First world problem...help me poke holes in an idea

[Lurch830]

So I've had a few offers to buy my house for $100k+ more than I paid for it, but nothing in black & white yet. I want to sell to get more land and move back home closer to family (looking at the Sanford area), but with the housing market booming the way it is I can't find what I want in my price range and why I've delayed listing it. I'm guessing the market is going to come back down soon and it'd be nice to sell high & buy low which leaves me with two options:
1) sell and rent for a couple of years - I don't want to do this as apartment life isn't for me, but may have less headaches?
2) buy some land & camper and wait to build house/shop - this is what I want help with...feel free to rip it to shreds!

If I go with #2 , I'm thinking a ~25-30' bumper pull and park it under a carport.
Have utilities put in (guessing $15-20k? for well, septic & power) as a hunt camp
Get a tractor to start developing actual hunt camp
If/when construction materials return to 'normal', build a shop with internal living quarters

Thanks and feel free to make other suggestions in case I haven't thought of it!

 

[Southern_Transplant]

So I've had a few offers to buy my house for $100k+ more than I paid for it, but nothing in black & white yet. I want to sell to get more land and move back home closer to family (looking at the Sanford area), but with the housing market booming the way it is I can't find what I want in my price range and why I've delayed listing it. I'm guessing the market is going to come back down soon and it'd be nice to sell high & buy low which leaves me with two options:
1) sell and rent for a couple of years - I don't want to do this as apartment life isn't for me, but may have less headaches?
2) buy some land & camper and wait to build house/shop - this is what I want help with...feel free to rip it to shreds!

If I go with #2 , I'm thinking a ~25-30' bumper pull and park it under a carport.
Have utilities put in (guessing $15-20k? for well, septic & power) as a hunt camp
Get a tractor to start developing actual hunt camp
If/when construction materials return to 'normal', build a shop with internal living quarters

Thanks and feel free to make other suggestions in case I haven't thought of it!

I won't rip #2 to shreds. The idea of selling your house at peak market and getting an RV is a pretty good move. I'm not sure about the land buy and partial (utility install) development. But you could start with the RV and see what's available.

 

[Loganwayne]

two things that would stop me from doing #2.

1. buying land you have to have a large down payment usually, may not be an issue since your selling your house.

2. i dont think building a house vs buying a house is going to cheaper for a LONG time. material prices may come down on lumber, but labor and pretty much all other materials are still steadily going up.

 

[mbalbritton]

As for #1, rent is going up because the housing market is so dry right now. So make you you factor in the increased cost of rent. It might not be as appealing as it sounds to you right now.

Im looking at a similar issue down here in FL. My house value has increased drastically and I’ve considered selling and finding a smaller place now that we’re down to 1 kid at home.

I’ll be damned if I can find a place that isn’t a shit hole selling for stupid money.

 

[jeepinmatt]

Depending on local regulations, you may have difficultly getting power/water/sewer ran out to a camper. Also, I'm sure camper prices are sky high right now too, but probably not nearly as bad as housing.

What do you do if prices never come back down?

 

[skyhighZJ]

Question: how many people would be living in the camper? Even a 30’ gets small real quick when you’re full-timing.

 

[Southern_Transplant]

Depending on local regulations, you may have difficultly getting power/water/sewer ran out to a camper. Also, I'm sure camper prices are sky high right now too, but probably not nearly as bad as housing.

What do you do if prices never come back down?

Prices for houses will come back down. But it may take one or two cycles/years. RVs may be at full retail. But as long as you don't buy a crazy $100k luxury camper, you'd be making a big marginal gain going to the camper.

As for renting, as mentioned rents are way up and will stay that way based on home values. So, unless you are planning to be in a two bedroom apartment for a very long time, that's probably not a good trade.

 

[drkelly]

I see two problems with option #2

1) Camper prices are high, and will most likely be lower when you go to sell it in a few years. If you plan on keeping the camper for trips etc, then ignore this.
2) You are gambling on house prices dropping which may not happen. They may just go sideways for 10 years once things cool off.

 

[LBarr2002]

I have a friend doing #2 in SC and there were a few others on this forum either doing it or talking about it.

The difference in their situation is they already had the land and the plan, the housing market just accelerated it. They didn't go buy a fancy new RV, but found something on Marketplace that has depreciated. They struggled getting the power/septic etc all set up but are almost there. They've been staying with family since house sold so quickly.

The prices of construction ballooned so quickly that they may be in the camper longer than expected.

 

[CasterTroy]

2) buy some land & camper and wait to build house/shop - this is what I want help with...feel free to rip it to shreds!

Depending on the county, you can't get a mailbox (address) nor utilities without first having a building permit.

I.E. they won't bring power to a piece of property unless it's a residence (again...depends on county)

So in some cases, you can't just plop a camper on land and live there until you build. In most cases you have to START building in order to get soft power and or an "address"

@snappy can elaborate

 

[shelby27604]

Be comfortable with #2 being your living situation much longer than expected!

Committing to #2 puts you in the awkward position of having to buy the land and setup Basecamp before you move out of your home. Depending on what you believe, you may extend your finances to that endeavor only to watch the market interest in your home fall (especially heading into winter).

Nothing is absolute, these are just the same issues I am currently weighing as I am already past the point of return. We just had a contract on our house fall apart 2 days before due diligence expired.

 

[awheelterd]

Depending on local regulations, you may have difficultly getting power/water/sewer ran out to a camper. Also, I'm sure camper prices are sky high right now too, but probably not nearly as bad as housing.

What do you do if prices never come back down?

I'm not sure what sky high camper prices are, bc I've never shipped campers, but marketplace is getting more and more 2019-2020 campers every week. A lot of the pandemic buyers are getting out of them from what it looks like

 

[awheelterd]

Since you want to move to Sanford... Rent @kaiser715 motorhome at his place. Mooch power off his shop.

 

[77GreenMachine]

Option #3

Sell, buy a used camper, travel the US working remote, or working odd jobs from town to town. Lots of cheap campgrounds, free camping, and BLM land.

Come back in a few years and still have your nest egg from selling the house and then decide.

This is what I dream of doing. But having a wife and 2 kids (read as a wife that doesn’t wanna do that) it’s not happening.

 

[jeepinmatt]

Depending on local regulations, you may have difficultly getting power/water/sewer ran out to a camper. Also, I'm sure camper prices are sky high right now too, but probably not nearly as bad as housing.

What do you do if prices never come back down?

Let me be clear, I think it's a great idea, and you should do it. My only purpose of this post was to poke holes per your request. We bought land in 2007, rented a house "for a little bit" starting in 2008, and finally moved onto our land in 2011. We spent a year going back and forth with Gaston County because we wanted to build a "barn" with living quarters instead of a "house". Finally got around that and then took about 1.5 years to build our 800sqft garage apartment because I contracted it myself. Plan was to live there a year or two, then build our "real" house. 8 years later we finally started the real house, and I hired a contractor because I didn't want it to drag out for a year and a half like the first one. A year and a half later , and about 30% over budget , we finally moved into my wife's house (late 2019). And now it looks cheap compared to today's prices.

 

[ponykilr]

Almost what we did except mobile home was already here.

Surry county will allow power, well and septic with just a camper as they are all over. Sanford being close to Raleighstan probably won’t.

 

[Blaze]

A buddy of mine at work sold his house and lived at a campground with a big 5th wheel for a couple years while they found land and started building their house. I mean, his 5th wheel was a lot nicer than the first house my wife and I had so I don't see a problem with that.

 

[No fries]

I think maybe a variation of #2 would be viable, find land that has a hunting cabin/shack trailer that is already with utilities. then build when materials come down.

We want to move out to get more land and have a shop also. But our house is paid off in five years. Seems better financially to wait until the market is more neutral than a sellers market. So we can find what we want and not pay $40K over asking without having an hour to mull it over. Then lose it to some asshat that bid $40.5K over.
The way I'm looking at it is, low interest rates is the time to move. If you sell in a high market you are going to buy in a high market, Buy low sell low, but if the interest rates are high you'll pay more either way. Find a place that needs cosmetic upgrades not a complete gut, and make some money by ripping off the paneling, wall paper ditching the shag carpet. Then make it "clean" and presentable for the next buyer. Little investment decent return. Housing prices will probably settle, but I'm not 100% sure it will drop much in a year or more. YMMV

 

[paradisePWoffrd]

A buddy of mine at work sold his house and lived at a campground with a big 5th wheel for a couple years while they found land and started building their house. I mean, his 5th wheel was a lot nicer than the first house my wife and I had so I don't see a problem with that.

This is the option I was going to throw out. If you have a place to put your stuff, you could buy and camper and rent a spot in a local RV park until you found your property and worked out the details.

Also, you can find single wides for under $50k new. Not sure what the lead times are on them, these days. Might be an option if you found a piece of land, vs buying a camper.

 

[jeepinmatt]

So we can find what we want and not pay $40K over asking without having an hour to mull it over. Then lose it to some asshat that bid $40.5K over.

 

[LBarr2002]

I think maybe a variation of #2 would be viable, find land that has a hunting cabin/shack trailer that is already with utilities. then build when materials come down.

I was thinking that as well. Buy a fixer upper with some land.

 

[Lurch830]

I won't rip #2 to shreds. The idea of selling your house at peak market and getting an RV is a pretty good move. I'm not sure about the land buy and partial (utility install) development. But you could start with the RV and see what's available.

Talking with other people I'm looking into that now. Get a RV & rent/buy a campground spot and then buy some land to hunt/build on.

2. i dont think building a house vs buying a house is going to cheaper for a LONG time. material prices may come down on lumber, but labor and pretty much all other materials are still steadily going up.

dammit...that's a good point, but not what I wanted to hear!

I’ll be damned if I can find a place that isn’t a shit hole selling for stupid money.

That's what I'm seeing too

Depending on local regulations, you may have difficultly getting power/water/sewer ran out to a camper. Also, I'm sure camper prices are sky high right now too, but probably not nearly as bad as housing.

What do you do if prices never come back down?

Good point. I've also heard that RV demand was up during COVID and now the build quality is crap...doesn't help that I'm 6'6" so I probably won't fit easily lol.
Feel like an idiot & kick myself while feeling down?

Question: how many people would be living in the camper? Even a 30’ gets small real quick when you’re full-timing.

Just me. Potentially a dog?

Prices for houses will come back down. But it may take one or two cycles/years. RVs may be at full retail. But as long as you don't buy a crazy $100k luxury camper, you'd be making a big marginal gain going to the camper.

As for renting, as mentioned rents are way up and will stay that way based on home values. So, unless you are planning to be in a two bedroom apartment for a very long time, that's probably not a good trade.

This gives me some hope...I wouldn't get a fancy one.

I see two problems with option #2

1) Camper prices are high, and will most likely be lower when you go to sell it in a few years. If you plan on keeping the camper for trips etc, then ignore this.
2) You are gambling on house prices dropping which may not happen. They may just go sideways for 10 years once things cool off.

I don't plan on keeping the camper.
That is definitely the risk...just not sure if the juice is worth the squeeze!

I have a friend doing #2 in SC and there were a few others on this forum either doing it or talking about it.

The difference in their situation is they already had the land and the plan, the housing market just accelerated it. They didn't go buy a fancy new RV, but found something on Marketplace that has depreciated. They struggled getting the power/septic etc all set up but are almost there. They've been staying with family since house sold so quickly.

The prices of construction ballooned so quickly that they may be in the camper longer than expected.

My family is 2.5hrs from my office, so that wouldn't be an option for me. But I only have to go in once per week....so maybe, but I'm sure we'd all go crazy.

Depending on the county, you can't get a mailbox (address) nor utilities without first having a building permit.

I.E. they won't bring power to a piece of property unless it's a residence (again...depends on county)

So in some cases, you can't just plop a camper on land and live there until you build. In most cases you have to START building in order to get soft power and or an "address"

@snappy can elaborate

That's what I learned from my brother (he's building right now)...kinda rules out #2 (without loop holes).

I was thinking that as well. Buy a fixer upper with some land.

Not opposed to this idea!

Option #3

Sell, buy a used camper, travel the US working remote, or working odd jobs from town to town. Lots of cheap campgrounds, free camping, and BLM land.

Come back in a few years and still have your nest egg from selling the house and then decide.

This is what I dream of doing. But having a wife and 2 kids (read as a wife that doesn’t wanna do that) it’s not happening.

I'm going to look tonight at selling, buy a camper & stay at a campground, buy some land to hunt/build/park vehicles on.
I can do a lot of my job remotely now, but I have to travel across Eastern NC (~20k/year) so I'd have to change that.

Let me be clear, I think it's a great idea, and you should do it. My only purpose of this post was to poke holes per your request. We bought land in 2007, rented a house "for a little bit" starting in 2008, and finally moved onto our land in 2011. We spent a year going back and forth with Gaston County because we wanted to build a "barn" with living quarters instead of a "house". Finally got around that and then took about 1.5 years to build our 800sqft garage apartment because I contracted it myself. Plan was to live there a year or two, then build our "real" house. 8 years later we finally started the real house, and I hired a contractor because I didn't want it to drag out for a year and a half like the first one. A year and a half later , and about 30% over budget , we finally moved into my wife's house (late 2019). And now it looks cheap compared to today's prices.

I wouldn't mind something like that happening, but I'm sure materials/labor are $$$$ now compared to '08. I followed your garage apartment build & liked it except for the stairs...also couldn't GC it myself which I'm sure would raise the price.

A buddy of mine at work sold his house and lived at a campground with a big 5th wheel for a couple years while they found land and started building their house. I mean, his 5th wheel was a lot nicer than the first house my wife and I had so I don't see a problem with that.

I'm going to look into this more tonight.

This is the option I was going to throw out. If you have a place to put your stuff, you could buy and camper and rent a spot in a local RV park until you found your property and worked out the details.

Also, you can find single wides for under $50k new. Not sure what the lead times are on them, these days. Might be an option if you found a piece of land, vs buying a camper.

Hmmm...another option to look at: temporary single wide while building.

 

[kaiser715]

Almost what we did except mobile home was already here.

Surry county will allow power, well and septic with just a camper as they are all over. Sanford being close to Raleighstan probably won’t.

I looked into that when we started to build. No way. But....now there are several doing the rv thing, visible from the road, in our area. Probably because James retired from permit department

 

[snappy]

Question: how many people would be living in the camper? Even a 30’ gets small real quick when you’re full-timing.

Been in one full time since Feb. 33 ft , not bad, cooking is the worst part.... and the lack of great water pressure.

 

[snappy]

Depending on the county, you can't get a mailbox (address) nor utilities without first having a building permit.

I.E. they won't bring power to a piece of property unless it's a residence (again...depends on county)

So in some cases, you can't just plop a camper on land and live there until you build. In most cases you have to START building in order to get soft power and or an "address"

@snappy can elaborate

Had to jump through hoops in Randolph. I got my well and septic permits, and now a building permit. Well is being dug in the next 2 weeks and temp power is going in. We are going to go ahead and do the septic and move my camper there. I finally talked to the right person and found out that since my land in timber management program I get away it a lot more. DO NOT tell them you want to live in the camper, it becomes the construction site headquarters is what we are having to say mine is. I did finally get an address after I got my building permit.

Power company finally agreed to a temp pole once the well is drilled.