This family traded in their $4,200-a-month mortgage for a $14,000 RV--and they're never going back

[diehardblue]

It was the end of 2019, and Karen and Sylvester Akpan knew they needed to make some changes. The couple owed over $110,000 collectively in student loan debt and felt like they weren’t able to start building wealth for their son, Aiden, now 8.

They were also making a $4,200-per-month mortgage payment for a five-bedroom home in California. It had always been their dream to own their own home, but those monthly payments were starting to feel more like handcuffs than a path to financial freedom.

A trip in an RV earlier in the year gave them the idea to sell their home and try life on the road. They purchased their own RV off of Facebook Marketplace for $14,000 in early 2020 using their savings (they have since been gifted a new RV by Camping World). That dropped their housing costs from $4,200 per month to $0 (they pay around $600 in gas).

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/30/why-this-family-traded-a-5-bedroom-house-in-california-for-an-rv.html?fbclid=IwAR0f7O5mjOQP240BdSoa_TFzTgCfE3XO6j8nS90

[madaboutharry]

2. They may not have.

There is no mention of how much equity they had in their home.

But a $4,200 a month mortgage payment and student loan debt before you even pay the electric bill must have been pretty tough.

[Scrivener7]

4. I don't get why people would buy a 5 bedroom house they can't afford when their family is 3 people.

It's just stuff that needs to be dusted and vacuumed for no reason.

Living on the road seems to work for them, though, so good for them to have made the change.

[viva la]

5. Schooling for kids?

I presume they homeschooling? You need to live somewhere to enroll.

[Wingus Dingus]

6. "Gifted" a new RV by Camping World? Fuck Camping World, when we bought

our motorhome they wouldn't negotiate down a penny off their listed price--they said "it's already discounted". They were the only ones who had what we wanted locally, so we still bought it, but I'll always hate their guts. That said, I could happily live in my motorhome, but with all my pets, it gets pretty crowded.

[Mysterian]

7. Five-bedroom home?

It was stupid to buy such a large home they didn't need.

[multigraincracker]

8. Traded my 2,500 sq ft home in Ohio

for a 1,000 sq ft home on 2 acres in Michigan. Paid $134k cash and have never been happier.

[question everything]

9. And how do they make a living?

This often puzzles my very ordinary middle class mind: most people make a living from paychecks so when I hear about people just taking off - Europe, Africa - this is the first question that comes to mind,

[UpInArms]

10. From the article

It helps that Karen and Sylvester don't clock in to traditional 9 to 5 jobs. Karen was already making money off of her blog, The Mom Trotter. Since they switched to full-time RV life, the family also earns income from creating Instagram and TikTok campaigns for the likes of Camping World, Circle K Stores, Hilton Hotels and Disney, among others.

[question everything]

11. Thanks. Should have read the whole story

Even making a living from blogs is puzzling for me.

Yes, I am a dinosaur

[calguy]

15. There's a gal on YouTube who does this

All she does is take trips and talk about it on YouTube. She has a Patreon account. I went there out of curiosity. She states that she needs $3000 a month to live on. She has Patron donors giving her almost $2500 a month. She gets tens of thousands of views on YouTube so she makes money off that. She's got a wish list of things she wants people to buy for her, and they do.
I was going to look at what she posted on Patreon, I couldn't open any of the content unless I pledged monthly donation to her.

I passed on that. She's not getting a dime of my money.. Looks like good work if you can get it.

[Chainfire]

12. That is such a strange reality to me.

I take great comfort in the stability of my little house in the woods, away from highways and people.

My wife's former boss and her husband retired, sold their home and moved into an RV about five years ago. They have spent the whole time traveling the country and apparently having a ball. Different strokes.

[snowybirdie]

13. I have a relative

who did this. Bought a RV and park it on a son's lot. Sounds great, but another perspective I see is they have no real assets, no savings, and are dependent on others for housing. Still working but pushing 60. A lifetime of working and raising children and there's nothing left for when they get older and need care and help. The woman has MS and the husband has knee and back problems. They get worse? Then what? A dream with nightmares included.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

14. Not too long ago I was reading up on RV life on the internet.

Basically, it's not all it's cracked up to be. The book and movie Nomadland make that clear.

Plus, there's an awful lot of middle ground between a humongous over priced home and living in an RV.

[calguy]

16. I would have to agree

I'd like to see a follow-up story on what they're doing five years from now.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

17. Heck, even one year down the road.

If they're used to a large suburban house with many bedrooms, having five people crammed into an RV won't be fun.

[Retired Engineer Bob]

18. I like coming with ideas like this

My Dad would state he is buying a Harley, just to push Mom’s buttons.

She got smart quickly, and told him to get a 2 million life insurance policy and feel free to buy the bike. Dad never did get his Harley, and was only disappointed that his gig was up.

I told my husband we are going to sell the house, buy a boat. Made it about as far as Dad did.

Bless reasonable spouses, we need them.

[bucolic_frolic]

19. Houses are overrated as a growth asset

It may seem ok for 8-10 years. But start the maintenance, upgrades, roofs, painting, landscaping. Soon the house owns you, the tax man is in on the capital gains until age 55, the housing market fluctuates, the neighbors can improve or decline, the taxes go up. If I had to do it over again .... I wouldn't stay past 15 years if that long. Styles change, materials change. Keep in something modern. Sounds like the RV folks found a way to avoid all of that, but the article is short on what it's costing them, or how they're living, or where they live. I mean they can't stay on the road forever. The kid has to be in school somewhere.