this video could be the most controversial video we've put out yet so before you take that step
of buying that brand new RV you're going to want to watch this first we are Charity Ben
Dakota and Trinity we decided we didn't want to wait for a life of adventure so in 2017
we bought our first RV and set off to live a life of travel in the usa
we've visited over 38 states in three years and have many more to go
follow along to learn all the best places to see RV and travel tips and much more
so we are actually bringing this video to you from the city museum in St. Louis Missouri
part of the thing about living the RV life is being able to go different places and
see different things so if you're wondering what's going on we're filming this at the city museum
in St. Louis but we wanted to be able to share this very important information with you
since so many of you and so many others are considering purchasing an RV right now before
that the summer really gets going definitely not safe when there's a ferris wheel on the roof then
you know it's not safe what's the coolest thing to see here what'd you say uh going to cave
cave system in there it's original to the building it's an old shoe factory okay
I can't explain it
there's too much too much too much too much like what would you say this is hazardous I don't know
so how you buy an RV is super important to making sure that that RV dream does not turn
into a nightmare so we're gonna share with you five tips on how to buy an RV the right way
and tip number five is probably the most important so you're going to want to make sure that you
watch until the end to be able to see all five tips so before we get into this video I
definitely have to give you the disclaimer that this reflects our personal values when it comes to
personal finance and that is a personal thing and a personal choice so as we give you these tips
remember this is a reflection of what we feel like is wisdom and what we have learned over the years
it may not be something that you agree with so let's agree to disagree if you choose to not agree
and as you leave your comments below let's just keep the dialogue super respectful and realize
that personal finance is just that a personal decision so as we move forward let's keep that in
mind so tip number one is to buy used the biggest reason that you want to buy used instead of new
is taking that hit on the depreciation so in that first three to five years
rvs can depreciate anywhere from 25 to 40 percent in value in just that very beginning time frame
now let's talk just a little bit about the math here because if you take the average price of a
new fleetwood discovery which it can kind of range depending upon trim level but the average price
is right around 270 thousand dollars now let's assume that it only depreciates just that 25
right we're gonna be super conservative and say super low depreciation rate on
that brand new RV since everybody wants an RV right now that is still a loss in that first
five years of over sixty seven thousand dollars that's over a thousand dollars a month in just
depreciation not even the payment cost on that brand new RV if it's financed that is a ton of
money a month that is essentially being flushed down the toilet in depreciation with buying new
versus buying used now both of the RVs that we have owned are 100 used and we actually bought
both of our RVs right around that 10 to 15 year age range where the percentage of depreciation
had pretty much leveled out by the time we bought it so we didn't take that big hit in depreciation
tip number two is to pay cash for that RV now you probably have seen some things in
the news about a particular RV dealership and people's contracts on their financing that
the numbers basically just didn't add up leaving them with a very large balloon payment that they
were not expecting if you pay cash for an RV you won't ever have to worry about that
let alone the fact that you've tied up so much of your financial resources in monthly payments we
are huge fans and believers of Dave Ramsey's baby steps and one of those of course is to eliminate
all consumer debt except for a mortgage on a house as quickly as possible so we personally
do not think that it is wisdom to go into debt for any type of purchase for anything that has
an engine or wheels because it's something that depreciates you're not gaining value
in that particular thing so definitely plan on paying cash up front don't go into debt
a foreign RV and you're going to set yourself up in a better position financially by doing so
so tip number three don't be afraid to purchase something that maybe needs some renovation this
is actually a great way to buy an RV and really make it your own and make use of that space in a
way that's going to serve you and your family best we'll put a link above to the recent renovation
that we did on our motorhome but what we found was that by doing some renovation we actually
converted a space into a bunk house of sorts for our kids that wasn't that way from the factory but
renovating allowed us to really customize it and make it our own plus our initial cost up front was
very very minimal so the last thing I want to say about renovation is that with our RV what we paid
for it and what we put into it with renovation and a few repairs that we've done over the few
years that we've owned it we are still in it for less than a quarter of the cost of buying now
tip number four start small and keep things affordable even if that means maybe starting
with just a pop-up or a large tent a travel trailer just whatever that means for you
and your family and your budget you can always start small and work up later one thing that we
have found over and over in living the RV life and talking to other RVers that usually your first RV
is just that your first RV and then you get into RV life and you learn what's working and what's
not and then you tend to either upgrade or move to something that's going to fit your needs better so
don't be afraid to start a small get out there kind of figure out
what this is all about and then later on upgrade as you have the resources to do so
so tip number five and this is probably the most important tip to keep your
RV dream from turning into an RV nightmare and that is hire a professional inspector
we cannot stress this enough when we bought our second RV there was actually water damage that we
missed seen just because we didn't know quite all the things to look for even though we felt like
we were pretty equipped to kind of know some of the telltale signs so having an RV professionally
inspected by a professional certified inspector can help make sure that whatever that you're
purchasing doesn't have any problems that just could turn into that nightmare so have a
professional inspector we'll put a link below for some resources on how to find an inspector in your
local area so that you can have that RV inspected before that you follow through on the purchase
now we know this video is definitely maybe not the norm or some kind of unconventional ideas
that not everybody's going to agree with so let us know in the comments below what are your thoughts
on purchasing an RV for cash and not going into debt we would love to hear your thoughts
below in the comments and remember let's keep the dialogue respectful we hope that
you enjoyed this video today brought to you from city museum in St Louis part of
the reason we choose to live the RV life is for wonderful experiences such as this today
so hopefully you put this on your list of places to go as you travel around the us he's stuck I
honestly don't know what to tell you like I don't even know where you are I guess his sister's
going to help them hopefully you know it's a good time for them to figure out how to work together
we want to say a huge thank you to all of our patreon supporters
why we want to say a huge thank you to all of our patreon supporters we are really
appreciating your support we'll have a link for that down below as well if you
would like to see more videos with RV tips and tricks you can check those out right over here
and if you'd like to see more fun places to travel and places you know you're going to want to put
on that travel bucket list check those out right here until next time we will see you on the road