With the incredibly high cost of living in British Columbia it had become clear that my husband and I would not be in a position to buy property anytime soon. We were renting a nice condo on the ocean and we loved it; however, our landlords informed us that they would soon be listing their condo for sale. This was the second time this had happened to us with each time facing much higher rents than the previous year.
My work keeps me up-to-date on both the real estate and the rental markets so I saw how drastically the rental market had increased in the last year since we had moved into the latest condo. We were sad and extremely stressed because not only were the rental prices in our city some of the highest in Canada, but there was also a shortage of rental units available; and even less availability when you have a pet you refuse to part with.
At work one day, one of the landlords I work with informed me that within 48 hours of listing his rental property on Craigslist he had received more than 700 inquiries from potential tenants. It was that conversation that changed the course of my life and eventually my husband’s life forever! I had instantly decided that I would no longer pay someone else’s mortgage only to be told they would be selling their space a year later. I just had to figure out how we would do it and come up with a plan.
My husband and I had already agreed that our retirement plan is to buy an RV to live in full-time so we could forever chase the good weather and beautiful, sunny beaches. However, retirement is still in the distant future and we both work full-time. I knew my husband would not want to camp out in the winter months, despite living in the warmest climate in Canada. Believe it or not, it does still get pretty cold here in the winter months.
One day in November, while out for a walk with my husband, I noticed an RV Resort that was open and packed with people staying in their RVs. Seeing this lead me to consider the idea that perhaps full-time RV living might not be so bad; even if we couldn’t escape the winter months. After-all, these people seemed happy with RV living in the winter so it couldn’t be that bad, right? So, I started to research RVs and RV Resorts to see if we could make it work.
I just had to convince my husband
When I presented the idea of full-time RV living to my husband, he immediately rejected the idea as he didn’t want to move into a “camping trailer” full-time. After humoring me and allowing me to drag him to a few RV sales lots to see for himself, he began to slowly change his mind. Some of the RVs were more like high-end condos on wheels instead of in squished, crowded buildings.
After speaking with some local RV resort staff in and around our local area, we were shocked to learn the resorts were all fully booked in November! We were told we would have to add our names to a waitlist to secure a lot. This both discouraged me and excited me! I was discouraged because I was expecting the RV lots to be near-empty considering it was November and it would only get colder; but excited because I knew then, without a doubt, that we could live in an RV and survive the winter!
Now just to secure an RV Resort Park pad
Once we had visited a few different RV resorts and received advice from each of them on how to ensure we would always have a place to park our RV in and/or around our city, we felt confident that full-time RV living would work for us. We were fortunate because our landlords had not yet listed the condo for sale, so time was on our side. We were able to wait for a resort pad to become available before giving our notice to move out. This provided a slower transition from condo to RV living which was huge in our decision-making process.
We managed to find the perfect RV with two bedrooms and two full bathrooms as well as the perfect RV Resort. Just the rent at the condo was higher than what we currently pay all-in, living in an RV. We have a beautiful RV that we love and have the perfect spot at an RV Resort. The resort has a lot of wonderful amenities and it’s only a short walk to get to the beach. We knew we made the right decision! Though, we would still have a lot to learn about RVing in British Columbia. But I’ll leave those stories are for another day…
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