Owning a lot of land to store the Airstream?

[ZBoater]

Not sure where to post this, so I'll ask it here. Mods, please move if this belongs somewhere else.

So my wife and I are thinking of buying an Airstream. We are about 15 years from retirement, so this would be for weekend use. I'm not exactly the social type, but I do enjoy having something to do on weekends. We just sold our 38' boat after 15 years.

Which brings me to my question. We do not want to store it in a storage place. We want to store it somewhere we can use it on weekends. We've seen some parks but are not very impressed. I was wondering about the option of purchasing a lot of land somewhere, 5-10 acres, and setting it up to keep my trailer there. Anyone here do that? I realize there are issues such as electric and water that need to be resolved, but the prospect of owning land interests me a lot. I was wondering what the sage minds of the forum have to say about that.

[KJRitchie]

If you are not going to travel with it then why bother with a trailer? If you are going to just drive to your lot and stay there over the weekend then buy a park model or build a vacation home.

Kelvin

[Wayne&Sam]

Sure it's been done, but not by me. If I was to do it, I'd build a carport to cover the Airstream to help protect it from the elements for all those years.

[ZBoater]

Originally Posted by KJRitchie

If you are not going to travel with it then why bother with a trailer? If you are going to just drive to your lot and stay there over the weekend then buy a park model or build a vacation home.

Kelvin

Well, the plan is to travel, but not every weekend. We need a place to store it while we work, and a place we can use it some weekends when we don't go out.

[kb0zke]

First of all, how far are you willing to go from where you currently live to where your Airstream will live? Once you have that radius, you can check zoning laws in that area. In some areas you can do what you suggest, but not in others.

Be aware that something "out in the country" may be a tempting target for vandals, druggies, or thieves. Such people are well aware of when you are around and when you are gone.

[SuperTrouper]

My worry, unless you buy land in the boonies, is security. I use a storage place where campground grounds employees live and keep watch on the storage area. I can also have it moved to a camp spot by the campground crew for 15 bucks if I want to come and stay locally for a weekend.


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[GettinAway]

We had a Carolina Carport built on our farm for storing our AS. It's paying for itself by saving us the costs of keeping the AS stored in a covered storage facility.
We also use it for our overflow bedroom when we have company at the farm. I've got it locked up pretty securely, but still worry a bit. The neighbors up there keep an eye on it for us. I've thought about a security system, but then the costs start climbing back up.

[mandolindave]

Why do you need or want an RV/trailer ?

What do you like to do? ( Hobbies, activities, travel ? )

Where do you want to go? ( get out of the city ?)

How much is it going to cost you ? ( Will it be worth it ? Do the math )

My point is…will you need a trailer to do what you want to do, and go where you want to go?

Examples…I go to lots of music festivals. Having a camper is REALLY nice to have. I am planning some road trips, where having a camper will save me money and enhance the trip.

Having an RV wouldn't be worth the cost for me if it was just going to limit me to going to campgrounds, or limit me to going one place. ( unless I really loved the location and wanted to get out of the city )

[ZBoater]

Yes, we've done the math, and the RV is for us. That much is not in doubt. What we are trying to figure out is the storage situation.

Yes, security was my top concern. I mean, while we are not there anything could happen. That is a minus. I'm not as worried while we are there.

I'm hoping the lot will be large enough that trailer will not be visible from the road. That may help mitigate the issue a bit.

[mojo]

There are a lot of nice campgrounds in central/northern FL that would be perfect for your weekend getaways...if you kept the trailer at home.

However, knowing how hot and humid the summer months can be, perhaps finding a semi-permanent monthly campground location in the Georgia mountains where you could store and use your trailer for those months would be more appropriate. You can make better time driving back and forth without the trailer attached.

[ZBoater]

Our plan is to take the trailer to a campground 12-16 weekends a year. Usually taking Friday off to make a long weekend. The rest of the time would be using it where I store it, so I'd like to store it somewhere nice. And I wouldn't mind the work of maintaining a piece of land. Gives me something to do. I'd rather spend my time and energy in that than spend it on an RV park somewhere. But it's a lot of work and a lot of money. I'm hoping for someone who has done it who can give me some pointers.

[A W Warn]

You will get all kinds of opinions about how an Airstream should be used and how it should be stored, but the only opinion that should matter to you is your own. Do what you like. I did!

When I was considering the same thing you are, land in FL to keep my Airstream, I looked around for a couple years before I made up my mind. I finally decided to rent a lot, year round, in a campground for storage and staying, in lieu of purchasing a few acres in the country. The main reason I chose this was for the security. A trailer setting out in the country is a prime target for theft and/or vandals. The second reason was cost. In addition to the purchase price of land, installing a shed, installing electrical service, a water source, a septic system, annual taxes, and insurance seemed to be a little to much.

I've been doing this for almost 4 years. My wife and I are happy with our choice.

[ALUMINUMINUM]

Many pages are written about juggling homestead deductions, interest deductions, taxes and insurance on improved real property vs bare land…

Unimproved property taxes are reasonable. Bottom line is, you can make a killing buying the right bare lot, and never hassle with home building. The appreciation in real estate is the land, not the improvement (house). Most folks can't wrap their minds around the reality, but he house actually depreciates, yes those twenty year-old shingles are worthless, and your copper pipes have reached their half-life, the concrete cracks, and you're on your third wall to wall carpet and waterheater. It's the patch of dirt that appreciates in value, so YES! Buy bare land.


Take the interest deduction on a financed two year-old trailer, and “store” it on your unimproved lot with no second home property taxes. Yes your trailer can be stolen or vandalized same as your boat…


Travel and adventure at your whim. Your Tow Vehicle can haul freshwater to, waste from, and bring a freshly charged battery or a solar charge system for a weekend at the property. Plant a grey-water garden. Maybe it will become your retirement home-site. They can't tax you for planting trees, pruning shrubs and improving paths.
.
Sounds like fun, a functional investment that you control, and way better than money in the bank.

Location is most important, so that's where to begin. Find your spot!

[prairieschooner]

I like the idea! My thoughts would be to purchase some land where we could store or simply visit. I would think that to eventually build a retirement home should be of paramount consideration.
If it would only be to offset the cost of storage then I couldn't really advise since property around So. Calif. isn't feasible for that.
Still I would love to have another piece of property to visit when I want. All I would need there is a level slab & septic of some kind but electricity & water could be a bonus but then again the electricity & water would effect the footprint.

[ijustlee]

It's actually against the law in most of "The Land of The Free" to live in a travel trailer except in a licensed camp ground! In fact it's against the law to live cheaply in general in the USA! There are very few places left that don't have zoning laws! There is a bill in Congress to make it illegal to life full time in an RV Nationwide! In the county I live in there are a lot of vacation homes and the Sheriff has a special squad that checks the nooks and crannies for squatters in said homes. I guess there is enough of a problem with dishonest people or just plain poor people that the taxpayers feel like it's worth paying the cops to snoop. That being said, my ideal home would be a barn with lots of windows and RV hookups that I could pull my trailer into and live there; then have my stuff secure when I'm gone. Sort of like the Texas Airstream places. I suspect that it would be hard to find a place to have a set-up like this and be legal but I would like to start something like a "Trailer Ranch" with a group of people where someone was always around when I was out on the road. I think to do what you are thinking about would require a big enough parcel to hide your camp from prying eyes and have good neighbors that will not steal your stuff. Hopefully you could find that situation not too far from where you live. The best thing would be to have a carport in your own backyard and good neighbors. It might be wise to just wait until you retire before buying a trailer? Or move to a place with a big enough yard to keep a trailer?

[kscherzi]

I pay about $100 a month to store the trailer in covered storage in California. Probably a lot cheaper by half anywhere else in the US for the same. Thats a lot less than a mortgage payment for land, and bare land is not deductible.

I also second the concern with theft. At least a storage yard is fenced, gated and video secured.

[Monza]

Yes go buy some land and but your trailer on if you want. Could make a nice little front deck and every thing, run power. Haul it out of there when you want to travel. It's done all the time, you could over think every thing for sure, will it help?

[duncans]

I would like to mention that the plot in the country takes upkeep. We live on a 20 acre plot, 7 of which we maintain as orchard and yard / park, the remainder is leased to a neighboring farmer. I have a $22,000.00 commercial mower and an irrigation gun for maintenance. Then there's fuel for the mower + annual maintenance cost for the mower, electrical for the irrigation gun. Then, there is fertilizer and other sprays. Now the biggest investment: time. In the Spring, I can be mowing every 3-4 days until Summer, when it slacks off to once a week. Each mow session is 6-9 hours depending upon how thick and fast the grass is growing ( many trees to mow around). This means we do not travel in the Spring or early Summer. The place is beautiful, but as I age, I am wondering when it will be too much.
So, be sure to balance in just how "pretty" you want to keep your storage plot. Also, your State / County may have requirements on grass height, as in fire risk.
Dave and Susan

[McDave]

My house is on a fairly big lot, which I like for many reasons, but I had not contemplated buying an Airstream when I bought the house. Luckily, there is a street that runs behind it, so I was able to construct a pad to store the Airstream that is accessible from the street that runs behind the house.



It is a big advantage to have the AS right next to the house, for security, accessibility, and heck, I just enjoy having the thing around. Rather than buying land somewhere and storing the AS on it, why not move somewhere that has enough land where you can have your house and AS in the same place?


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[ZBoater]

I am not sure we are ready to commit to live on the Airstream fulltime. We just moved to a condo downtown and really enjoy that. While we had the boat, we enjoyed having a "weekend getaway". That is what we are aiming for with this plan.

I guess if I could find a park I liked it would be better. We found one in Sarasota but the lots were very small and between $80-100K each. Ouch. I can get 10-20 acres of land for that kind of money. But living in the park definitely mitigates the security issues.

Decisions, decisions...