Hello all,

Looking for some feedback, good, bad, or indifferent from experienced RV’ers. I currently live in NY, and am in the process of building a home in FL which will be my primary residence. I have 1 daughter who is 12 and the plan was always to wait until she graduated high school to build on our property in FL. Being the housing market is through the roof, we have decided to sell our house in NY now and start the build process ASAP. For years we have considered purchasing an RV to live in while our home is built, but I didn’t want to lay out the initial investment when I could put that money into the house build. We also plan to come up to the northeast in the summers to see friends and family so the RV seems like a good option. We would be in it for 3 months every year, and possibly full time for a year or so while the house is being built. I’m looking at the 398M. I have motorcycles, and thought I could convert the garage into a nice office space for us. There are also camp grounds near our property in FL with long term sites, so I have that covered.

I know we are in a crazy market right now, and I guess that’s my biggest concern. In a normal market, how is the resale on a unit this big? I know I can expect a 40-50% depreciation, but the way I’m looking at it, renting a house (1. While mine is built, and 2. Summers in the northeast) is equal to the depreciation. And the RV gives me the freedom to explore different places, be adventurous, etc. I have looked at some used ones but have not found anything I like. 398M’s are impossible to find, and everything else I’ve seen just hasn’t fit the bill.

I guess my biggest question is in a normal market, and priced correctly, is it difficult to sell a big RV in good condition? If I make this leap, we will definitely be in it for 3-4yrs minimum. I know lots of people with smaller RV’s just for vacationing, and even owned a slide on myself for a short time. I see people buy them for a year or so to try RVing, then sell, so IMO, I think there is more turnover on the smaller units, but I think the bigger units have a smaller market. Am I correct?

Thanks for any input!