First, I must preface this by letting everyone know I'm sorry for my absence, as I've been busy trying to figure out where my life is going now and in the near future.
With that out of the way, I'm planning on moving across the country for college next year. A nice one bedroom apartment in the areas that I will be applying to will vary between $600-1400 a month, and I would absolutely lose my mind if I had to share a common living space with strangers. So after looking into it a bit, I may have come up with a solution. A nice condition Class C in the $3-5k price range. It has all the living amenities I could possibly want, is much cheaper than an apartment, and since I will own it outright, I'll be able to eventually sell it to recoup some of my initial investment to use as extra "seed money" when I outgrow the thing. General lack of maintenance is the biggest problem with these, so I'd be looking at the best condition example I can afford. I'd prefer it to be Ford-based, mainly for the sheer parts interchange. I know you have to get the greywater and blackwater pumped out every week and a half or so for just one person, and you'll need to dish out $20 every two weeks for heat, stove, and fridge propane, as well as the sheer gas cost and making sure you're within all the bylaws. The point is that although it's time-consuming and not the most ideal situation, even if I go way over budget and spend $10k in the first year, that's still $2000 less than renting in Hamilton, and $2k is a lot of money (as many of our Challengers know). Is there anything significant I'm overlooking? I also have internet and power figured out, but part of me is saying there's no way this is everything.
It sounds good on paper but don't underestimate the inconvenience of having to hook up for sewage and water. Not to mention if you have to move it every so often.
In reply to fiesta54:
Oddly enough, the hookups and moving about aren't actually that inconvenient for me.
In reply to captdownshift:
Now that's cool.
Other recommendations, replaced dated faux wood paneling and faux-mica, with carbon fiber vinyl. Yes it's fake, but so ia the early 80s look that you'll be covering. The CF wrap will at least have a man cave feel if it's not butchered. Also don't be afraid to plastic dip a wall. Get a video projector, that way if you ever want to watch a movie on a 15' screen you can just pull up to the back of a strip mall at 11pm on a weekend, put the projector on the roof of your house and fire up whatever bluray you feel, our stream if there's WiFi to be found.
Where will you park it? There is often zoning against it in standard housing areas. You might have to find a RV/Trailer Park.
Scratch the project car in the back idea, you need 6 karts in the back. In the evenings you set up cones and have the local homeless race them. Winner gets a $25 gift certificate to chili's. Admission is paid to spectate, gambling on races is to be encouraged with the house taking a 10% rake.
NGTD
UberDork
9/6/16 7:00 p.m.
Do you have a place to park it??
You can't just putter into a city park or some random parking lot and make your home.
I am an administrator at a College and a student with a skoolie showed up a few years ago and I had to ask him to take it elsewhere.
If you do, then your best bet is a fly'n drive to Florida, Texas or Arizona where these things are common.
You'll need to get heaters for the tanks. IIRC you're originally from Stoney Creek, remember that it can still get pretty chilly in winter in Hamilton.
Walmart usually doesn't care. I wouldn't stsy at one for more than a couple of nights. You'll want to work out a routine of campgrounds and Walmart to keep yourself happy as well as them.
I have several available places to park it. Although a SRW Class B would be a lot easier in terms of restrictions (they can sometimes even be street-parked overnight), a Class C is a lot easier to live in. I'll have to price out tank heaters.
wake74
New Reader
9/6/16 7:48 p.m.
I give you credit for out of the box thinking, but I can't imagine trying to go to school full time, study, work PLUS worry about if your house was going to be there when you got out of class, if it got towed, if it had a frozen poo tank, if it, if it........If you parked it in some type of RV park that would eliminate many of the issues at hand I would think.
I was about as poor college student as you get, and hated roommates. I ended up living in some pretty dive places, just to avoid that problem.
Same concept but different idea. Do you need the RV for normal transportation? You could probably find a bigger RV and just park it at a local RV park. Not a trailer park, but RV parking. For example, down here in Austin, there's one near the lake that's really nice and rent is about $500/mo for a space, cable and electric. Plus, they have a pitch and putt, pool, laundry and fitness center.
-Rob
If you do that. You could go with a trailer and save hassles of a lot of the deferred maintenance issues a lot of RVs seem to have.
Guys he's going to have a condo by sophmore year from the Karting hobo gambling revenue. The rv will just be to hold the karts, cones and other supplies by then.
Still have the Crown Vic? Attack it with the nearest sawzall
After much considered research both of the vehicular and legal variety, I've come to the realization that what I need is a Class B because of two reasons. On street parking, and the picture below.
I need this but with a high roof.
These things are not well insulated. Winter will be a challenge.
Wait... So Class A is the big dog size, Class B is one stop above conversion van, and Class C are the mid size ones built on really big cutaway van frames? I'm officially confused by the RV industry now.
The toterhome is the semi-based one, the Class A is the one you think of when you hear Winnebago, the B is a high-roof van with more home luxuries, a class C is based on a cutaway van but still rather big, and a class B+ (a recent development) is in between the B and the C.
Toterhome
Class B+
All I know is since I last posted in this thread, I've done some google that's lead me to this.
There is a guy working at google that lives in the back of a box van in the parking lot.
And my sister in law drains her RV tanks by emptying them into a pail and dumping them down her toilet after a trip.
Random thoughts is all.
Came for this.. Almost disappointed
