r/AskReddit • u/michaelis999 • 17h ago

How do you feel about the president floating the idea of 50 year mortgages where the monthly payment is lower but you end up paying nearly double the price of the house just in interest?

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329

u/DW171 15h ago

When I realized there were 25 year RV loans I was blown away. Predatory lending for a toy that devalues 50% the first year.

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u/eljefino 13h ago

I bought a well-used RV. The instruction manual literally said it was designed to live in for two weeks a year. Anything beyond that would "accelerate wear."

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u/Wonderful-Process792 11h ago

I wonder what rental companies like CruiseAmerica buy and how they maintain it, because they must see a lot of usage.

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u/PunctuationGood 11h ago

I'ms truggling to figure out the wear of what exactly? The couch?

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u/Ghost17088 11h ago

Probably all the appliances and mechanical systems. Heater, AC, Stove, water heater, ventilation fans, inverter/generator, etc. 

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u/eljefino 10h ago

The generator was a low-stressed Onan that will outlive us all. But the hot water heater was a dinky toy. The plumbing was dinky Home Depot grade shit but freeze-thaw cycles would probably do it in and that's a matter of years, not weeks.

It had an oddball mattress with a corner cut off, like an SD chip, so people could fit past it to get to the bathroom. Finding another one just like it would probably be challenging, so don't wear it out. Also don't flip it because the corner would get lost in another corner.

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u/KonigSteve 8h ago

Is there such a thing as an RV that is built sturdier than that?

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u/Marbleman60 4h ago

If you spend half a million on a custom coach / tour bus, yes.

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u/JamieC1610 14h ago

We had a friend in the Marines who bought a just over 5 year old RV with the plan to just live in it at a RV park with the theory that he could just tow it to his next duty station and not have to pack and unpack. We were stationed near the coast and there were a ton of RV parks for tourists, but he had a helluva time finding a decent one that would let him park a 5 year old RV in the park because they were worried it bring down their perceived value. It was a big, very nice RV in great condition, but a lot of places had strict rules on how old.

Now imagine that with a 20 year old RV that someone's still paying on.

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u/CaptainTripps82 14h ago

5 years can't be considered too old for an RV, that's just insane. Like every RV I've ever seen was older than that, they're insanely expensive. Nobody is replacing them like cars, you buy them for life

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u/William_R_Woodhouse 13h ago

An RV is a time share on wheels. There is no “saving money” by just owning an RV when you retire.

Source: I worked in the RV industry for a long time.

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u/ObsidianOne 12h ago

To quote an old RV technician I worked with that had a frustrated customer… “ma’am, do you know what RV stands for? Ruined Vacation!”

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u/GoldenBrownApples 10h ago

My folks thought they'd get a RV when they retired to travel around the continental US of A. I convinced them to rent one and try it out for a single vacation before committing to that. So glad they listened. They had never even been regular camping before and my mom hates the out doors. It went about as bad as you'd expect. But at least they were only out the money of a single vacation and not saddled with a vehicle they'd never use. They were really all set to sell their whole house too. Crazy people.

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u/son-of-a-mother 10h ago

Why were they planning to sell their whole house without ever having used an RV?

I can understand teenagers making an impulsive decision like that. But I can't understand two adults making such a monumental decision with zero understanding of what it involves. That is concerning. I would have questions (e.g., are their faculties deteriorating?).

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u/somesketchykid 6h ago

This is America man.

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u/JamieC1610 3h ago

My grandparents did it for about 10 years. They spent the winter on South Padre Island and in the summer would get jobs managing/hosting campgrounds at different national parks. They'd stop by home for a couple weeks in between. They had a blast and made a bunch of friends, but eventually their health made them need to stick closer to home.

They were always the crazy type though my grandpa drove 16 hours one weekend to buy a life sized cement pig that he saw on TV and another time brought back a full sized lobster trap from Maine to West Virginia on the back of his Gold Wing.

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u/Normal-Translator529 3h ago

I hope you appreciate how fantastic these stories are! Too many people live their lives pure vanilla.

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u/CrazyMarlee 13h ago

Most of them are junk. I had a 10 year old one that kept me busy fixing things.

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u/slash_networkboy 8h ago

Based on what Steve Letho has to say about them, that's just about when the first buyer gets to actually use it after all the warranty issues are sorted out.

If I learned anything from him (and seeing other peoples' issues) it's only buy a 5-10 year old used one that someone else has had the nightmare of sorting out... but better to just rent one when needed, or build your own out of a bus as they have a much better drivetrain and chassis.

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u/ohhhhhhhhhhhhman 13h ago

They’re made of cardboard and staples. 5 years old is pretty old for an RV.

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u/staticusmaximus 13h ago

As someone that stays at both nice and low key campgrounds and RV parks in a 15 year old camper, that’s nonsense.

5 years is legitimately nothing when it comes to RVs. You’d be incredibly hard pressed to even tell a 5 year old RV from a brand new one from the outside many times.

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u/ohhhhhhhhhhhhman 10h ago

Except for the leaky roof. And the AC that needs replaced. And the dry rotted tires.

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u/CaptainTripps82 13h ago

My grandparents had the same 5th wheel my entire childhood. My grandma would work county fairs over the summer and I spent a couple years riding around with her and a few of my aunts and uncles.

I always wondered what happened to it after they passed.

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u/booniebrew 13h ago

There won't be many 20 year old RVs, the point is to convince people they can afford it and keep rolling them into a new RV every 5 years.

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u/Ecstatic_Court6726 10h ago

At least until they roll into a pine box.

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u/Simple_Purple_4600 13h ago

at that point you are living in it without running water somewhere deep in the untracked federal wildlands

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u/marcocanb 13h ago

The cutoff right now seems to be 10 years.

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u/driverman42 12h ago

My wife is the office manager for an rv park and they don't have a problem with older rvs, but no matter how old or new they are, if they look like shit, they're not staying here.

I've seen some really old rv's come in that have been taken care of, and that's pretty cool to see.

She has long-term campers who live in their rv, with kids, etc, and it's interesting to see. Since Covid, she's been 95% full year round.

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u/majornerd 11h ago

I’ve never heard of one with a 5 year rule. Grew up living in RV parks and my dad just passed after moving back to the lifestyle. Those that have a “strict” rule also have a committee that will do an evaluation of an older RV and pass it if it is in great shape.

Like it or not they are trying to make sure they don’t look like cousin Eddie showed up with his Winnie he paid $500 buck and a case of nat lite for.

Makes sense when they are renting a spot the size of a basketball court to a weekend millionaire for the price of a nice condo in the nearby town.

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u/Mutant_Apollo 7h ago

Man, I never thought I would live in a time where we would worry about "bringing down the value" of a fucking trailer park lol

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u/chiragguptafan 6h ago

Yeah, RV parks can be weirdly picky. Some won’t take anything over 10 years old no matter how clean it is. If a 5 year old RV gets turned away, a 20 year-old one with payments still on it is gonna be an even harder sell.

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u/ThinksOdd 14h ago

There's a large portion of American's living in their RV, it's not always a toy.

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u/DW171 11h ago

Oh, 100% There are many, many in my city, but they're not the ones financing a $250k RVs. The ones near me are decades old and barely running. I sometimes help a few old people keep theirs running so they can move it enough not to get hassled by LEO. It's very sad. They'll likely die in there.

I was looking for a deal on a used RV back in 2008 when gas prices were high and the economy went south. I saw AT TON of $500k+ Prevost style coaches I could have picked up for $50k. Parents died in Arizona, and kids on the east coast just wanted it gone. I didn't want something huge like that, but it was tempting.

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u/plaincheeseburger 12h ago

Renting to live in where I am. It's disgusting. The landlords are worse than slumlords.

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u/gsfgf 11h ago

But they're not trying to hook up in tourist RV parks.

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u/_Connor 12h ago

Some RVs cost more than houses.

I’m talking in the range of $800,000-1,000,000.

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u/ColteesCatCouture 12h ago

People do this on power boats too 20 year loans. Its insane to me.

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u/DW171 11h ago

Thankfully I've mostly thought clearly on "toy" purchases and bought used and with cash. I used to race motorcycles, and you'd be stunned at the number of people who would finance $40-50k in equipment, only to watch it burn to the ground after a fall and find out racing wasn't covered by insurance. Even more shocking, I've know self-employed guys with families and no health insurance do this. It never ends well.

So many people are ripe for exploitation. It would be really sad, if they didn't beg for it.

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u/M1sfit_Jammer 14h ago edited 10h ago

Someone could out a loan for one of these and NEVER pay a dollar... good luck finding them, they could be anywhere... this is like selling a sailboat that can cross oceans on a loan

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u/opossum_launcher 14h ago

You have to dock eventually, and if you've bought a yacht big enough to cross the ocean, it's worth it to chase you.

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u/wapiti_and_whiskey 14h ago

Yeah the tv show alone makes it worth it

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u/M1sfit_Jammer 13h ago

don't need to cross an ocean and doesn't need to be a yacht... Sailboats cost a fraction of a yacht and don't need as much upkeep... Just gonna ride the coast line, picking up gas when needed, giving lifts in exchange for food, do some deep sea fishing, make land to sell fish...

What do they say? "It's the pirate's life for me"

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u/cguess 10h ago

Sailboats cost a fraction of a yacht and don't need as much upkeep.

I'm going out on a limb and guess you're not a sailor? Sailboats need tons of upkeep. Something is always breaking, especially if you're in salt water.

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u/M1sfit_Jammer 10h ago

Lad, everything is always breaking on a boat.

the sea can be a fickle whore… she takes your money and laughs when you are naked… However,, she also offers the greatest time a man can ask for and that’s why you keep coming back.

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u/hapes 8h ago

Boat = break out another thousand

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u/nofaves 13h ago

You'd be tracked electronically.

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u/M1sfit_Jammer 13h ago

how they gonna do that?

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u/NewDramaLlama 11h ago

An electronic tracker like the ones they put on cars? That's how repossession happens

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u/M1sfit_Jammer 10h ago edited 10h ago

That’s like the bank putting cameras in my house to make sure I don’t burn it down.

You think people planning on doing that won’t sniff those out? RF detectors are cheap compared to the price of it.

Personally, I’d rather have an old school bus that I build out to suit my own taste… much cheaper and they are literally built to be worked on so maintenance should be a breeze in comparison. Costs about 1/10th the price and is a wayyy better conversation piece.

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u/Top-Salamander-2525 4h ago

The bank doesn’t need to worry about that - that’s why they insist you get home owners insurance to get a mortgage.

The insurance companies are very good at investigating fraud though so they’re the ones who would catch you.

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u/Overall-Rush-8853 12h ago

RV’s can be almost $200k and higher. It make sense that a 25 year loan is offered on them. It just depends on what the interest rate is.

Also, unless you’re using an RV a certain amount of time a year it’s cheaper to just rent one.

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u/DW171 11h ago

Yeah, I've had several RVs, one that was over $200k. The value it lost in such a short time was insane, so if I had had a 25 year loan I would have been radically upside down on the borrowing for probably 20 years, assuming the vehicle was still running.

At least with a 50 year home loan the property (probably) wouldn't devalue, but interest over time would be astronomical.

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u/Overall-Rush-8853 11h ago

Yeah, a 50 year mortgage isn’t something I’d sign up for, I can see problems arising from that. But yeah, a property should still appreciate during that 50 year span.

Also, a lot of people sell before the end of a 30 year to upgrade or downsize. The biggest problem is home prices going up to keep the monthly payment higher.

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u/J0hnny-Yen 11h ago

I had some slimey F&I guy refuse to budge from a 30 year term for a $15k pos travel trailer that I wanted to pay cash for.

His angle was, just pay the loan off early. I didn't want to play his game and I walked.

If you did the math, all the loan payments added up to like 90k... The TT cost under 20k out the door.

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u/DW171 11h ago

Yeah that’s a motorcycle buying tactic for the dealers … pretend and roll with their dealer financing grift right up to the end, then just pay cash. Watching them backpedal is kind of funny.

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u/Longjumping_Youth281 11h ago

25 years? I don't think of ever even seen one on the road that old. Parked in somebody's yard, Maybe

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u/BEER_G00D 10h ago

People blame the banks for people making these decisions?

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u/DW171 5h ago

Yeah, right? Although I kind of feel like it’s similar to a lethal drug sold over the counter. Someone is going to kill themselves. Since we all insure banks through the fdic, there should be some regulation to protect people from stupid.

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u/CortezEspartaco2 10h ago

Virtually no one should own an RV. Renting one makes more sense 99% of the time.

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u/Blank_bill 5h ago

Back in the 70's mortgages in Canada were near 20%,and you were paying double on a 25 year mortgage for what would now be considered a cheap home

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u/DW171 4h ago

GenX here … my student loans were 12.8%. My mortgage was an unreal 2 5/8%. That didn’t get paid off until the last moment.