{"id":171,"date":"2022-07-26T10:33:53","date_gmt":"2022-07-26T10:33:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/listedmoneypit.co.uk\/?p=171"},"modified":"2023-01-09T14:01:59","modified_gmt":"2023-01-09T14:01:59","slug":"to-caravan-or-not-to-caravan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/listedmoneypit.co.uk\/?p=171","title":{"rendered":"To Caravan Or Not To Caravan"},"content":{"rendered":"

To Caravan or not to Caravan?<\/strong><\/p>\n

First up on the project plan for all self-builders is: where do we live while we get our dream home built?\u00a0\u00a0 Renting local is ideal, but factoring the monthly cost of a project which will inevitably overrun, conjures up a figure that will probably pay for the Kitchen, or the tennis court, whatever.<\/p>\n

Move in with parents?\u00a0 They\u2019ll always accommodate, especially if grandkids are involved.\u00a0 Whether they will after fourteen months when it was supposed to be six, is another matter!\u00a0\u00a0 And their dining-table taken over by drawings, plans and paperwork, to say nothing of the kid\u2019s homework and footie kit.\u00a0 You might even be including them in your grand scheme:\u00a0 the Mrs & me have done this twice.\u00a0 Your parent\u2019s vision might not be the same as yours; \u00a0I can confirm that ours wasn\u2019t, twice!\u00a0 \u00a0I\u2019ll summarise by saying that a place of retreat is essential.<\/p>\n

That might be a caravan.\u00a0 Or Mobile Home, to be posh.\u00a0 So, back to the budget.<\/p>\n

There are firms out there that will sell you one and guarantee to buy it back after a given period of time.\u00a0 I\u2019ll save whole paragraphs here by just saying: don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Not if you want a reliable figure in your costings, anyway.<\/p>\n

Going independent and buying one I\u2019ve found to be the best option, bearing in mind shifting a mobile home will involve you with the Shifting Caravans Mafia.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m determined that there is a cartel exists whereby the Mobile Home, or Park Home as they brand them nowadays, but basically, the caravan, is worthless.\u00a0 The real dough comes from siting them.\u00a0 You could be forgiven for thinking that you have Buzz Aldrin on your team, the precision they will utilise to land your caravan on the most unholy and unforgiving terrain known to man.<\/p>\n

Seeing them operate, I will give them their due on the advice that a 34ft would not get in, but a 32ft would.\u00a0 \u00a0Other than that, they\u2019ll take yer money and run.<\/p>\n

Our first sortie into living on site was in 1982.\u00a0 No water, no electric, no sewers, our house sold etcetera and the kids to check into the village school. Forgot to say no money.\u00a0 Or money to spare.\u00a0 An advert in the Birmingham Evening Mail simply stated \u201cThree 5-berth caravans for sale.\u00a0 Buyer removes.\u00a0 No reasonable offer refused.\u201d\u00a0 I offered him \u00a350.\u00a0 He said no, \u00a340.\u00a0 I paid him, and he gave my 4 year-old lad one of the \u00a320 notes back. \u201cFor luck.\u201d\u00a0 As I left, he begged me to take all three within the deal.\u00a0 This gives you an idea of their condition.<\/p>\n

The seller, a builder, had housed his workforce in them for a long-term job away from home.\u00a0 Needless to say, we needed new mattresses.\u00a0 And needless to say, the new ones were damp and mildewed within weeks.\u00a0 When the wind blew, the walls billowed out.\u00a0 16 months later we sold it for \u00a335 to a scrap merchant.<\/p>\n

A key consideration is your kids.\u00a0 Sixteen months in a caravan with young Primary-schoolers is a doddle compared to the same with teenagers.\u00a0 To the little \u2018uns, it\u2019s an adventure and you do all the work for them anyway; whereas \u201cYoof\u201d need everyone\u2019s space and still expect a clean tee shirt.<\/p>\n

Buy the best you can afford and bear in mind you will likely give it away.\u00a0 Any positive scenario becomes a bonus.\u00a0 And make sure your landscaping does not landlock it into a permanent fixture!<\/p>\n

Being on site has obvious advantages, especially when you\u2019ve a day job to pay for it all.\u00a0 But let your contractors know from the start that it\u2019s your home for now, and NOT the Site Office.\u00a0 That way, you can avoid a hairy-arsed lorry driver copping an eyeful of your Mrs in her favourite nighty, washing her hair, or worse, and the inevitable bollockings as I regularly got.\u00a0 If you are intending to do some of the work yourself, then an evening\u2019s graft extends until you are knackered and ready for bed with a \u2018van on site.\u00a0 Wellies off and ni-night!<\/p>\n

Go as local as you can for your caravan.\u00a0 Many are available cheap off coastal caravan sites, but the distance whacks up mighty transport costs.<\/p>\n

Three times we have said the famous \u201cnever again.\u201d\u00a0 For our latest (and final!) renegue on this promise, we went to a professional outfit 30 miles away, and bought from their \u201cbargain basement.\u201d\u00a0 Carpets were changed, and a guarantee issued for the serviced gas appliances and electricity.\u00a0 It arrived spotless, and with all certificates for gas & electric, appliances, etcetera.<\/p>\n

Compare this to the time I electrocuted myself in my vest & pants, by standing in a puddle, stuffing a slice of bread into a toaster that had soaked up a dripping roof-leak all night.\u00a0 What do you expect for forty quid?\u00a0 Apart from electrocution, and a drop-down bed that needs two beer-crates; \u00a0that\u2019s what.<\/p>\n

Do the sums, and compare with renting property for the duration or longer.\u00a0 It\u2019s a no-brainer that is not apparent until your schedule runs over.\u00a0 For planning and conservation issues, in two of our projects the delay exceeded ten months, and Councils don\u2019t give a flying fart for the pressure of financial arrangements.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re on a bridging loan dependent on the sale & value of your house, and you have such delays, the penalties are right where it hurts.<\/p>\n

With a \u2018van, the delay won\u2019t cost you a penny more.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Just your sanity.<\/p>\n

Busby<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To Caravan or not to Caravan? First up on the project plan for all self-builders is: where do we live while we get our dream home built?\u00a0\u00a0 Renting local is ideal, but factoring the monthly cost of a project which will inevitably overrun, conjures up a figure that will probably pay for the Kitchen, or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":172,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-listed-building"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/listedmoneypit.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/listedmoneypit.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/listedmoneypit.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/listedmoneypit.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/listedmoneypit.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=171"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/listedmoneypit.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":180,"href":"https:\/\/listedmoneypit.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171\/revisions\/180"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/listedmoneypit.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/listedmoneypit.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/listedmoneypit.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/listedmoneypit.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}