The Story of the Hideout

We finally did it! We got the trailer loaded, prepped, propane tank filled, batteries charged, hooked to Q Sr.'s truck, destination found, and with an Airbnb booking on May 16 - 19, we were off on our maiden voyage.

It has been these Airbnb bookings that have not only made possible, but made a necessity of purchasing a camper. So a bit of history on that.

When I was contemplating, years ago, a grand trip back east, I thought it made a lot of sense to do it in an RV. How else, I reasoned, would we manage getting around easily, or even survive the trip back there, or AFFORDING it at all? But it was the affording part that was tricky. I couldn't make the math work. When I factored the price for diesel gas, plus the payment on an RV, plus the depreciating value, plus the cost to camp, and then factor in we would likely NOT want to DRIVE an RV in the big eastern cities, and in fact, Q was not on board with owning an RV at all and renting didn't seem cheaper than hotel costs anyway, well, I just could never make it all come together in my mind, let alone in reality.

From that I went to campers that sit on the back of pick-up trucks. And I researched those. And I loved the idea that they would be more manageable in size, and as easy to load and unload as pulling beneath one and then pulling out. AND the kids could ride in the back while it was driven. BUT we didn't have a pick-up truck. And the challenge to buy one that could haul us across the country, AND buy a camper to fit it, seemed nearly as big of a stretch as buying an RV.

As my blog from last year tells the story, the trip back east came together for far less than either of these options would have cost. We flew out on points, we stayed in a Sabbatical home instead of an Airbnb property for a month, we rented our own home on Airbnb to raise money for it all, I directed and taught at a 2-week Intensive locally to raise money as well, so we were able to afford a few more Airbnb stays, a few different car rentals, Mom and Dad Casperson covered our housing costs in Williamsburg, and that left us with just enough money to pay for the adventures. We made the trip happen!

And the dream of an RV? It hung in there. And I thought to myself, "I DO still like the idea of driving around to see MORE of the country. BUT while I'm young, while my kids are young, perhaps we'll adventure farther out. They want to go back to Taiwan. I want to go to Europe. I can wait til I'm a grandma and get an RV then and take the grandkids."

Less than one year after returning from our adventures back east we have purchased a trailer. It seems to be a good fit for our needs. I hope it turns out to be. But here is where we landed.

Our home was rented this spring/summer/fall (at the point when we purchased the trailer) for about 50 days. That was nearly 2 months that we couldn't be HOME at all. Quent and DiAnne have always been so welcoming to have us there, but if all 6 of us stay, 2-3 are sleeping on couches (though I finally bought another foam pad for our home and put our old one at theirs). So it's crowded and the kids don't like it after one night. My parents place is far more spacious - we all get beds - but they are selling their home and understandably stressed about it. Their stress impacts our comfort, not to mention that we hope and pray for their sakes that the house won't be theirs for much longer. Other family can and does host us, but 50 days is such a long time to consistently impose on anyone.

Sometimes it just hasn't seemed logical that to make a buck, I've essentially made us homeless for two months (or more) this year! Without a big (costly) adventure on the horizon, the goal has been to use the money to pay off the house. After returning from back east, Q quit his job later last fall, reducing our income by over 20k, and reset our house payment back to a 15 year term. At that time, our payments had us scheduled to pay the house off in 12.5. But I liked that plan so much better. I LOVED the freedom (financial and other) that having a paid-off home would provide. So I decided to make up the shortfall. Our Airbnb funds could go straight to the $8k we took off our house payment with the job change. And any extra could go to savings or needed house and yard projects.

With the Airbnb money spoken for, there STILL wasn't a budget for a trailer. After all, you can't save AND make trailer payments with the same money. But at this point, I didn't know what kind of money we were talking about - I had no clue about TRAILERS. I hadn't researched these at all. I only knew that there were 2 months of homelessness on the horizon for my family and I didn't have a plan.

Which is how I came to wonder onto an RV lot one morning in February of this year. I'd just dropped the kids off in the north end of town for an ice skating lesson, and I decided, with my time, to do some in-person research. (Which I do like so much better than investigating online.) I probably hit Mountainland RV just right because instead of any of the sales people, I got the owner himself. He began most practically with what vehicles we owned that would be doing the towing. All we had was an old Jeep Grand Cherokee. And we had 6 kids, but mostly just 5 would be using the camper. So we began where we needed to, with the very small that still could sleep 6.

And I loved it! We walked into a new Hideout trailer and I was amazed at how spacious it felt. It had a slideout, which left plenty of room for someone on the floor, and there were 2 bunks and a queen bed, and the table which formed another bed. Then when I saw the price - about $16,000 out the door - I was shocked again. This seemed so DOABLE. It wasn't $20 or $30k. This was a figure that could be paid off by airbnb rentals in 2 years. But back to that sticking point: my airbnb income had already been spoken for. I then had the idea to ask what the camper could SELL for in 2 years. If it could make back the money spent on it, it wouldn't be so expensive. The owner, AC, told me it would take a good hit, dropping from $16k to around $12-10k. That didn't sound bad, a cost of $4-6k after 2 years. BUT that $10k that he told me one could be sold for - THAT was a price I really, REALLY liked. So I asked that too: what if I could FIND one for $10k, how much could IT be sold for after 2 years. And I learned this really cool info: that used trailer hung on to it's value MUCH better. Driving a new camper off the lot cost about $4k in dropping value immediately. USED campers drop at a far slower rate.

So I asked to see what they had that was used. And AC told me they didn't have and rarely saw anything like this camper used. He said they simply sold too fast. In Utah, it sleeps more people and can be used with so many more vehicles, these, he said, are simply pretty hard to find. I thanked him for his time and planned to return to share with Q what I had learned. But before I left, I told him I would discuss things with my husband who may be interested in something new, but that I could state alone I was very interested in something used and I left him with my number and asked that if he should see anything like what we saw, but that was used, to please give me a call.

Q tolerated my report on new trailers. (At least I'm pretty sure I shared it with him. I even think we shared the concept with my father-in-law because I think it was at this point that he told us they may be interested in going in on it with us.) So I filed that way too. But nothing was urgent. New campers could always be picked up, and life was busy with other things to do and summer seemed a long way off.

Then, around 2 weeks later, I got a call. It was AC. He said someone pulled into his lot and wanted to trade in their current trailer for something bigger. What they were getting rid of was just like the one I saw - only 2 years older (no slide-out) and he was selling it for $10k. Was I interested? Heck YES! DiAnne and I were at the lot within a few hours and it was perfect! I was nervous without the slide-out it would feel insanely clausterphobic, but it wasn't bad at all and I knew the price couldn't be beat. I was sold, and so was DiAnne.

But my Q needed convincing. He told me not to be overly excited and go for the first thing I saw, but to do my research. I told him I'd done mine and he needed to do his. At that point, he and I both got online and began to hunt for trailers that slept 5 (officially) that were 2 years old. We confirmed what we had been told. I couldn't find any locally under $12k. Q said he did see 2 for around $10k, but they were way back east. It would seem we could buy this trailer for LESS than we could turn around and sell it for. Q was on board.

It wasn't smooth sailing from then on out. The people at Mountainland RV did put a sold sign on it. But I wanted to work out a contract with Quent Sr. and DiAnne about it's use and terms of the resale. Q Sr. didn't want a contract, nor did he want to sell after 2 years. There wasn't much discussion about this, however. I was filtering my requests through Q, he took them to his dad, they discussed or didn't, and I wouldn't hear back. As our appointed closing date approached - the time we'd scheduled to ALL be there - I began to push harder on signing our own contract. Then, the morning before the closing, DiAnne called and asked if they could be out of the deal. Q Sr. didn't want a contract between us, and it seemed easiest to DiAnne (and to me) to have us do this alone. BUT my husband didn't agree. And it's probably for the best that the deal DID come through as a shared purchase. Though Q and DiAnne put $2k towards the closing costs, Q Sr.'s trucks have been doing the hauling, my husband has relied heavily on his dad's trailer parking expertise, and DiAnne has purchased a lot of what the trailer still needs, with a $300 cover purchase still to come. Though we may have been able to swing it without them, having their help has made things more comfortable financially, and more doable in Q's mind especially. I did not get a contract. But so far, that's been ok.

The biggest difference in our vision of trailer ownership is probably concerning when to sell. Quent and DiAnne have not used the camper yet, so this may change, but as of the moment, my plan is to sell the trailer next fall, and here is why: next fall, the trailer will only be 1 year older (it is a 2017), but we will have been able to use if for 2 seasons. We do not have a good family vehicle to tow the trailer and so we can't take it beyond where we can easily access in a borrowed vehicle. After 2 seasons, I don't imagine we'll be that excited about going to the same old spots AGAIN. And while I may be wrong on that point (maybe we'll be LOVING the same old spots) the fact remains that we DO NEED a new vehicle. If the trailer can be sold next year, we may be able to sell it for $12k. At least $10k. That will mean it has cost us very little to own AND the money from the sale can go towards a new(ish) car for us. At that point (our van already having multiple issues, to the tune of $4k this year, and 300,000 miles on it already) THAT will be the necessity.

As I type, I do have one more thought. I think the house is scheduled to be paid off in 2021. Perhaps at that time we can stop doing Airbnb unless we WANT to travel. Maybe we keep the trailer (assuming we don't need it's sale to buy a new vehicle) until we close this crazy chapter of our lives.

Who knows how things will unfold!? But for now we DO have a trailer. And it's high time I record our adventures in it!