Need some advice please

[Kellerzal]

I absolutely love my airstream and the community around it. Unfortunately we have been hit with some unforeseen financial troubles and I need to get out of this loan that I got myself into 4 years ago.

Can anyone help me with some suggestions on the best way to sell this beautiful 2012 international?

I upgraded the living area with really nice, black leather and have been taking very good care of it. It still has 3 years on an extended warranty that covers the appliances through Airstream down in Portland.

I need to get out of this loan and still owe 63k on it. Any advice at this point would be wonderful. Thx!

[SpletKay06]

Call the dealership you bought it from and tell them your situation. They may be able to help you out.

[paiceman]

Try and sell it outright on the Airforums Classifieds.

Good Luck

Bud

[SteveSueMac]

Sorry for your troubles. What was the original purchase price? How many trips and miles so far? If you check out the classifieds here you might be able to get a good sense of what it might be worth - hopefully at least the 63k you need to settle the loan.

Classifieds here are a good sales channel. A high-volume dealer (like Colonial in NJ) might be a possibility as well.

Good luck!

[Lily&Me]

Originally Posted by Kellerzal

I absolutely love my airstream and the community around it. Unfortunately we have been hit with some unforeseen financial troubles and I need to get out of this loan that I got myself into 4 years ago.

Can anyone help me with some suggestions on the best way to sell this beautiful 2012 international?

I upgraded the living area with really nice, black leather and have been taking very good care of it. It still has 3 years on an extended warranty that covers the appliances through Airstream down in Portland.

I need to get out of this loan and still owe 63k on it. Any advice at this point would be wonderful. Thx!

Sorry for your situation, but you really must do a post in Classifieds to sell your trailer here.

http://www.airforums.com/forums/misc...ork&page=rules


Maggie

[lsbrodsky]

I have a 2012 25 Intl Serenity with all of the factory options then available. I just went through the appraisal process for agreed value, back and forth between my insurance company and an appraiser. I could do nothing to get the value over $50,000 even though the trailer is in pristine condition, with a newly sealed roof.
While you might get a private party to pay more, you are underwater and need to prepare yourself for that.
Larry

[OTRA15]

Sorry for your troubles as well. The AS dealer in the SeaTac area is supposed to be good -- have you called them? "Northwest" in dealer name right?

The classified section of this site works great. I looked at a trailer a couple of years ago from a Craigslist ad, and the owner was having trouble selling it. I told him about this site and the trailer was gone in a few days, I learned later.

This is a perfect time of year to sell. A seller's market as they say. Still, I would echo earlier comments that you may want to prepare yourself for the possibility that you are underwater on the loan.

Good luck!

Peter

[Loden]

Here's some advice that is too late for your situation, but a good learning point for you and excellent for anyone else. NEVER purchase a titled property, e.g. car, truck, trailer, or real estate, unless you can afford a substantial down payment that puts you in a position where you are extremely unlikely to ever owe more than the future depreciated sales price of the used item.
- Better yet, take advantage of others' mistakes, and purchase such things a couple of years after they bought them new, and again with a substantial down payment.
- If you can't afford to do that, don't buy the item or change to something less expensive.

If you are $13,000 or so underwater, you may have to get creative. If you can't make the payments, contact the loan company and negotiate. You are going to have to get their cooperation to sell, and if you can arrange to put the shortfall on a monthly payment basis, you might be able to get ahead of the game. If you have credit cards with that much credit left, you can sometimes arrange to have them charge the difference to the card. Yes, you will be paying double-digit interest rates, but you will not have a collection agency on your back and a major divot in your credit record.

Oh, and by the way, if indeed you find that you have a $50,000 AS on which you owe $63,000, the difference between those prices, perhaps coincidentally, is about what the dealer/sale commission is on a new AS like yours. Buying on Airstream Forums circumvents that most of the time.

[Rgentum]

OK, truth be told: I'm a retired attorney who has dealt with more underwater assets (client's homes, vehicles, etc.) than I care to remember, and from what you & others say, you are underwater on your loan. So what to do??? My experience with lenders is that will want to make the problem YOUR problem, but the reality is that it's the lender's problem too --- keep telling yourself "This is not just my problem --- the lender was dumb enough to make an unwise loan (they clearly failed to do their homework on the asset's value & its expected depreciation), & I shouldn't have to bear all of the consequences." As your secured property is personal & not real property, chances are your debt is not limited to the value of your security --- in other words, you remain personally liable for the loan & any deficiency if its sale fails to produce sufficient funds to pay off the loan & expenses of sale. But the reality is that lenders don't want to foreclose on the secured property of their loans & don't want to deal with a deficiency judgment against the debtor. Therefore, at least in my experience, your best bet is to go have a long talk with your lender & negotiate a mutually acceptable settlement, most likely that you will be responsible for promptly selling the secured property, & that upon its sale, the lender will accept something less than the full principal balance of the loan. That's a win-win for both parties, as most lenders don't want to go through the foreclosure process, taking possession of the security & then having to sell it. Chances are that you are much more capable of doing that than your lender & for obtaining a sales price that more realistically reflects the value of your trailer. In my experience, lenders will sell foreclosed-upon property at wholesale --- through dealer auctions etc. --- resulting in a sales price far less than the debtor could obtain for him/herself. Good luck. Be persistent. And don't take "No" for an answer.

[guskmg]

That is excellent advice. It makes me wish yours was my problem. Good luck and I hope you have a happy outcome. Maybe, even getting to keep your dream.
guskmg

[Foiled Again]

On the other hand... could you sell everything ELSE and full time in the trailer? (Helps if you can find a condo-campground.)

The "tiny house" movement has turned into a fad rather than what it started out being ... a way to live simpler, with minimal expenses and obligations so that you could pay off debts or accomplish a goal like going to college without getting $100,000 in student loans. Tiny houses aren't practical, they need to be moved by a semi, where an RV trailer can be moved by most pickup trucks. So could you consider living IN a Tiny Trailer for 3 years to get everything realigned?

Paula

[mfrez]

I agree with others that you are under water. Bought my 2012 25 Flying Cloud in very good condition 6 months ago for $52k. No leather, but it has 3 awnings and solar. Since you are in high season, and 25's seem to be the most popular size, you may be able to get as high as 55 since you have a Serenity.

I wouldn't use a dealer, you can sell quickly direct on the Airstream classifieds and save the commissions