Like many of you, I am addicted to HGTV shows. I love House Hunters, Love it or List it or Beach Front Bargain Hunt. I get the glazed over stare watching these shows and daydream of starring in an episode (Call me Joanna and Chip – I love shiplap!). Little did I know, I would be starring in my very own edition of RV House Hunters – the RV edition.
The series is new and so far only has a couple viewers – John and my poor in-laws whom I drag around to RV dealerships and RV shows. (We are terrible about documenting our new “series” but we will get better!)
We don’t fit in
We know we are not normal – we just don’t fit in. Trying going to a dinner party with us! People our age don’t have kids, and couples with 2-year-olds weren’t born when the first BH90210 series aired! We are an older-ish (42 & 57) couple with small children, expendable income and ability to buy an RV debt-free. We are having a huge problem hunting for the right RV for us. We essentially need a 2-bedroom, 2 baths (at least 1.5 bath) RV, but we are unwilling to compromise on any features as this will be our extended stay, full-time living home for the next two years.
Dang Kids make it hard to shop!
Our problem lies as most RV manufactures do carry high-end luxury units (Montana, Redwood, DRV Suites, Ceder Creek or KZ Durango), but don’t stock floor plans conducive to a family. These high-end units are gorgeous and perfect for just a couple (of old farts – hee-hee) but don’t have a place to house any children. You see, we need a permanent bed for the kiddos…. with a door!
We don’t like Mid-Bunk floor plans as most of these floor plans don’t contain a second bathroom and shorten the ceiling height of the mid-bunk with an open loft overhead. I don’t want the kids sleeping on a couch sofa bed I have to make every day.
And sleeping on a loft without a door precludes romantic evenings with the hubby. You see, we won’t have the luxury of babysitters on the road the next couple of years, so date nights are confined to the rig (don’t come of knocking if this RV is rocking!), meaning the kids need a door for their privacy and ours.
Some of the rear bunkhouse floor plans we have seen RV House Hunting, are very nice and could work for us, but have a lower price point and lack features like full body paint (it’s shiny and lasts longer), hydraulic levelers or slides (push of a button technology), lack storage space, doesn’t have washer/dryer hook to just name a few missing features. You see, we are downsizing from our beautiful home with all the bells and whistles, and we would like to find similar features in an RV… a 400 sq. ft. dream home.
RV House Hunting the most family-friendly RV floorplans are priced for the family to use as weekend getaways and not intended for full-time living. We don’t want to live in a “camping trailer”. We want to live in an RV that feels like our home, so details like touches and finishes matter to us! Kids can be destructive and we need quality and craftsmanship to last.
We can do it!
We will be towing with a 2020 Ford F-350 4×4 Dually with a fifth-wheel hitch with a towing capacity of 31,300 lbs. (more on the truck specs later), so the capability of our vehicle isn’t an issue for us.
We have considered custom manufacturers such as SpaceCraft or New Horizon, but these get out of our budget range quickly ($200K+), not to mention tow capacity (most use a semi-truck), so we would like to find a manufactured unit to fit our needs. (Side note: more needs to be said about custom builds, they are truly tiny homes and magnificent! I’m so in love with custom builds, but John reminded me I don’t have a caviar budget for our RV House Hunting)
We are willing to specialty order our rig (getting the lingo down!) to be delivered to the dealer and pay full MSRP. We are planning at least a 12-week lead time and have set a target goal date to leave by March of 2020. While our budget isn’t limitless (no caviar but maybe I can sneak in some champagne?), we have a healthy budget and willing to spend it on the right trailer.
“Must-haves” and “Like to have”
| Must-haves: – Fifth-wheel RV trailer (no class-A motor homes or bumper pulls) – 2 bedrooms (dedicated sleeping space for the twins, must have a door!) – At least 1.5 bathrooms – Washer/dryer hookup – kids are messy! – Generator prep – better to have done from the factory than aftermarket – Large “basement” – undercarriage storage for stuff – Nice kitchen with storage – at least 3 burners stove, oven, and micro – Dining table/booth – sit down family dinners are a must! – Full-size residential fridge – Real wood cabinets – looking for sturdiness – 2.5 – 3-inch sidewalls with insulation – looking for all seasons unit – Solid step entrance – better for kids, dogs and clumsy peeps like me! – 101″ wide – extra 4 or 5 inches add up to extra sq. ft. – Full-Time Living/Extended stay warranty |
| Like to have: – Prefer queen bed in master (we like to cuddle and gives more space) – Full shower with glass door – can’t stand shower curtain – Porcelain RV toilets – Dare I dream of a dishwasher?!? – 12-gallon quick recovery or instant water heater – Full body automotive paint – lasts much longer than gel coat – Ladder on back – to inspect the roof and AC units – Living room TV pops up to leave room for another window for light – Push-button leveling and slide opener – Slide awning cover – keeps leaves from catching in your slide – Second door entrance – Outside kitchen – Grill hook-up – Lighter interiors – makes the space feel bigger – Hamper and trash can storage – where do you put these? – Whisper quiet air conditioner – Pantry |
I won’t bore you with more specs and nerdy stuff like fresh, black, and grey water tank capacity, HVAC systems or wiring needs (nerd alert – future post coming). Length and width aren’t an issue for us either as we have the vehicle to tow.
We get it – reduce complexity
Just to give you a little background, my husband and I both worked for Ford Motor Company for a combined 45 years. I was a product and brand manager for several vehicle lines and launched the Ford Fiesta. I tell you all this to say, we are very educated consumers and understand the demands and capability of manufacturers. I used to create the brochures, websites and order guides for some of our vehicle lines (it made my eyes cross). I understand buildable order combinations and the need to keep manufacturing costs low. If a customer ever wrote in and asked us to build the impossible, we had to stick to the order guide…. but on some very rare occasions, we were able to make the impossible possible.
I know our family is a niche of a niche… we are basically looking for a unicorn – a luxury minivan. There is no such thing as a luxury minivan as there isn’t a big enough market of consumers demanding the product. But you do see a lot of soccer moms driving around in full-size Lincoln or Cadillac SUVs. We want the luxury RV with space for our kids!
What we like so far:
Grand Design Solitude comes close to our checklist in RV House Hunting dream! We love the new 3950BH S-Class but quickly learned the “S” in “S-Class” stands for “second class citizen” as it lacks some high-end finishes. You go down the list of options and on the S-Class you are not allowed to order the Solitude options like full body paint, frameless tinted windows, hydraulic auto-leveling, dishwasher prep, extra lighting, real backsplash tile, 12-gallon water heater, and hidden pop-up storage.
Jayco’s North Point 379DBFS is a good option, but when you compare it to the Jayco Pinnacle, which doesn’t offer a bunkhouse floorplan, it just doesn’t measure up for the long haul and durability for living full-time – in fact, only the Pinnacle has a full-time living warranty.
We have thought about toy haulers on our RV House Hunting trip too. A toy hauler is an RV with space in the back for a garage to put toys like a classic car, ATV or Race Car. The garage normally has sleeping options, but it is not set up for a permanent occupant. Pinterest is full of ideas of ways to customize this garage space to make it into an office or bedroom. (Just not sure, how DIY we want to get.) Some toy haulers allow the garage door to be used as a patio, instantly creating more living space. Let’s save the subject of toy haulers and our shopping experiences for a later date.
Open Letter to RV makers
I have sent emails, filled out the website contact us forms, sent 12 snail-mail letters to CEO’s and called several RV manufacturers to ask: Is there an RV manufacturer willing to make a luxury bunkhouse for our family? I anxiously wait for a reply, but in the meantime, we will keep RV House Hunting and looking as BRIGHT DAIS ARE AHEAD!
We want to hear from you – comment below!
What has been your experience looking for an RV? If you aren’t in the RV market, what is something you are you trying to find that doesn’t seem to exist?