help/advise


jlhallgren

New Member
Hello to any full-timers
We are going to be purchasing our 1st motor home in the next week or so & really need some advise on anything that could make the transition easy from a house to a motor home.
We just sold our house & will be packing up & moving into the MH.
We don't even have a MH yet but have been looking online for one. We have decided that it will be a Beaver, Newmar or a Monaco. Any thoughts on that ? ?
We have heard that licensing it in Montana is the thing to do ? ? ?
As I have said any little advise, tidbits or help you can send my way will be very appreciated. And we would even be glad to visit with anybody per phone.
Joyce L Hallgren
jlhinflorida@charter.net
tele # 308-380-1952
 

Kirk

Senior Member
Re: help/advise

I suggest that before you do anything else, you need to spend a few bucks and join the RV Consumer Group. www.rv.org They will supply you with educational materials and with RV ratings for the different RVs out there. To shop with no knowledge is to take a very big risk. You may get lucky, but you also could be taken in by some slick sales person and spend a lot of money on a very bad RV.

The only way to legally register and license your new RV is to do so in the state where you domicile. To do that you must have an address. Have you made some arrangements for a place for your mail to be received and forwarded to you? That is probably the legal domicile at least for now. Most fulltimers choose to do this in South Dakota, Florida or Texas because of tax and other benefits of citizenship when living in an RV. But you will need to make some arrangement first in order to move there. To register in Montana, you would also need an address and most who do that set up a Limited Liability Corporation (LLC) for the purpose of owning the RV and so to be legal. There are several law firms in Montana that provide such services for a fee. But it takes time so you need to get busy.

Have you done any reading about how we live on the road? Have you made plans as to where you will get mail, driver's licenses, insurance and all of your legal affairs? If you have not there is a lot to do as you won't be able to register any new RV if you don't have an address.

As to brand names, those are OK but the Newmar is by far the best of the choices listed. Allegro would be another. But if you are looking at used, the way in which it has been cared for and maintained is everything. Do you know how to inspect an RV for it condition? If not, the RV Consumer Group could help you a great deal.

We have now been full-time RVers for more than eight years. The preparation for changing to this lifestyle took us several months. It may be possible to do this more quickly, but you need to get started now!
 

jlhallgren

New Member
Re: help/advise

Kirk, Thank You so much for your reply. I really do appreciate your advise as we are truly going into this " blind"
We have to be out of our house the end of August so I'm afraid we're in for making lots of mistakes !
If you think of anything else please let me know !
Again, thank you so much !
Joyce
 

jlhallgren

New Member
Re: help/advise

I forgot to ask if you would recommend a certain book for campgrounds ? I have heardd that there are different ones available. And would you recommend joining Sams Club ?
Thanks
 

TexasClodhopper

Senior Member
Re: help/advise



I've been a member of Good Sam for 3 years. The discounts at RV parks has paid for the membership fees easily. There are other benefits, too. Like trip routing. GS has a very good atlas available for the US. Recommended. Good Sam Club .

There are also other discount clubs like Passport America, TACO etc.
 

jlhallgren

New Member
Re: help/advise

Do you think it is worth it to look into licensing in Montana or So Dakota ? I've heard these states are cheaper. Any others ? Our daughter lives in Florida & son is in Texas. How would those be for licensing ? We could use their address then.
Thank You for all your help !
It is greatly appreciated
 

elkhartjim

Senior Member
Re: help/advise

IMHO, you 've got a lot of information gathering to do. I think most people spend months if not years preparing for full time rv living. There are many legal issues around where you register your rv and I would suggest you consult a knowledgeable attorney is this area. I would suggest you read Kirk's post again.
 

Kirk

Senior Member
Re: help/advise

South Dakota has no state income tax and a 3% sales tax of vehicles. But you will have to find one of the mail forwarding services to use for an address and you will have to make SD your state of domicile. Montana has no sales tax at all, but they do have a pretty steep income tax and that is the reason that most fulltimers do not domicile in Montana but pay an attorney to set up an LLC for them. Of course, there is an annual cost to that also so it bears a lot of study.

Without a doubt, the easiest state to make your legal residence and thus to have no state income tax, but one that does have a 6% sales tax on vehicles, is Texas. And the reason that Texas is so easy is the Escapees RV club. www.escapees.com

They are the only complete support system for fulltimers and have a bunch of benefits, as well as very reasonable license fees and no income tax. Escapees will supply you with a street address, not just a mail box number and they also have 19 RV parks where members stay for $10 to $18 per night, depending upon what state they are in. Usually less than half the going rate in that area. They also have the best RV magazine of the bunch and discounts at associated RV parks as well as members with real estate who allow fellow members to park on their property over night for free. And if you visit their resources page on the net you can down-load a booklet that will tell you exactly what you have to do to become a citizen of Texas.

With the time that you have, I think that this would be by far the easiest way to get things done before the end of August!
 

Gruffy

New Member
Re: help/advise

Rent an apartment for a few weeks... or an apartment hotel......... and do the homework you should have done before you sold. It will be money well spent.
 
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