Selling it All to Full-Time RV

Getting the Most from Everything We Owned

Words and photos by Jason Betzing

Perhaps the most daunting, least fun of all the tasks when we were preparing to "Full-Time RV" was getting rid of almost everything we owned. Liquidating the stuff we had accumulated over our 40 plus years was no small task. Being pretty stoic, I have very little emotional attachment to material goods, however, sifting through the literal truckloads of stuff I'd kept over the years revealed I was at some point, a "collector of things" (pronounced "hoarder"). It wasn't to the point I needed to be on a reality TV show, but the sheer amount of possessions astounded me. It was easier for me than my poor wife. While I had a blasé, "throw it all away" attitude, her deciding which items to keep was a wrenching emotional exercise akin to being forced to pick her favourite child. We were on opposite ends of the spectrum.

It helps to be in the right frame of mind before starting this task. There is real money to be made if you take the time and put in the effort. However, it's also important to have realistic expectations when selling it all. Many of us attach emotional values to things and thus we might not get the cash equal to what we "feel" like our things are worth. We had to remind ourselves that an item is only worth what someone will pay for it. You may feel like your favourite armchair (from the 1980's) is priceless. You rationalize, "I watched the Detroit Tigers win the World Series in ‘84 while sitting in that chair!" Sorry buddy, it's worth $20 at best.

Why We Sold it All

Owning a home and everything associated with homeownership no longer appealed to us or made financial sense. Having been retired for almost four years, the kids were all grown and moved out so it was two of us living in a four-bedroom house. It began to feel like an anchor around our neck, rather than a roof over our head. After several cross- country RV trips, it was clear that the "Full-time RV Life" was the life for us. It allowed us the flexibility and freedom we were looking for. We quickly realized our stuff was an obstacle blocking the path to get where we wanted to be.

For us, the task of downsizing was centered on making as much money as we could. A significant amount of money was spent on all these things and we reasoned, it would be smart to try and recoup some of our hard-earned money for our next adventure. A specific goal makes the hard work and effort more rewarding and our agreed-upon mission was to make enough cash to buy the truck for hauling or RV. Whether out of necessity or to fund some new adventure, focus on the "why" of selling it all, to stay focused on the big picture. I'm happy to report that our mission was accomplished! We ended up buying a loaded 2011 Ford F-350 dually for $27k (USD), paid in cash from stuff we sold.

Less House + Less Stuff = More Freedom!

Downsizing to travel abroad in an RV either full-time or seasonally is only one reason folks decide to downsize. Moving to a smaller home could make sense if you'll be RV- ing only part-time. Moving to a new location can allow you to harvest the equity from your home while buying a smaller, more utilitarian home for cash; maybe with some leftover to purchase your RV or invest. A smaller house, in a less expensive area, can net huge savings in bills like utilities, taxes, and insurance.

Size of RV relative to stuff

Consider what you'll be able to fit in your RV when deciding what stays. If you already have your RV, this makes it much easier. We wanted to buy our RV with cash from selling our house to remain debt-free. This meant we didn't have our RV while we were making "keep or sell" decisions and ended up selling a little more than we should have. But, if you have an idea of the size of your next living arrangement, you can at least estimate how much stuff you'll want to take with you.

Storage or No Storage?

This is a highly personal decision. If you're full-time RVing, but just can't bear the thought of selling it all, storage is a middle ground. When full-time RV-ing without a home base, you have to decide whether you will keep stuff such as heirlooms and items of importance, but won't fit on your RV. We talked about this quite a bit but in the end, we decided not to put anything in storage and here's why:

  1. If something is so important to you that you must have it, does it make sense to put it in storage to disappear for possibly years?
  2. When we did the research, we found the smallest storage units near family would cost $40-$60 (USD) per month or between $480-$720 (USD) per year. That's money that could be saved or used for more travel!
  3. To us, keeping heirlooms stored away isn't really honouring them, and not having the items did not diminish the memories we had. Why not let someone else enjoy them?

Actionable Steps to Get Started

Trash:

Some stuff is simply junk. Identify these broken or worthless items. Either recycle, scrap or throw them into the trash to make some quick progress.

Storage:

  1. If you are going to store items, decide which items you'll be putting in storage to determine what size storage unit you'll need.
  2. Get quotes for the size storage unit and consider how much it will cost to keep these items per year and make sure you're comfortable with the cost.
  3. Visit the storage companies you are considering to ensure they meet your standards.

Giving:

  1. Look at which items you'll pass on to family and have them come get the items.
  2. Choose where you'll donate items that don't sell. We chose a local thrift store benefitting a homeless shelter.

Selling:

  1. Decide which items will be sold.
  2. Decide what method you will use to sell each item.
  3. Choose a starting point and get to work. We each started in a different place — me in my workshop, my wife in her craft room.

Ways to sell and our opinion:

Rummage sales and yard sales

A rummage sale is where buyers expect a good deal, which probably won't net you the most profit. In addition, running a yard sale takes a lot of prep time. A large estate sale would have required both of us to be on hand from open to close. We didn't utilize this way at all.

Craigslist/Facebook

This is a great way to sell larger items that you know the value of and feel like you can get at least what the items are worth. Writing a detailed listing and taking photos of each item is time consuming, (unless you're making a decent amount), then once each item is sold, you have to follow-up.

People are going to contact you at all hours wanting more info or asking about things already clearly listed. They'll have odd requests, such as wanting to trade a live mule and one new tractor tire for the watch you're selling. That being said we sold a good deal of large items such as vehicles and our first fifth wheel and some farm implements using Craigslist. We priced the items slightly above what we actually wanted for negotiating room, and we did well. There can be an extra element of danger when meeting strangers, so always make sure it's in a public place you are familiar with. Some police stations even have designated meeting places that are well lit and monitored.

Online Auction

This was our favourite option because it freed up the most time.

There are two glaring problems when using an online auction while trying to maximize profits:

First, you're paying a percentage of your profits to the auction house.

Secondly, you only make what someone is willing to pay, so there's a chance your items will go for much less than they are worth.

A written description is needed for each item. This is time-consuming, but at the same time, you can be sure the item is accurately described.

The online auction house we used (1Bid.us) handled all of the photos and did an amazing job. To see a standard way they operate, check out their Seller Page. Remember their goal is the same as yours, the more you make, the more they make. They have a larger presence and will reach far more customers than a garage sale. At our auction house, unsold items are picked up, or they're either grouped into a lot by the auction house, donated to a local charity or thrown away.

Specialists

Some items should be taken to places that specialize in the items you're selling. This may include valuable collections and items like antiques, coins, comic books. and classic cars. I took my antique book collection to a bookstore who specialized in reselling.

Hints to Sell for the most profit

Test each item and mention whether it works or not.

Take the time to clean each item, make them attractive and presentable.

Take the time to capture good photos. Bad photos quickly turn buyers away.

If the item is a specific model number, list it.

For multiple smaller items, consider selling them as a lot. For instance, my wife had a bunch of craft items and instead of selling them one by one, she grouped them by craft such as needlecraft, fiber arts, and scrapbooking.

Tools to Make it Easier

Here are a few things we kept on hand which proved invaluable and made the process easier:

  • Boxes and plastic totes
  • Packing tape gun
  • Stretch wrap roll
  • Clipboard with paper and pen
  • Permanent Marker (Box Labeling)
  • Gallon and Quart ziplock bags for smaller items
  • Index cards to write item descriptions on and either tape to the item or place in ziplock with the item.

The process of "Selling it All" took us about a year and we accomplished it while also preparing the house to list for sale. The key to coming out on the other side intact was teamwork and communicating clear goals. Having clearly defined goals made the process a bit more tolerable. We constantly talked about how excited we were, where we would go and how the money we made would get us one step closer to the RV lifestyle and the freedom we ached for.

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Jason Betzing

We clearly didn’t downsize enough! Selling almost everything you own is no easy task, but working together and communicating helps. Knowing how much space your RV has makes it easier when it’s time to load out the RV.

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2 of 3

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Jason Betzing

We clearly didn’t downsize enough! Selling almost everything you own is no easy task, but working together and communicating helps. Knowing how much space your RV has makes it easier when it’s time to load out the RV.

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3 of 3

Selling it All-9029 copy.jpg

Jason Betzing

We clearly didn’t downsize enough! Selling almost everything you own is no easy task, but working together and communicating helps. Knowing how much space your RV has makes it easier when it’s time to load out the RV.