Living permanently in a caravan
Submitted: Saturday, Oct 04, 2008 at 18:57
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Kim and Damn Dog
After visiting the local caravan show in Melbounre, I was a bit surprised by the number of people I over heard talking about selling up, and living in a caravan for their remaining years.
This got me thinking a bit, because plan 'A' was always:
let the Kid's live in the house when I retire (pay the mortgage off) and I'd build one of those old fart
shacks (OFS) in the back yard.
The down side to all of this is that I'd loose all the equity in the property, then have to pay for the OFS.
Here's Plan 'B'
Sell the house and put the equity and super in my pocket
Buy a caravan worth around $55-60.000 then bleep off to the bush some where.
Made a few phone calls to caravan parks across Australia and most of them were rabbits. However, there are a few good blokes and one offered me a permanent stay at $60 a week plus electricity.
I reckon I'd have a pretty good life before the miserable pension kicked in ( would'nt matter by then anyway). LOL.
The block offered was at the back end of a rustic caravan
park in the bush over looking open land down to a river, and reasonably isolated from the rest of the
park activities.
There's only me and the dog, so we don't need much. The other attraction is the High Country is on the door step, so dog and I could toddle off for a few days at will.
Be interested to hear what others are planning leading up to retirement.....
Regards
Kim
Reply By: oz doc - Saturday, Oct 04, 2008 at 19:12
Saturday, Oct 04, 2008 at 19:12
Hi Kim, gotta admit it sounds very attractive. After all- you can't take it with you. One thing to consider though - living in a caravan is fine when you have your health and mobility, however not so good if you develop some challenging medical/physical issues. If the kids could be relied upon to come to your rescue if need be then I would say go for it.doc
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Reply By: Member - Nev (TAS) - Saturday, Oct 04, 2008 at 19:32
Saturday, Oct 04, 2008 at 19:32
Hi Kim,
As an idea. Why don't you sell say a 75% interest in your property to your kids so you still have a nominated spot to
park your car and caravan which you could live in. Then you could pee off when and how you liked and always somewhere to go back to.
Gives you the freedom that you are after I reckon.
Happy thinking.........
Rgds Nev
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Follow Up By: Kim and Damn Dog - Saturday, Oct 04, 2008 at 20:29
Saturday, Oct 04, 2008 at 20:29
Gidday Nev
Nah mate. If I took the decision to nick off, I would'nt be comimg back.
Regards
Kim
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Reply By: Member - Axle - Saturday, Oct 04, 2008 at 21:05
Saturday, Oct 04, 2008 at 21:05
Hi Kim, As far as a ' OFS' goes, the expense is not that great.
I mentioned this to one of my daughters the other day, i could knock up four posts a bit of canvas along with some corrugated iron, told her it would give her place that old ozy
heritage look!
Should have seen the look on its face...Hahahaha.
Cheers & luck Axle.
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Follow Up By: Kim and Damn Dog - Saturday, Oct 04, 2008 at 21:35
Saturday, Oct 04, 2008 at 21:35
Gidday Axle
Tried that with the daughter and her partner around 13 years ago when they were living in the house.
Did'nt go down all that
well as far as I recall. The little buggers stacked on a turn when I told them to bleep off and build a life.
Turned out to be the best thing I ever did. Their doing
well.
LOL
Regards
Kim
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Reply By: Winny - Sunday, Oct 05, 2008 at 05:55
Sunday, Oct 05, 2008 at 05:55
Hi Kim,
We have just sold our house to go and live on the road and we plan on heading off next July, until then we will be staying with our daughter and son inlaw where we have our own room and lounge room just share everything else.We will stay with them as they are having their first child and will help them out with the running of their business .
We have an off road van at present but will upgrade to a bigger van with shower and
toilet as we feel a bigger van will be more comfortable to live in. We will be investing our money in a self managed super fund.
Our son and family are living with us at present and they were not happy when we sold up, they were quite comfortable living with us rent free, they are not bad are they, bloody kids.
It has turned out for the best as they are in the process of buying their own home and
sign the contract on Monday, so hopefully like yourself we have done the right thing. It is very upsetting to be leaving our home of 18 years, so many wonderful memories, just hope we have made the right decision.
Chris and Ros.
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Reply By: Saharaman (aka Geepeem) - Sunday, Oct 05, 2008 at 09:22
Sunday, Oct 05, 2008 at 09:22
HI Kim,
I have always been somewhat hesitant to see people sell up their home and use up the equity on a new van etc. It reduces your options for the future as you no longer have an appreciating asset.
If you want a change and want to get out of the urban rat race why not sell up your home and buy a few acres of vacant land out in the bush somewhere and live on that in your van. A cheaper second hand van could be just as good as a $60,000 one and you would be completely independent on your own property. At least you still have a real estate asset which will increase in value over time.
Just a thought...
Cheers,
GPM
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Follow Up By: Mike Harding - Sunday, Oct 05, 2008 at 09:30
Sunday, Oct 05, 2008 at 09:30
>At least you still have a real estate asset which will increase in value over time.
A few people have recently discovered that is not, necessarily, the case :)
Mike Harding
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Follow Up By: Sue & Clint - Sunday, Oct 05, 2008 at 10:09
Sunday, Oct 05, 2008 at 10:09
Depends on a lot of factors whether it increases but at the end of the day you will always have your own piece of dirt to
park up on.
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Reply By: Maîneÿ (wa) - Sunday, Oct 05, 2008 at 10:41
Sunday, Oct 05, 2008 at 10:41
You can't take it with you, no good being the richest corpse in the
cemetery, so spend it as you age and ENJOY the retirement lifestyle you have always wanted to have.
Maybe just rent out the home instead of selling it now and when you need the extra money flog it off, it gives you the opportunity to have something to fall back on if living in a van gets too difficult, remembering it has to have a few steps to get up into, if you (later when your old) suffer from bad knees or similar you wont be able to get up into it at all.
I've a friend in
Perth who has just sold his 32 foot van for that very same reason and moved into a 'tin
shack' up in the bush on his sons property.
Just a thought.
Mainey . . .
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Reply By: Hairy (NT) - Sunday, Oct 05, 2008 at 11:47
Sunday, Oct 05, 2008 at 11:47
Gday Kim,
What if you sell the house to the kids and just squat there?
Sort of like they were doing.
Then you would have your new van, somewhere to live and a pocket full of cash. You could either plug your van into their house or just stay were you are!
Whenever rates and large bills are due you could empty their fridge into yours and just disapear. Just remember to keep your house key for when you return. (you do this while they are at work!)
Sounds simple hey!
LOL
Cheers
Hairy
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Follow Up By: Kim and Damn Dog - Sunday, Oct 05, 2008 at 18:34
Sunday, Oct 05, 2008 at 18:34
Hairy
Your a fair dickum evil buggar. Sell the house to them at an inflated price, then come back and sponge if things don't go right?
Take back every thing I've ever said about you in the past.
LOL
Regards
Kim
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Reply By: Member - Norm C (QLD) - Sunday, Oct 05, 2008 at 12:15
Sunday, Oct 05, 2008 at 12:15
We've been going through the same thought process.
There is no 'one size fits all' solution as we all have different personal circumstances.
We decided not to sell. We actually took out a mortgage (first time for several years) to help fund the new caravan, vehicle etc. We intend to hit the road early next year and will rent the house out.
Our expectation is that after paying agents fees, putting a fair lump aside for maintenance, paying the mortgage and making a provision for tax, we will still have around $200 from the rental income left over to help fund our travel and lifestyle.
Thiis solution keeps us in the real estate market so we have options for the future.
It seemed the best solution for us. But clearly will not be suitable for everyone.
Norm C
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Follow Up By: garryk - Sunday, Oct 05, 2008 at 20:06
Sunday, Oct 05, 2008 at 20:06
G'day
As we listen to the feral tenants destroy the house next door on a daily basis , I would have real concerns about the rent our house plan
Would consider having to buy one more suited to the job say made of concrete block and cheap fittings
Garry
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Follow Up By: Member - Norm C (QLD) - Sunday, Oct 05, 2008 at 20:38
Sunday, Oct 05, 2008 at 20:38
We certainly considered that Garry and it is a serious issue. We believe our house is in an area and price bracket that will exclude a fair proportion of the 'feral' element of renters. Of course, a price tag about $200 per week above the average rental property does not guarantee good tenants. It just gives you a slightly better chance.
You will note that in my calculations I allowed an amount for maintenance. I've actually allowed $5,200 per year. I figure between bond, $5,200 per year provision for maintenance and insurance, we have a reasonable chance of being OK.
There are possibly greater risks with selling (depending on personal circumstances). Some people we know of in our areas sold up about 5 years ago to travel. Three years later they returned to the area with the aim of buying a similar home. They had sold for $350,000. When they returned it would have cost them over $500,000 to buy their old home back, which was out of the question.
Staying in the market and having options for the future has value as
well. That value can only be determined by individuals at the time.
These are not easy choices and there are no guarantees. But I'm happy that given the available info and our personal circumstances, we have made the best decision we can.
Norm C
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Reply By: Kim and Damn Dog - Sunday, Oct 05, 2008 at 15:17
Sunday, Oct 05, 2008 at 15:17
Thanks for your Input fellars. Gives me something to think about.
Regards
Kim
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Reply By: Austravel - Monday, Oct 06, 2008 at 22:26
Monday, Oct 06, 2008 at 22:26
All good thoughts and best bet is to get professional advice as it can get very complex. On top of that depending on your age you could get or miss out on some benefits.
We sold up and returned to find homes had gone up around 350%. Kept thinking they can't keep going but they did. Still now they've taken a 10-15% drop but still way over what we paid. However if you factor in the amount we had in the share market, ohhhh hang on that's turned to crap as
well.
Well you get the picture. So long as you don't spend the capital plus a bit for inflation it should be ok.
Depending on were you are house prices will probably stagnate or fall over the coming couple of years. Brisy and inner city is relatively ok. But outside that and things will get tough.
Only thing to give a buffer to the down side is that we don't build enough homes in Aus at the moment. Still it won't matter if you can't afford one anyway. Property doesn't always go up that what this generation think as it's what they've seen.
I'd say you're of the age group that recalls property sitting at the same price for a decade sometimes.
Main thing is set yourself up to make the most of the benefits you're entitled to and invest in sound areas. Don't spend the capital plus a bit and you should be ok.
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