Deciding between renting or buying a mobile home/RV to live in

[frugalsurfer]

In my quest to maximise income and minimise ongoing expenses, and reach financial independence as soon as possible, we are considering the option of buying a large cargo van (eg. a long wheel base, high roof Mercedes-Benz Sprinter), converting it into a fully featured mobile home. The van would be built to be complete with kitchen, bed, toilet/shower, dinette, fridge and extra battery power to run a notebook PC and work from 'home'. We could then move out of our rental apartment and live in the van full time while we continue to work 9-5 office jobs in the city.

This has been something we've thought about doing for years, and we have previous experience traveling around with a campervan in the past, including 9 months around Australia and 4 months in South America. The main difference will be that this vehicle will essentially function as a studio apartment on wheels and we won't be on holidays - we plan to continue to live and work in the same city for another year, and then if we have employment opportunities in another city we can simply drive there and not have to go through the expense and hassle of relocating and finding a new apartment.

Just for my own mental process, and to help any readers understand (including any other potentially interested persons), there the main pros and cons we can think of:

Pro:
-No rent, no bills, no contracts, no leases; freedom and flexibility.
-No need to sub-let or share.
-Consolidate house and vehicle cost (both time and money) with a potential weekly savings of around $280 per week.
-Ability to take on short term (3-6-12 month) contract jobs in other areas or other cities as they are available.
-Also the ability to pursue our dream of being self-sufficient and being able to work on the road instead of being bound to an office job 9-5.

Con:
-High upfront cost for something large and livable enough for our needs (around AU $80k)
-Time and effort to find a suitable vehicle (either bare bones or pre-converted) in good condition
-Risk of theft/vandalism (although we've never heard of anyone having an issue in our area)
-The inevitable (but manageable) hassle of having to refill the water and empty the grey/black water tanks every week or two
-If there's a serious mechanical failure we might have to stay somewhere else for a few days while it gets fixed & towing a large vehicle will be expensive if we're somewhere remote
-That it'll be a large vehicle which costs more to run and is more difficult to park and maneuver
A little far off, but may be redundant in the next 5-10 years if electric vehicles do become commonplace as some are expecting
-Finding quiet overnight parking shouldn't be an issue in our area as we're quite far out from the city and the local authorities do not bother RV/van dwellers. Not escaping the long commute is the trade off to that.

In terms of expenses, our weekly house and vehicle costs work out to be around this at the moment (all prices are Australian dollars FYI):
Rent: 440 (even the cheapest, nastiest, smallest, poorest located apartments are minimum $300 per week)
Utilities (electricity): 25
Internet (unlimited home broadband): 15
Comprehensive insurance: 12.5
Car registration: 12.5
Fuel (about 150km on average per week): 20
Maintenance and repairs (small Toyota Corolla): 12
Total: ~$537 per week on average

VS estimated weekly expenses for the van (if we buy it outright in cash and always freecamp):
Interest not earned from savings (~3.4% variable): 52
Depreciation (assumption of ~$5k pa based on market prices): 95
Utilities (gas refills + laundromat): 15
Internet (4G wireless 15GB): 15
Comprehensive vehicle insurance (as a registered campervan/motorhome): 20
Registration and compulsory 3rd party insurance: 15
Fuel (assuming 150km travel each week on average): 35
Servicing and maintenance: 25
Total: ~$257 per week expected on average

So all up, there's about $280 per week that we could save if we go down the path of living in a van. Whilst it does seem somewhat counterproductive to spend $80k to save $280 a week, the savings will obviously add up over time, and we'll still have a vehicle worth quite a lot to sell in the future if we chose to buy or rent somewhere again.

Obviously this solution isn't for everyone. But since we're a couple with a love for the outdoors and with no children or pets, and are comfortable with living in small spaces and in mobile dwellings, it just seems to make sense when considering the potential to save money and have the freedom/flexibility of not having a rental lease or mortgage to worry about.

Has anyone else done this? Any ideas or suggestions? Any costs or things that we've missed?

If anyone is interested, here's a few example builds that we're looking to take inspiration from in terms of layout, designs and features (yes - we'll have our two bikes with us for local trips):
https://au.pinterest.com/search/pins/?rs=ac&len=2&q=sprinter%20van%20conversion&etslf=6204&eq=Sprint&term_meta[]=sprinter%7Cautocomplete%7C1&term_meta[]=van%7Cautocomplete%7C1&term_meta[]=conversion%7Cautocomplete%7C1

[Dicey]

This is a link to a link from a guy who's done what you want to do. Excellent writing, interesting path taken, beautiful photos. Don't jump to 2.0 until you've read through this part because it's more relevant to your situation. Begin at the beginning.

http://www.tosimplify.net/p/10.html

[shadowmoss]

Link to my blog is in my tag line below.  To Simplify is there, as is Bob Wells' site about doing just what you are talking about.  Cheap RV Living.  He covers everything.

Edit:  To clarify, on my sidebar are links to several other blogs and sites.  The two listed above are there.

[frugalsurfer]

Thanks for the links. I've actually read through the tosimplify blog years ago when I was planning my first extended, van-powered sojourn around Australia. There seems to be a few out there that are either working regular jobs, or making money on the road while living in a van. Some people might see living in a van as a failure, where I see it as a triumph for minimalism and efficiency.

[frugalsurfer]

Thanks. Will check them out today when I get a quiet moment.

[frugalsurfer]

Does anyone know of a blog / journal of someone living in a van and still working full time in an office? I'd really like to read someone's experiences with it in a local context if possible (Australia).

[frugalsurfer]

So I bought a 2013 LWB Sprinter 316CDI and will convert it into a mobile home. $44,000 plus $1,300 tax.. budgeting another $25,000 for the conversion, including gas and mod certificates and registration transfer to a RV in the future. Very expensive to own and run at the moment as a light commercial vehicle so the vehicle licence fee is $1,300pa plus $1,200 for insurance, and we're paying full rent until we hopefully move out in June. Hope this works out! Worst case scenario it's an expensive life lesson, right?

[jubilantjill]

I'm gonna play devil's advocate here for a bit since I too harbor secret sprinter van fantasies.

Would you actually be able to sell the Corolla? My husband and I share one car now, but it would be tough to have him take the house to work on my days off. Perhaps you can always bike to work?

Okay, assuming you replace the Corolla with the sprinter- You've calculated you "save" $280/ week for the $80,000 upfront cost. So that's 5.5 years till you break even. No renting for 5.5 years. No kids in your future? It takes a rare woman to raise a newborn in a van. I know a couple so it's not impossible, but crazy hard.
   No living in any town that requires a/c for the next 5.5 years? Heating is manageable off-grid, but a/c needs a plug in. And those vans get hot!
  No spare couch for guests.
  You're town doesn't hassle van dwellers now, but what about in the next few years?
5.5 years is a crappy break even period for a Mercedes SUV. So many people are buying sprinters these days that it's starting to seem normal, but from a financial standpoint it's ludicrous!

All that said, there's plenty of non-monetary value to living in a van, as you mentioned. If those reasons are worth it to you go for it. Just don't kid yourself that you'd be doing it for the savings.

Re-read your post-
If you bail after a couple years, how much of your cost would you recoup? If there's a big market for already converted vans it might be worth it financially. Unless a cheaper more fuel efficient van is invented in the mean time.
Good luck and keep us posted!

[frugalsurfer]

I'm gonna play devil's advocate here for a bit since I too harbor secret sprinter van fantasies.

Would you actually be able to sell the Corolla? My husband and I share one car now, but it would be tough to have him take the house to work on my days off. Perhaps you can always bike to work?

Okay, assuming you replace the Corolla with the sprinter- You've calculated you "save" $280/ week for the $80,000 upfront cost. So that's 5.5 years till you break even. No renting for 5.5 years. No kids in your future? It takes a rare woman to raise a newborn in a van. I know a couple so it's not impossible, but crazy hard.
   No living in any town that requires a/c for the next 5.5 years? Heating is manageable off-grid, but a/c needs a plug in. And those vans get hot!
  No spare couch for guests.
  You're town doesn't hassle van dwellers now, but what about in the next few years?
5.5 years is a crappy break even period for a Mercedes SUV. So many people are buying sprinters these days that it's starting to seem normal, but from a financial standpoint it's ludicrous!

All that said, there's plenty of non-monetary value to living in a van, as you mentioned. If those reasons are worth it to you go for it. Just don't kid yourself that you'd be doing it for the savings.

Re-read your post-
If you bail after a couple years, how much of your cost would you recoup? If there's a big market for already converted vans it might be worth it financially. Unless a cheaper more fuel efficient van is invented in the mean time.
Good luck and keep us posted!

Good questions.

Yes for now we both use PT to get to work, if living elsewhere we'll ride our bikes as we've done in the past. We use the Corolla maybe once a week to drive to the beach out of town together. Grocery store etc are all walking distance.

The cash savings is only one component, especially since I am paying for everything myself for this van. The other half is the mobility and flexibility as my work contracts only last for 6-12 months.

Boondocking in urban areas in Aus is very easy everywhere except for super touristic areas, and even then we'll be fine with a stealth panel van as long as we don't constantly park it at a prime beachfront locale frequently.

We don't ever use A/C, haven't had it at a house in over a decade. It's not an issue. The van will be well insulated and have 2x fan assisted roof vents too for extra ventilation.

No plans of having children either, not in the next 5-7 years anyway.

Weather in most of Australia is very mild. The odd hot day in summer, the old cool day in winter.

And yes, the market for campervans is very good still. Plenty of cashed up middle aged retirees looking to travel. A converted van with the same condition and kilometrage sells for $80-90k right now. All going well we won't spend more than $70k so we shouldn't lose much in a year or few down the track if we decide to move back into a house again and sell the van.

I'm ready to quit my current job because I hate being stuck in an office and living in a city so much. I'm just holding on for a few more months to keep the money coming in to cover the conversion. Once that's done I can get back on the road again and focus on things that bring me joy and passion to my life instead of feeling like a zombie.

But yes. I'm also kinda freaking out.. $44k + taxes + the conversion process / cost is a whole shiteload of money and effort to spend to live in a vehicle and they are quite expensive to service and repair should things go wrong.

I'm very risk adverse but I've been thing about doing this for years, and I just feel like I have to give it a crack and see how it goes at least so I know if it works or not.

Worst case scenario I it will be an experiment that i can share with others and learn from, and if it fails/or doesn't suit us in the future then I'll sell the van and recupe as much as possible and move back into an apartment and try to find a reliable job. I might lose a few grand due to the taxes and other non-recoverable expenses. But I keep justifying it to myself that the potential risk and loss of finances is worth it for the potential gains for better lifestyle, freedom and better state of mind.

[calimom]

This was in the latest Sunset Magazine. These people are kind of doing what you're envisioning. I love vintage Airstreams, love how they've tricked theirs out.