

Man what a bunch of old Curmudgeons, LOL.
Wow that a first a guy with a name that depicts poor jokes (Chessie4905)from PA, hates California and probably only knows what he's heard on this board about it,  LOL 
And everyone worried about disasters that may or may not happen. You guys probably shouldn't be Fulltimers because you'all worry to much.
Life is short. My Grandfather used to say," If you go through life worrying about what you are going to die from, you will probably die from an ulcer." 

[neoneddy]

I'd think selling it all is fairly irriverasable . So many unknown unknowns.  I like the idea of storing the main items for 12 -18 months. Yeah it's going to cost some money but I'd think muchess than having to rebut if it doesn't work out. The couple of thousand for stage is cheap insurance.   Once you kids are familiar with it all and know that you know this is what you want sell it.

There is a new app, LetGo it works so nice, you can lost things so quickly. Might be worth looking into. Just put the important bits in the title, no one reads the description.


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[kyle4501]

And everyone worried about disasters that may or may not happen.

The Boy Scout motto is "Be Prepared", so it is best to at least consider the potential pitfalls.

The fact is that there are things that, IF they happened, could cause financial ruin.

There are also lots of things that look good on paper, but lose their luster quickly when when experienced first hand.

The better you are at repairing things, the easier it will be to full time, so, one must consider all the possibilities.

[windtrader]

@Mike - One of the reasons for getting the bus, pretty low on the list, was as a mobile second domicile, free to move where desired in case of natural disaster or doomsday event. I certainly am not a card carrying prepper or survivalist but conditions and events just make me more uneasy that some big shiiite could go down. It is highly comforting to know that as long as we can escape the bay area and get to the bus, we can survive a whole lot better than most folks.

Clifford and Mike, the effect of the CARB rules on older two strokes has pretty much run its course through the commercial truck industry in CA, at least from what I know. Any that has not had the PM conversion is virtually off the road for any commercial use now as the last of the extensions have run out January 2016. That was allowing some to remain in fleets based on the percentage of the fleet being otherwise compliant and current. There is one other exemption allowing some minimal use, like under 5,000 miles a year. I think that one still is in force.
https://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/onrdiesel/documents/faqLowuse.pdf
https://www.overdriveonline.com/carb-to-boost-low-use-mileage-exemption/
https://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/onrdiesel/documents/FSRegSum.pdf

Agree with you on the coming glut of old buses for sale. The way I read the regulation (3rd link) is just before 2020 there may be a great buy opportunity for mid-late 90's 4 stroke like a MCI 102 Series 60 motor. It seems that by 2020, heavy trucks/buses with 1996-1999 motors will need to have at least a 2010 or newer motor. Operators will surely be dumping them cheap and getting new ones. Time to buy stock in the large truck companies.

As long as the motorhome conversion rules remain intact then we can still use the loophole to buy an old commercial non-compliant bus, convert it, and register it as a motorhome, bypassing the regulation. Much like how we run the old two strokes on the road today.

Until they get rid of diesel vehicles altogether it seems to me that we old busnuts will still be able to run down the road. But as we already experience getting supplies and parts will continue to diminish; take getting low ash straight 40 weight oil for example.

The thing with California, specifically the SF Bay Area, is people put up with all the BS, extreme costs and regulations, due to one thing. It is in the top ten most beautiful and enriched, culturally, socially, and geographically, weather, economically, etc locations in the world. Dec 9, sitting outside with a light shirt on, under clear blue skies, 60 degrees, overlooking the green rolling hills. Does not get any better. Now, don't ask once I have to leave to house and go anywhere. LOL

@Neodaddy - LetGo - the problem isn't finding ways to get rid of stuff. The problem is my wife accuses me of being a hoarder. I seen them shows and I am no hoarder but I'll admit it is hard to let go of anything that seems like it can be repurposed or reused down the road. Hey, my insurance covers seeing a shrink; maybe, I can get hypnotized to get rid of all the stuff. LOL

[Ed Hackenbruch]

Ahhh, but it does get better! Sitting outside with a light shirt on, under clear blue sky, not quite 60 degrees but close, green mountains, and best of all?..... very few people around.  

[Scott & Heather]

I’m with Geoff on this. Some full timers sell the house, feel rich and blow it all and when they are tired of traveling they have nothing to buy a house with... yikes


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[akroyaleagle]

Having done this a couple of times I will add my $.02 worth.

We got the Eagle in March of 96, took it home to Alaska for the summer. In September we let one of the daughters and her family live in the log home. We gave the kids whatever they wanted and had the Mother of all yard sales over a 4 day weekend. Did pretty good on the yard sale. The kids lived there for two years then built their own home. I went to the end of the driveway to nail up a for sale by owner sign. A car skidded into the driveway and nearly hit me. A lady jumped out and said "I have waited 12 years for this house to come up for sale". She bought it.

We lived a very interesting few years in the coach. I loved it. Wife not so much. Her stuff and Grandkids and all that.

So we bought a condo in Anchorage and lived there 4 years. Decided we wanted to relocate to the lower 48 and sold it and went down the Alcan like the Clampetts. Two 26' Uhaul trucks and an older bus. Should have sold everything in Alaska and flew out.

We could not decide where to go so wife suggested a home in South Dakota we had bought for my parents when they living. We were to stay only until we decided what we wanted to do. We stayed 10 years and spent way to much remodeling the home.

I got tired of no choice of restaurants or entertainment and driving over 2 hours to Doctor appointments. I started selling trucks and trailers and boats. We had 4 auctions. I could not believe the money folks paid for things they could have bought for less new at a store! We listed the house and it sold the third day to the first lady that looked at it for double the purchase price.

I decided I'm catching up with Clifford and did not want to move snow or mow big lawns.

We moved into a "Luxury" apartment in Sioux Falls. Turns out it's damned expensive and most of the other tenants (several hundred) appear to be third world and are subsidized by Section 8! The damn elevator is out about half the time and the grounds look like Juarez or Mogadishu!

We have now bought a 4000 SF home and are about to move in next week. I've already got folks to move snow and mow.

I get to buy back all the tools I sold. I did keep all my hand tools but they are 45 miles away in a trailer I kept. It's great, I get them all new again.

So before you jump make sure you are both on the same sheet of music. A bus can get pretty small if you are not best friends. We've been married 50 years and still like each other most of the time.

IT IS JUST JUNK! It can all be replaced. some will bring a lot more than you think and some will bring less. Some will have to be grouped to even get a bid, but it will all go away. If you cry a lot over spilt milk, full timing may not be for you!

My advice is to just go in the bus for 6 months or so and see if you like it. If you don't, sell the bus and pick up where you left off. This is certainly easier for those of us that have moved several times in our lives than for those that lived in one place all of theirs. If you do like it, Get a good auction company and let them do what they do. Don't even go to the auction. Be gone in the bus. I will tell you to know who you're hiring and don't cheap out on the advertising. good auction guys will advise you on when to sell if you don't already know.

As someone said, it's about the adventure! Talk it over and arrive at something you can both live with.

I'm at the twilight of 3 separate careers. I have different expectations in my 70's than I did in my 40's. Be adaptable and get on with it!

[oltrunt]

That is a well thought out approach.  Also being in my 70's and wifey about to hit 80, having even a small home base close to shopping and medical care would seem to be prudent.  No matter how much one may like full timing, age will bring it to an end.  Jack

[eagle19952]

That is a well thought out approach.  Also being in my 70's and wifey about to hit 80, having even a small home base close to shopping and medical care would seem to be prudent.  No matter how much one may like full timing, age will bring it to an end.  Jack

that's why one needs to get an early start