For that money you are better off with the far better built
vintage kin trailers:
Avion, Silver Streak & Streamline. Because they were built in fewer numbers, featured true body-on-frame construction, the same price as paid for an A/S will deliver a trailer needing much less in the way of repairs. But I would bump my looking price to at least $8k as to asking prices. There are many good choices at that price.
I especially think the 1973-77
Avions to be of high value due to design & construction quality for the prices asked.
Here's an example of one outside of Sarasota, FL for sale at present, a 1974 26' (closer to 24').
They'll all want new curtains, flooring, upholstery, beds, furnace, converter, batteries, cables, vent covers, etc. Do your homework to see what a full suite of appliances costs -- ballpark -- and then use this forum to narrow down to specific brands.
I'd recommend LT tires, disc brakes and new axles (as required; 15-years for torsion and other rubber types), shock absorbers, as well as a Maxbrake controller. Price these. As well, new breakaway switch, 7-way plus chains. A hitch
no less than a Reese Dual Cam. All new LED exterior lamps. One has an obligation to make it new past a certain point, IMO, for road-worthiness.
Freeze damage can happen to any of them (more likely with A/S), and electrical should be examined for lousy repairs. The A/S Achilles Heel is frame separation, FF or RR, plus concerns about body/shell separation as well as the tongue from the frame. The advantage of an A/S is that there are so many extant, the factory is open, and there are probably three fixes for every problem.
Spending $10k is nothing when one includes in all that is necessary to tow a trailer with another vehicle (and it's changes if warranted). Too narrow a focus, I am trying to suggest (to trailer only) is misleading. Pouring a small pad at the house, making a sewer run and a 30A drop to keep it at the house, fully-functional . . . you see how things can add up.
Being specific in your thinking -- your questions -- will be of help in this thread, as I would consider $10k on a 20-year-old or 30-year-old trailer par for the course, as would many others around here. That's $10k
past the purchase price. (At 40-years you are looking to start spending real money).
My folks bought their
Silver Streak and kept it 27-years (with but two tow vehicles). Replaced only the awning and the furnace in that interval (outside of carpeting). That trailer was sold some years ago to another owner and it is running the roads yet.
The right one of this trailer type, well-chosen and maintained, will indeed last you a lifetime.
A new
Silver Streak was the same price as the median priced American house in it's era. Buying used is a tremendous bargain, and replacing wearing components due to age or use is easily done once safety items are made brand-new. Expand your search as well as narrow your questions to specifics. Labor is the killer cost, and most of these trailers are DIY friendly (unlike rotted frame SOB's).
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