Alternative Housing – Park Model RV

  

Park Model RV

As preppers, I know I would be restating the obvious by reminding all of you that we don’t really require a lot to survive. If we have food, water and shelter secured, the rest is just ways for us to improve on the same theme. Actually the food and water aren’t even that difficult to work out if we take care of it while everything is still relatively normal and available and no further away then the grocery store. Shelter though, this is something else, at least if you want to move past the tent in the National Forest plan. Don’t get the wrong idea, I own a tent and it does play its roll in my preps. However, like I have stated previously, I like to have walls and a ceiling surrounding me while I sleep.

   Maybe, I have a personal bent on this whole housing /shelter idea because its interesting to me. What I do know for sure is that long term shelter, whether its your primary residence or bug out location is going to be one of the most expensive purchases/expenses that you will ever have or make. This would necessitate spending the most time in making your decision prior to getting started.

Slightly different angle

   I truly believe that to survive in the long run we all need to work at being debt free. I know that there are folks that can afford the fully stocked missile silo retreat but most of us are much more limited… I want to regularly be  proposing alternatives for the rest of us to consider. You’ve seen what I ultimately chose for my family, the mobile home. This however may not be the right choice for you, I don’t want anyone to think I have all the answers or that my way is best. It is only best for me and mine, you and yours will have to make this decision for yourselves. I just want to help educate you with what I have found on my personal journey of discovery.

   So, today I thought I would tell you about the “Park Model RV” that we spent some time investigating. These are the RV’s that are only RV’s for legal purposes. They require much the same process to move as a mobile home would. Pilot cars, over sized load signs, height considerations, etc. They are kind of a cross between a mobile home, cabin and RV. Only similar to an RV as they are extremely space efficient. These efficiencies are really cool to me, no wasted space but space for everything. Must be a personality thing with me as this is something I have always liked about boats and campers, ect.

   These homes are restricted in square footage so they can maintain their designation as an RV. They have to stay under 399 sq. feet and can’t be more than 12 feet wide. Now something that I found interesting is that if they have a covered porch on either or both ends, this footage doesn’t count in the total? Not sure how that can be but it is what was explained to us. Pretty cool loophole to get extra footage!

Opposite end of the house

   These are really built just like a conventional stick built home or cabin. They have 2×4 or even 2×6 walls and trusses for the roof just like most homes. They are weather proofed and insulated the same way as well. A number of the manufacturers even have taped and textured sheetrock interior walls. There isn’t much of a difference other than the foundation is actually a large trailer frame. Even this doesn’t have to be a detractor if we look at this from the standpoint of the county property tax savings. This is an RV so it would in my opinion be exempt from real estate taxes. The fact that you wouldn’t be planning on moving it doesn’t change the fact that its an RV, just like if you had a actual motorhome sitting on your lot… Big bonus in my book!

   The feature that had me seriously considering this for long term was that everything is full size. The appliances, including laundry facilities are the same as in a regular home. Bathroom fixtures are the same, full size shower or bathtub. No cheapo entry doors, same doors as at my house… This is a really cool setup…

Front door

   Now, the downside! Everything is full sized but still not allowing more than 399 sq. foot? This means the floor plan, as much as I appreciate what the industry has been able to come up with, is SMALL. I think its viable for a single or even a couple with a good marriage, patience would be required! For a family, not gonna cut it! These would be great for a family as a weekend place or maybe short vacation but everyday, just to small. I think that in a situation like TSHTF, nerves would be frayed already so the cramped accommodations wouldn’t be a help. This is all considering that you are prearranging the whole thing and not just having to settle for whatever you could get because in that case this would be a “something is better than nothing!”

   There are many manufacturers of this style RV, they have been around for many years. Having only more recently made the jump to house like construction from a real boxy like RV style of the past. Still had some cool features but not real attractive to me, like they are now! As with anything built for the consumer market, there are different prices and quality of construction. We looked at the homes made by traditional RV manufactures like Fleetwood, Alpenlite and Breckenridge as well as an independent builder.

   The quality of construction is a glaring difference between the mass produced product over the independant. Although the big guys product looked good and was of course decorated to look like a cabin in the woods… It felt cheaper and lower quality overall. This is just my opinion after seeing what the independant was offering as competition. If one of you has one of these places, I’m sure it is more than servicable but I just preferred the other product.

10 inch I beam trailer frame...

  

   The other drawback with any of these products is the price. Now both are relatively cheap as opposed to buying or building a house but still pricey in my book. The mass market homes we looked at were in the range of $40-50,000 and the independent was between $60-70,000. This did include the move to the site from the factory… Not gonna happen with this Prepper. At least not in the traditional fashion, me paying for them to build me one…

   In a future post I want to discuss the possibilities of an owner built Park Model, you all need to think this over for yourselves and I’m sure each county tax office has there own take on the exemptions they allow for RV’s. Part of self sufficiency is the aspect of having a lifestyle that you can afford on little to no income, at least in my eyes! None of us knows what the future holds and having a paid for home or bug out location that isn’t going to require much tribute be paid to the county government for the privilege of living on our own land is something we all need to keep in mind.

   I ultimately chose a different path for our BOL but this is one of those “Gets ya thinkin” type of products… The photos today are of the independant companies product. I apologize for not being able to get pictures of the inside as I had planned to get their location before they closed last night but was unsuccesful. They are a couple of hours from me and so I can’t just drop in unless I happen to be in the area, like I was yesterday. These picture will give you the overall idea of what I’m talking about when I bring these up!

   I hope you enjoy contemplating this topic, I know I have! As usual I ask you to continue spreading the word about “Prepper Nation”. Until tomorrow…

 

Prepper