Time to Sell???

[Ganaraska]

Originally Posted by woodedareas

Good advice. Think I will wait for warmer weather and see what the market is like. I am fortunate that I don't have to sell it as it is paid for and the other costs are rather minimal. Interesting that my grandchildren now have an interest so perhaps I can find some interesting places in the midwest to introduce them for camping. I listed it last year on the Forum and actually could have sold it but I was not thrilled with the price and decided to keep it. Glad we did as we had a couple of nice trips.

Uh oh maybe I spoke too soon. If there is a chance you might want to keep it, don't do anything rash until you try another trip or 2. I would hate to see you take a loss then change your mind and have to buy another trailer.

[dukester]

Originally Posted by Ganaraska

If you are sure you want to sell, sell it now (or at least in the spring).

It will never be worth more than it is right now. Even if prices go up next year (doubtful) your trailer will be 3 years old instead of 2. There is no use letting it sit around.

Get rid of it and move on. I have got into bad deals and mistakes myself. And found it is always better to make a clean break and get out. Even if you take a loss. It just does not pay to fart around agonizing and trying to chisel out a couple more bucks.

You raise an interesting point Ganaraska. If the Obama stimulus fails and the gov't has to print money to keep the financial system intact (witness the current possible nationalization of Citi & BofA) then you are right that most assets (financial & tangible) will take a nosedive. The current foreign "safety" prop to our dollar will disappear. It will earmark a private scenario of asset deflation coinciding with the worst of all gut punches, national hyper inflation. But what you might be missing is that you can live in your AS and move as necessary to survive in the brave new world. So maybe selling it is not such a good idea. Is this a joke reply? Kind of but maybe not.

[Foiled Again]

eBay Motors: 2004 Airstream Classic Limited - Slide Out - 34' (item 280314584917 end time Feb-25-09 06:56:26 PST)=

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2004-...1%7C240%3A1318
The interesting thing is that it is in JACKSON CENTER OHIO - the factory rebuilt a salvaged 34 Classic Ltd - apparently on "speculation".

(ON EDIT - This listing was giving me problems - or else I got the wrong one. First it was cancelled between the time I started and ended this post... then I went to ebay and found it still in force.... OK Whatever. Its a 2004 34 classic slideout starting bid 25K. You figure it out. I'm beklempt.)

Holy spit! The factory seems to be finding ways to keep some of it's staff employed. The FACTORY is offering this with a "salvage rebuilt" title. But OMG the price is right if you're looking for a big rig!
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So if you're not USING the trailer to travel, let me give you another alternative. Say "cabin in the woods/by the lake". Put it somewhere semi-local for the summer - or half the summer - and weekend in it. Also take an affordable week's vacation there. When you want to have a new location for your "cabin" move it.

If you have friends you trust who can't afford Aruba, perhaps they'd pay you for the use of your "cabin" for a week. It wouldn't make money but might well offset the costs. In Va. Beach many people live in ritzy beachside properties... except during the summer season when they rent them out. (This year rental prices may be down but time will tell!)
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NEXT: Doing a mitzvah with a trailer. If you know someone who has an SOB trailer sitting on their property with full hookups and they aren't using it, may I suggest that rather than losing money selling it, rent it quietly to a displaced homemaker (check references carefully!!!!). I have an employee who escaped from 20 years with a battering husband who finally stopped harassing her. (He finally forgot where he was - and beat her one too many times - he jumped over a bench and smacked her IN FRONT OF THE JUDGE - and served 90 days. Do you know what happens to a batterer who knows a JUDGE's testimony will be subpoenaed as a character witness the next time he hits his wife? He stops.) The details would make you sick. Anyway she has been clinging to "almost homeless" for six years.

I recently found someone trying to sell their SOB unsuccessfully. She just moved in - they both win. In six months he'll get more than he could for have sold the trailer for. The landlord will make money even after paying the electric bill. The employee has a secure home and will also keep an eye on the home owner's elderly mom.

There ARE other alternatives to letting old unused trailers rot in the yard. Think about them. You could do a good deed. A word of caution. This woman smokes... but is an excellent housekeeper... just can't stand messes. This is OK with the trailer's owner - he smokes too - and just can no longer use his trailer because of his live-in mother's health. There are SOME people who are homeless that have lost it mentally, there are some who are filthy, there are lots who have drug and alcohol problems. I wouldn't want to take on those if I had ANY kind of housing to offer. So use caution. It's just something to think about.

Paula

[wheel interested]

If it's paid for keep it. You will probably get as much for it now or later after the big depreciation hit it has already taken out of the dealer's lot. You aren't likely to pick up another, then why make a sudden move? You may invent fun ways to use it, an impromptu trip, a visitors' apratment, a staycation or even a man cave, studio or cabana. It's probably worth more to you than the amount you would net for it at this time. Keeping them is the only way to get your money's worth.

However if it isn't going to be towed, pm me about your Hensley. I don't need to get another hernia, I'd switch if I found a real good deal on a HA.

[Ganaraska]

Originally Posted by dukester

You raise an interesting point Ganaraska. If the Obama stimulus fails and the gov't has to print money to keep the financial system intact (witness the current possible nationalization of Citi & BofA) then you are right that most assets (financial & tangible) will take a nosedive. The current foreign "safety" prop to our dollar will disappear. It will earmark a private scenario of asset deflation coinciding with the worst of all gut punches, national hyper inflation. But what you might be missing is that you can live in your AS and move as necessary to survive in the brave new world. So maybe selling it is not such a good idea. Is this a joke reply? Kind of but maybe not.

I wasn't even speculating what he economy might do. My point was completely different.

What I was trying to say is once you decide you don't want something, get rid of it. Agonizing over it won't help it will only drag you down and waste your time.

To illustrate this point, last summer I sold 2 houses I bought as an investment a couple years earlier. My plans changed and I wanted out. Now at the time the market was soft and I should have agonised and farted around waiting for the price to go back up etc. but I don't play that game anymore. I learned my lesson. I put the houses up for sale and sold them for whatever I could get, BANG one sold in 1 week the other sold a month later. Did I get what I wanted? NO I got about 10% less. Am I happy I sold? Man am I ever, whenever I read the real estate news.

Now get this. This is the important part. If the price went UP would I kick myself because I sold? NO I would not. Because I made the right decision at the time for me, if the buyer made a haul good for him. I want him to be happy and make money too.

That was the idea. Now I have reread the original post and decided the asker isn't really interested in selling. I don't know what his game is. I hope he keeps his trailer and has some nice trips in it. After all it's his, it's paid for, why not enjoy it?

Only if he is fed up with it, found out he hates camping, and will never use it again, should he sell. In that case see the above advice - if you make a mistake get out as quick and clean as you can, and move on. Even if it means taking a loss. Your first loss is your best loss.

[Foiled Again]

Originally Posted by Ganaraska

I wasn't even speculating what he economy might do. My point was completely different.

What I was trying to say is once you decide you don't want something, get rid of it. Agonizing over it won't help it will only drag you down and waste your time.

....

Good points. AND if financial sanity is the main point, even more so. Donald Trump filed for bankruptcy. Now you can make hair jokes, and wife jokes, and gambling jokes ad nauseaum, BUT Trump isn't financially stupid. If you're going to have to bite the bullet "eventually" you'll probably come out better doing it immediately.

I was on the Pocahantas Trail today a sort of back road between Newport News and Williamsburg. In some parts it is redolent of poverty - and old RV's becoming entwined in the weeds and vines.

Oh, but I did see an Avion truck topper sitting by the road. Anyone interested? I can go back and get photos.

Paula

[Ganaraska]

I don't believe Trump ever was bankrupt or declared bankruptcy although he narrowly averted it.

According to his own book, in the early 90s he got the swelled head and started blowing money on yachts, a big estate in Florida, and other bad deals. He got sucked in by his own publicity and thought he had the "golden touch", and forgot the principles that made his money in the first place.

But he "came to" in time and dumped the things that were dragging him down. The yacht, the estate, etc were either sold outright or in the case of the estate, turned into a public resort and subdivision that could be sold to better advantage.

In other words once he figured out that he made a bad decision he didn't let it drag him down. He didn't agonize about it or fart around. He got out.

In some cases he took a loss, in others he made a profit. But in every case he put his ego aside and dealt with the situation to his best advantage.

Warren Buffet is the same. He has made plenty of bad investments in his time and he will be the first one to admit it. That is one of the things that makes him the most successful investor of all time.

[slowmover]

I decided to sell mine since it has already been sitting for a year, and would sit for another few years. On top of that, I really want a rear bedroom trailer preferably a few feet shorter.

That said, yes, I am taking a bath for what I have spent. But I have never seen anyone recoup their money on a toy. (There may be examples). I didn't want the trailer to sit around and dry rot like so many seen for sale . . seems to take some owners years and years to finally let go of them. I have inspected more than one used trailer where the detritus was a good 12-15 years old.

And, for what I would spend on storage, I can save the money towards building a permanent parking spot at the house with sewer and electric.

Another way of looking at it is this: We spent 221-nights on the road in 2007 in this coach. A comparable hotel room would have cost $100/night, so we deduct the $30/night for hookups, and arrive at $15k "saved". And then meals, conveniences, etc. It works well enough to sell the trailer in this light (takes some pain away).

I hate to let the trailer go living in a hurricane-prone area (part of the reason I kept it and want another) as it may have to be our home in unfortunate circumstances.

But maintaining these things takes time that is better spent elsewhere. A top-to-bottom detailing, inside and out, accounted for forty of my recent "leisure" hours. Maintenance is regular, and more than just "annual". Insurance, taxes, registration, storage; they all add up. (And the worry over it, however sublimated). Compared to my "new" early fifties ranch house which will demand all of my time for several years, the trailer is an annoyance.

The economy may be "better" in a few months, but for this sort of item I believe it may be years before we see 2007 prices on used units again. Then, and now, it may take a year to find a buyer.

Good luck.

[Fyrzowt]

Regarding the Trump bankruptcy:

How Does Trump repeatedly file for Bankruptcy and still stay on top?