Probably an unanswerable question!!

[Treecol]

Hello Funsters . Haven't been here for ages as we've been so busy with so much. DH has just about finished his 2nd motorhome rebuild which has gone really well. So we hope to take the leap to full timing soon -ish. So I plan to do lots of research again here from the full timers old posts. But the one thing I'm concerned about is how much it will cost us to live ie what budget we need. We'll be renting out our property but we don't know if we should rent out our current one or sell to a guy who has been nagging us to buy it for ages and buy a slightly smaller one. We'll be renting as holiday let so both are in good places for that.
As per my title I don't know if it's answerable as I know we all live differently and it's a private thing too really, just thought I'd come on here and waffle and ramble as I just don't know what to expect!! I'm hoping with the price of fuel, it's not going to cost us more to live that way than run our home!
We're excited, apprehensive but very keen to get going. Our long term plan is to choose another part of the country to permanently relocate to so we will be staying within England.
Thank you, I know from experience you're all very knowledgeable.

 

[The Wino]

We have a holiday let in Whitby we actually had two but have turned one into long term residential. I would say that unless you're already letting it out on a commercial basis and have accounts you're likely to grossly overestimate the income!
We take the bookings ourselves but by the time you take out the cleaning,replacements bills etc it's unlikely to be a fantastic return. We have a friend who uses agent's for the bookings he gets better occupancy and a better return but probably largely because he does all the cleaning.
It might be different for you but I would be very sceptical of and estate agents comments on a ,,"lucrative holiday let property" or agents estimated let income. Around here a lot of agents are around 20- 25% or the amount paid by the time you add vat to the fees
I know that you really asked about the costs of fulltiming but the other side of the balance sheet is going to be just as important!

 

[Riverbankannie]

Hi again
That is a difficult question to answer. I doubt if fuel costs will come into it so much unless you are intending to full time by driving every day or travelling Europe . Higher costs in Uk especially are likely to be pitch fees unless your aim is to go for free park ups. From the van lifer Youtube videos that I have seen, this seems to require driving around during the day to temporary park up and and looking around for a park up every night then moving on early in morning.
I would really advise hanging on to your house for at least 6 months to give yourselves some time to see how it goes.
You also will need friends or family for postal address and should something go wrong with the van, a tolerant understanding Mum like Northernraider has !

 

[Kirsten]

Buying houses v tricky at the moment so factor that in if you decide to sell to pestering buyer ! Also it is all very stressful so possibly get into van get going with full timing -then review after a year re plans to sell/downsize/move house to another part of the UK.
I assume you will keep your current house when a rental address as a store for some possessions and ? maybe a postal address ?depending on who looks after property.That will be a saving of sorts.
Maybe look into the possibility of P/T working when you are van bound ... I have had some really nice jobs working for festival staff firm when they have had free camping attached to the site- usually very flexible with days you want o work.
Agents fees differ wildly and things can go wrong with renting for holiday lets - could you not look to renting a longer term occupant for the year .
Anyway have a great time and keep us all informed ..

 

[pampam]

Very exciting for you please keep in touch

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[SGNV]

It does indeed very much depend on what you want to do and how. I sat down and made an estimate per week and then listed yearly expenses. Must say I didn't get it too wrong. Do you want to stay on sites, how much are you willing to pay per night. How much driving do you think you will do. What do you spend on food, do you eat out, alcohol, trips out, socialising. I had a very good idea of how I would spend my time. Are you willing to set yourself a budget for the week and stick to that? Even if that means maybe not going to the pub that week, not driving too much? Because you could just look at how much you have and decide that that will have to make do. Deduct yearly expenses/emergency fund and then divide up by the number of weeks you plan. I work at least 6 months of the year on a campsite, and have gone for the second option, I have to live within the means I have which means a very frugal life, but I love it and wouldn't change it, the freedom is worth it.
Good luck, just go for it.

 

[The Wino]

It does indeed very much depend on what you want to do and how. I sat down and made an estimate per week and then listed yearly expenses. Must say I didn't get it too wrong. Do you want to stay on sites, how much are you willing to pay per night. How much driving do you think you will do. What do you spend on food, do you eat out, alcohol, trips out, socialising. I had a very good idea of how I would spend my time. Are you willing to set yourself a budget for the week and stick to that? Even if that means maybe not going to the pub that week, not driving too much? Because you could just look at how much you have and decide that that will have to make do. Deduct yearly expenses/emergency fund and then divide up by the number of weeks you plan. I work at least 6 months of the year on a campsite, and have gone for the second option, I have to live within the means I have which means a very frugal life, but I love it and wouldn't change it, the freedom is worth it.
Good luck, just go for it.

We did a similar thing deciding if we could retire early. The financial advisor said what are you spending we found it so hard to work out that we decided to do it the other way around and work out what we had to spend then live inside that.

 

[Outdoors Dad]

I'd sell now as houses have peaked in value IMO then wait and buy smaller holiday let.

 

[Littlewheels]

I wouldn’t even consider a holiday let, a long term renter is best IMHO you know exactly what is coming in every week and limited upkeep as you don’t have different guest every week and no income on the weeks that it’s empty.

 

[MattR]

Hello Funsters . Haven't been here for ages as we've been so busy with so much. DH has just about finished his 2nd motorhome rebuild which has gone really well. So we hope to take the leap to full timing soon -ish. So I plan to do lots of research again here from the full timers old posts. But the one thing I'm concerned about is how much it will cost us to live ie what budget we need. We'll be renting out our property but we don't know if we should rent out our current one or sell to a guy who has been nagging us to buy it for ages and buy a slightly smaller one. We'll be renting as holiday let so both are in good places for that.
As per my title I don't know if it's answerable as I know we all live differently and it's a private thing too really, just thought I'd come on here and waffle and ramble as I just don't know what to expect!! I'm hoping with the price of fuel, it's not going to cost us more to live that way than run our home!
We're excited, apprehensive but very keen to get going. Our long term plan is to choose another part of the country to permanently relocate to so we will be staying within England.
Thank you, I know from experience you're all very knowledgeable.

You may find it useful to check the capital gains situation. You'll pay much less for properties that you have lived in.

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[Treecol]

Thank you all for your input...we will mull over all your helpful points.
Holiday let works best for us due to the area we are in and the fact that it will enable us to have somewhere to go when it's not occupied if we want to. Plus as we have no one to use for a permanent address and no family to even collect post, it makes sense. We will keep the garage for storage of our belongings. Our neighbours will collect any post monthly from our huge box outside.
We may just start spending more and more time away between now and the beginning of next year as a transitional period. We just need to make a decision property wise.
But again, thank you. We'll keep you posted.

 

[Treecol]

Thank you all. Very very helpful. We will sit and try to work out a budget and we do have a contingency fund. The reason for holiday lets is two fold : we can still use the property when it's empty and we've known too many people with nightmare tennants and a lot of landlords we know are selling up. It will suit us better this way and because we never intended to stay in the house we're in, it wouldn't bother us to utilise it this way.
But we're mulling over all your advice. We intend to do a blog so we'll certainly keep you posted. We may leave for longer periods this summer without letting and then go full time next year. You'll be the first to know.
Thank you again, you're always such a helpful bunch

 

[TheBig1]

Your place is absolutely gorgeous so I would worry renting it out, you could get tenants from hell who won't respect or look after it. My answer is sell it and buy 2 smaller places up north where prices are much much lower , but rental income still great

 

[Treecol]

John I'm sorry I've only just seen this. What a generous comment, thank you. Yes we are a little nervous about the rentals. We've been in holiday lets that are very tired and shabby and the thought of ours ending up like that does cause us concern. But I think once we hit the road while we transition towards full time, we can chill out more and think clearly. After all everything looks better from inside a motorhome thank you again.