Full-Time RV in Phoenix (Travel on weekends?) (Mesa, Tempe: RV parks, sales)

[lovethebeach29]

Hi guys,

I am thinking about buying a RV (30 foot or longer class A or C) to live in full-time and staying at a RV park somewhere in the Phoenix Metro area. I have weekends off and I was thinking about driving the RV and towing my car and staying in California during the weekends. I want to learn how to Surf/Scuba and spend time at a beach/ocean. As well as explore many of the Arizona parks/lands. During winter take the RV up to Flagstaff for the weekend and snowboard for two days.

I am in my 20's, no kids. I work two jobs 5 days a week in Phoenix but I have weekends off. I currently rent a room in a house in Mesa. I am considering this, as it might save money on hotel costs and give me more freedom. I like the idea of "owning" vs renting, as I can customize the RV.

I've been watching a lot youtube vlogs about people who are full-time RV'ers and it looks pretty interesting to me. Some of the RV's seem like luxury homes on wheels.


I've never owned a RV and I've never dealt with RV parks.

I've done basic research as far as insurance costs, fuel costs, park fees, RV loan, etc. Some stuff that makes me think that it might not be a good idea:
Fuel costs (gas keeps going up), Stigma of living in a RV/RV park, RV keeps depreciating in value, might have issues finding a RV park/place to park, dealing with the black water/wastes, seems like almost all of the RV parks in Arizona are +50 years and older.

I would love to get into a lifestyle of being able to work seasonally somewhere and then being able to relocate every winter/summer. Say live in Arizona or Florida/California in the winter go somewhere woodsy/cooler in the summer. I just don't know how to find those seasonal jobs. Since I have two jobs right now (that are dependable but are in Phoenix) maybe I could get the RV situation setup so that in the future I could do that? Right now I plan to live in Phoenix.

The costs seem a little bit higher than living in Apartment (but not by much), but cheaper than a house. With the added benefit of being able to pick and go anywhere when you want to. I want to maintain a high standard of living, but still be frugal.

I guess an alternative would be stay renting a room/apartment and drive to places and rent a hotel for the weekends.

Does this sound like a good idea or a bad idea?

Edit: I just noticed there is a RV area in this forum, i should have probably asked this there. Sorry about that.

[Ponderosa]

There are thousands and thousands and thousands of snow birds who live in RVs here all winter. There are parks up the wazzoo. They are packed in winter, empty in summer. Your neighbors, when you have them will be old people, or down and out types if you stay in the cheaper parks. Many require you to be 50 plus to live there as you note. As for CA on the weekends, it is 5-7 hours to the coastal areas meaning you would be spending most of your weekend driving. And gas over there costs north of 4 bucks a gallon and RV parks are 40-70+ bucks a night there. A weekend of gas and park fees is going to run 400 dollars.

[magnum0417]

I have a 35 foot Class A Motorhome and there are a lot of things to consider. I work full time and I find that even on weekends, it isn't really worth the investment.I only use it on weekends as I live in Tempe which makes the investment questionable at best. However, I am stubborn and will make it work as it is very comfortable for traveling as well as camping the higher elevations during the summer. As for living in full time ? They really aren't meant to be . I also recommend taking out warranty coverage through Cornerstone United. Parts in an RV are VERY expensive if you don't have a cheap $100 deductible through warranty coverage which in itself costs over $1000/year to have. Engines in Class A cost upwards of 10K if they crap out without a warranty. Refrigerators are a couple grand and they are SMALL. The generator (I have an Onan) cost some 3K as well. Priming the generator every couple weeks for atleast half an hour is essential. You won't always have hook up when traveling. If you are just buying one to primarily park in some Apache Junction RV Park, I don't think it;s a good idea. Other expenses. I get maybe 10 miles a gallon in a 70 gallon tank. So I can get close to 700 miles on a full tank but it costs over $225 to fill up.

[sandhunter]

the a/c will never keep up with heat in summer.

[Steve Pickering]

Originally Posted by sandhunter

the a/c will never keep up with heat in summer.

I have never had trouble with mine and I only have a single unit on a 40 foot 400 square foot 5th wheel

[magnum0417]

With full hook up on 30 or 50 amps, one should be fine with AC even in PHX. However, boondocking is another story in which the generator creates more stress when running AC. I've had the generator shut down blasting out the AC forcing me to "take a break."

[ibarrio]

Rv's are expensive (I own one). Tons of maintenance and gas isn't cheap. Plus I imagine driving to SoCal every weekend will be expensive and tiresome. I guess you could dry camp at Walmart if they allow it in California (I leave that research up to you). I can tell you that traffic/roads in most California beach communities are not RV friendly.

There are tons of blogs online from people who live/work from their RV. Just do a google search. Here is ne website NuRVers.com - Young Fulltime RVers - Doing It Our Way.

I like this guy because it gives you some sense of what to expect and how to deal with the eventual cost associated by rving full time
Skylarking

[tiger08]

Originally Posted by sandhunter

the a/c will never keep up with heat in summer.

You are right. We have an 08 31 foot class C with one ducted a/c unit and it does not keep up in hot weather. When we travel to really hot places such as Havasu, I take an extra a/c unit to put in the window and it makes a world of difference.

[tiger08]

Originally Posted by lovethebeach29

Hi guys,

I am thinking about buying a RV (30 foot or longer class A or C) to live in full-time and staying at a RV park somewhere in the Phoenix Metro area. I have weekends off and I was thinking about driving the RV and towing my car and staying in California during the weekends. I want to learn how to Surf/Scuba and spend time at a beach/ocean. As well as explore many of the Arizona parks/lands. During winter take the RV up to Flagstaff for the weekend and snowboard for two days.

I am in my 20's, no kids. I work two jobs 5 days a week in Phoenix but I have weekends off. I currently rent a room in a house in Mesa. I am considering this, as it might save money on hotel costs and give me more freedom. I like the idea of "owning" vs renting, as I can customize the RV.

I've been watching a lot youtube vlogs about people who are full-time RV'ers and it looks pretty interesting to me. Some of the RV's seem like luxury homes on wheels.


I've never owned a RV and I've never dealt with RV parks.

I've done basic research as far as insurance costs, fuel costs, park fees, RV loan, etc. Some stuff that makes me think that it might not be a good idea:
Fuel costs (gas keeps going up), Stigma of living in a RV/RV park, RV keeps depreciating in value, might have issues finding a RV park/place to park, dealing with the black water/wastes, seems like almost all of the RV parks in Arizona are +50 years and older.

I would love to get into a lifestyle of being able to work seasonally somewhere and then being able to relocate every winter/summer. Say live in Arizona or Florida/California in the winter go somewhere woodsy/cooler in the summer. I just don't know how to find those seasonal jobs. Since I have two jobs right now (that are dependable but are in Phoenix) maybe I could get the RV situation setup so that in the future I could do that? Right now I plan to live in Phoenix.

The costs seem a little bit higher than living in Apartment (but not by much), but cheaper than a house. With the added benefit of being able to pick and go anywhere when you want to. I want to maintain a high standard of living, but still be frugal.

I guess an alternative would be stay renting a room/apartment and drive to places and rent a hotel for the weekends.

Does this sound like a good idea or a bad idea?

Edit: I just noticed there is a RV area in this forum, i should have probably asked this there. Sorry about that.

Dont let some of these people scare you away. Are you a fairly handy/mechanical person?
We have owned 4 rv's to date and although they may nickel and dime sometimes, they arent that expensive to repair, if you can do it yourself.
If you buy a simple gas powered class A or class C, parts are no more expensive for the chassis, than a van or pickup truck.
If you buy a fancy diesel pusher class A, than yes you will pay out the wazoo for parts and labor.

As far as repairing the coach, the two major expenses are the fridge and the generator. A properly maintained gen set will last for years but you need to run it every couple of weeks to keep the carb from gumming up, etc.

The fridge is another pain and can crap out without notice. If you do enough searching, a simple new model can be had in the 1500 dollar range, that would not include labor to replace it.

A/c units are cheap, starting in the 450 dollar range and can be easily replaced. We just replaced one on my cousin in laws rv last weekend while at a campground, took about 45 minutes.

If I was single and young again, I would take an rv over an apartment any day.

[gemstone1]

I have been fulltime RV-ing since '06. Some RV's are designed for fulltime use, some are not....class B's would fall into the latter group. Check with each manufacturer for accurate information....never rely on an RV sales person. RV parts are expensive....$1000 for a replacement A/C unit, $600+ for a water heater, $2000 for a gas/electric refrigerator for starters. RV air conditioners, as a rule of thumb will cool down the outside temperature by 20 degrees...so, 120 degrees outside, count on 100 inside....quality construction plays a big part here. If you are going to be in AZ in the summer, find a rig with 2 or more A/C units.

Two forum groups dedicated to RV-ing are:

Escapees and

Good Sam

Spend some time on those forums before jumping in.

Good Luck
Gemstone1