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I’M TYPICALLY FRUGAL and financially cautious. But this past January, I became reckless. No, it wasn’t love, at least not the ordinary kind. Rather, I saw a photograph and made an offer of $48,000 on a “park unit” located 1,000 miles from home.
Park unit, I learned, is a technical term for a variant of what I’d call a mobile home. My first task was to look up the term, so I’d know what I was offering to buy. For those readers who enjoy reading government standards definitions, these constructions are governed by ANSI standard A119.5.
This manmade object is mobile in name only. It has been “parked” inside an age-restricted recreational vehicle resort in Arizona for nearly 40 years. The resort rents space by the day, month or year to vehicles that move (RVs) and those that don’t (park units and manufactured homes). Until I arrived at the beginning of March, I knew its particulars only through pictures and a 33-page report of an inspector I’d hired. I knew little about its construction or its series of prior owners and occupants.
As a result of my impetuousness, I’ve added to my personal possessions an immobile vehicle, with an assessed value of about $25,000 per the Pima County Treasurer’s Office and which sits on a tiny patch of rented land over which I enjoy limited control. In purchasing the park unit, I also acquired an attached porch and laundry, a back patio with landscaped garden, a covered driveway and a large storage shed. The unit came “fully furnished,” meaning a houseful of secondhand appliances and discarded possessions, including a golf cart. This drove the difference between my purchase price and the unit’s assessed value.
I have a rough estimate of forward expenses for this and the coming years of ownership, expenses that I’ll be able to cover without trouble. Still, new costs and uncertainty have come my way, despite my focus on financial simplification over the past year. Why take this plunge? It’s a fair question.
My youngest turned age 18 and is off finding his future. My twins are establishing themselves in their young adult lives. Thanks to good cellular coverage and a family phone plan, we’re able to keep tabs on one another. I have few expectations, responsibilities or demands on my time. I’m still in the company of the family dog, so it’s not a complete break with the past.
When my spouse died five years ago, I soldiered on as a single parent and breadwinner, before taking early retirement. Now that those roles have been unwound, I’m reinventing myself. I don’t know the future, though many things are evident:
I’m redefining an already excellent life, living true to my nature. And I’m finding this involves a new universe, the world of 55-plus housing.
So, it’s not random, my decision to purchase this so-called recreational vehicle. HumbleDollar contributors have already shared stories about second homes, continuing care retirement communities, traveling around the world, retiring near children and relocating to less expensive cities, states or overseas. Threads have discussed long-term-care insurance and the cost of skilled nursing, as anticipated for oneself or as experienced by spouses or parents. I’ve read these and am better informed, thanks to the perspectives offered by others.
I also hold close the insights of Australian hospice nurse Bronnie Ware: “It all comes down to love and relationships in the end.”
My home neighborhood exemplifies “aging in place.” I’ve listened to neighbors’ stories during my 35 years of living here. Two seniors regretted their inability to visit siblings. One had a brother on the opposite coast. The other neighbor’s brother was only 200 miles away, but neither traveled well once they hit their 80s, so that left only phone contact. A third neighbor grew timid about leaving her house after retiring, especially during the pandemic, resulting in crippling seclusion and loneliness.
My brother and sister-in-law, like others residing in northern states, favored mid-winter holidays in warmer climes during their working years. First it was St. Petersburg in Florida, then Arizona, where they visited a friend who’d moved into a 55-plus mobile home in Tucson that was once owned by her father. My brother and his spouse decided to head south for good when they retired. In a thorough search, they considered housing options throughout the Tucson metropolitan area, both age-restricted and typical neighborhoods.
They explored the full range of options at every price point. Some were bare bones, while one development established by retired professors created a community stuffed with aesthetics and amenities, including regular lectures and Pilates classes. In due course, they sold their spacious riverfront Craftsman bungalow in Michigan and acquired a second-hand park unit in a modest age-restricted RV resort.
At the time, I thought they’d gone crazy. Why didn’t they buy a house with a garden like the one they’d left behind, only now in the Sunbelt? If they wanted to live an age-restricted lifestyle, why not select the finest retirement community with every amenity they might enjoy?
They encouraged me to visit them in their secondhand single-wide, so a few years back the kids and I took a holiday trip to Tucson to check it out. It was a mind-blowing week.
If they’d bought into the fanciest community, they would have spent their days with retired professionals similar to themselves. If they’d bought a house in a general neighborhood, they’d be the oldsters home alone while everyone else was off at work and school. They would need a car to do anything, okay for now but maybe not so much as they grow older.
Instead, my brother and sister-in-law became part of a compact and modest community of less than 300 households, the majority seasonal snowbirds and some just passing through. Their resort’s common areas include a small pool, a workout facility and community rooms an easy two-minute walk from their trailer.
They’ve got a small shopping center across a boulevard with restaurants, a salon, a bank, a post office, a hardware store, a mini-mart and an insurance agency. A park abuts the resort on one side, with a traditional single-family home neighborhood beyond that. Multiple county, state and national parks lie within a few miles, drawing visitors from around the world.
Their RV park includes dozens of spaces for Class A, B and C motorhomes. Migratory neighbors drive from as far as Canada to spend the winter in Tucson. As anyone who’s shopped for a motorhome knows, such vehicles range in price from a few thousand dollars to as much as $300,000. Let’s not forget the cost of a smaller car towed behind to get out and about while “camping” at an RV park. When temperatures rise come spring, winter vacationers return to northern homes and extended families, or continue their mobile RV roaming elsewhere.
I’ve learned that approximately 225,000 retirement-age individuals live in the Tucson metropolitan area. For virtually every imaginable malady related to aging, there’s a world-class medical center within the metropolitan area bursting with specialists. Access to good health care is on my checklist of must-haves in retirement.
My home town has grown substantially since I arrived. Doctors, dentists and the you-name-it who I’ve patronized for 35 years are retiring, like me. New restaurants and longstanding stores address the tastes and needs of the current generation of working adults and families with young children. Businesses that didn’t change with the times are gone altogether.
When I retired, I lost my daily contact with work colleagues. A few weeks later, the pandemic arrived and closed campus for a long time, keeping me from establishing the habit of wandering about and staying engaged as an emeritus faculty member. The campus has since reopened, but post-pandemic people seem to have changed their working and socializing habits, and I haven’t felt a strong urge to begin anew there.
I lost a second set of casual friends when the kids grew up, and aged out of school clubs and competitive sports, with their many practices, meets and travel. I spent years warming auditorium seats and gymnasium benches across the state and around the world, endless hours spent with parents of other youngsters. We shared our lives, but not anymore.
I still have friends around town and among local oldsters who hang out at neighborhood bakeries drinking coffee most mornings. But it’s nothing compared to the vibrancy of my brother’s social network. And so I’ve bought a unit in the same park as my brother and sister-in-law.
For now, I’ll be a seasonal resident. When hot weather arrives, I’ll return to where I worked and raised my family. With an extra bedroom available at home, my brother and sister-in-law can spend as much of the summer as they wish with me at my house. I can still enjoy the many wonderful things that make my neighborhood a great place, and I’ll have family nearby in the winters when I travel south.
Here’s what’s crucial to this entire venture. My adult children don’t need to be spending time thinking about me growing old, possibly lonely in the old house. Instead, I’m building a more robust circle of family and new friends, where we can take turns both being needy and helping each other.
Maybe I’m not so reckless after all.
Catherine Horiuchi is retired from the University of San Francisco’s School of Management, where she was an associate professor teaching graduate courses in public policy, public finance and government technology. Check out Catherine’s earlier articles.
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I really enjoyed your article!
We have a lot in common,, starting with the fact that we live in a 55+ mobile home park in Tucson. I couldn’t figure out which park you bought in (and respect that you may want to keep that private). We’re in a smaller community than yours (Park West with about 150 homes) and know the mobile home community scene here pretty well.
Because we don’t have a second home we are what’s called sun birds (or less appealingly but perhaps more accurately sweat birds) who flee Tucson in the summer. Pre-pandemic we had much success doing house/pet sits in places like Santa Fe and Boulder but more recently we end up paying for an AirBnB in such places to make sure we’re at least gone for the worst summer months (June through August and ideally well into September). With less than 40K tied up in our mobile (that’s now worth more like 90K) and $575 a month in lot rent (including some utilities, a lovely clubhouse with gym and year-round saltwater swimming pool) we can certainly afford the travel while still living cheaply.
The problem long-term as I see it is that unlike mild four-seasons places (e.g. Prescott, Sierra Vista, Albuquerque) the summers here make fleeing a necessity for anyone who doesn’t want to be trapped indoors for months on end or who is a hiker, owns a dog, etc. It’s “have to leave” weather, not “it’d be nice to get away” as is the case when winter drags on a bit too long and you want (but don’t actually need) a couple of weeks on the beach in February or March.
There are expensive, deluxe 55+ places here (check out Hacienda at the Canyon, for example) with both indoor and outdoor pools, multiple restaurants, multiple levels of care available, indoor movie theaters and lecture series and such and we know older (~80+) people who live in them and because of the amenities feel no desire or need to leave even in summer. Perhaps we’ll end up in a place like that at some point but for now we’re able to live cheaply but decently and leave much of our nest egg untouched in case a costly CCRC is in our future.
Thanks for your well thought out comments. I haven’t met anyone yet from Park West but I know where you are, since I head out in that direction on La Cholla toward the neighborhood recycling center off West San Juan. My park is southwest of yours, beyond Starr Pass/Gates Pass, and I’ve walked my dog at the foot of the Sarasota Trailhead on our side of … Cat Mountain, maybe? (Figuring out where dogs can wander is a bit tricky, between various park rules and the cactus!).
You have better proximity to Tucson proper, as that trip over/around the mountain adds 10 to 20 minutes driving to most places. But like I said in my piece, there’s enough within walking distance to get by, and I’ve discovered that Whole Foods will deliver groceries for a reasonable fee. My brother and sister-in-law tend to bundle errands with Tucson so spread out; a visit to an Eastside specialist followed by lunch at a favored spot, a trip to the dentist followed by grocery shopping.
Your summer practice of house sitting and pet sitting are good ideas for off-season (hot season) accommodations. I’ve been impressed with the ingenuity and imagination of park dwellers and RVers. People talk a lot about how late in spring they’ll stay in Tucson and where they’ll go for how long, many not to return until November! Lots to learn.
I’m a member at the Desert Museum, which makes for great morning walks. I’ve met people from many campgrounds, RV parks, mobile home communities, both small and large sitting on the terrace there.
The 55+ housing scene seems the polar opposite of the “forever” home model that dominates a lot of young families’ thinking. More to your point that this is what works for now “cheaply but decently” and always one eye for what might come next. My brother is a year-rounder and in summer they take day and overnight trips to various spots in the “sky islands” for breaks from the heat. In my youth I lived three years in the Middle East (without air conditioning) but I’m not so young anymore!
The affordability of 55+ community life in Tucson is compelling, and I guess that frees up cash for hot season getaways, while we still can.
Excellent article and great for you.
We selected the following because it allows us to enjoy and do it all when we want to:
1) We decided a long time ago to own only one house and 2 vehicles. We can easily own a lot more.
2) We would never own a second house/property, RV, a boat, or others, except the above (item 1) because we have money to pay for it if we need to and that’s the beauty. My numbers also show that we save money and have fewer headaches.
3) Our house is located where we like it to be. There is no perfect spot, but it’s pretty good year-round. It’s big and allows us to host the kids+grandkids, sometimes for days/weeks, but if we are by ourselves, everything is situated on the main floor.
4) We have our kids, grandkids, and friends around us.
5) We do activities every day such as playing bridge 4-5 times per week, walking, hiking, several times in LA Fitness, meeting our kids and grandkids every week, and weeks of trips around the world.
6) We are frugal too, even if we can afford more because we don’t see any reason to spend more. New Japanese and Korean vehicles, and never luxury vehicles. We stay in 3-star hotels/motels or local bed and breakfast.
7) We could never understand the RV thing. It’s expensive, it breaks more, it’s huge, who wants to drive a bus, especially on winding scary roads.
8) Managing our money is the easiest thing because I have an access around the world, and I don’t deal with people/other local taxes/cleaning/tenants/more.
9) The above is easier and liberates us from worries. We also love living among other people and interacting only with ones we like/love.
Thanks for your careful explanation about thinking through your own choices. I have a house and two “vehicles” also! Though my new one would require a tractor to haul it somewhere else. My brother and sister-in-law jettisoned their house after a couple years of owning both and now live fulltime in their “vacation” home. Having a second place is something I never did before and my natural curiosity and desire for something fresh made it a good choice for me at this point in my life.
I’m not the RV type, but I’ve met many who enjoy the tinkering and caretaking of keeping their rigs in good condition, same with people taking care of
their “tin can casitas”. I’m learning from all of them how to do the same, One person’s headache is another’s hobby. That’s a great thing about having the chance, each of us, to seek out our “personal best” life. Choices sometimes change, too. Some RV drivers decide to buy park units after a few years on the road. Many park unit dwellers trade “up” to double wides on owned lots or condominiums in other age-restricted communities, or move closer to families, etc.
My life would be different had I not lost my husband and his companionship, which would have made staying in my same house through old age a daily joy. But he’s not here and for me that made a seasonal change in venue more helpful than it might be for another person. Other changes will come my way, and I’ll adjust to them too.
Just so glad to live in a big country with many different communities that require various sums to live there. Thirty five years ago I could have bought a property in South Lake Tahoe for cheap, didn’t do that but luckily my park unit’s a good substitute. And it’s got a pull out sofa for friends/kids/grandkids if ever they visit… a place big enough for me and it’s great to learn that’s true even under 400 square feet.
Good for you. At 73 we moved from Denver to the mountains west at 8700 feet. Doubled the size of the house for half the money. The winters are longer, walking the dog uphill takes care of our aerobic fitness. At 77 we are mostly healthy and fit. For the most part we traded city amenities for the peace and calm of nature. Should we ever become too frail to manage this lifestyle, we’ll deal with it then. I enjoyed reading your odyssey very much.
I love this! More than one of my neighbors will spend their summer in the Colorado Rockies.
I hope that I can say the same when I get to 77, and I want to spend more time hiking in Tucson Mountain Park along with the flatlands immediately adjacent to our resort. Meanwhile I love sleuthing how the designers and builders created my low-cost park unit within the constraints of federal regulations. Something that could be hauled cross-country and down highways to be set up who knows where. That would last longer than one might imagine. They designed a relatively lightweight rectangle of sheet metal wrapping a steel frame, some built-ins of plywood and veneer, and added a tiny kitchen and a bath. It really does resemble what I would expect in a fishing cabin or a mountain getaway, though in my case there’s a saguaro in my back yard. Maybe it has vinyl flooring while my big home has hardwood, but they are simply floors either way.
Catherine, thanks for this. It’s interesting to read about a novel and creative approach to the “where to live” question all us retirees grapple with.
And your plan to head north when summer hits Tucson is wise. I once took our kids to visit my sister when she was living in Tucson. We went at the height of summer, and while I always considered our central Texas summers hot, Tucson took it to a whole other level. But at least it’s not too far to Mt. Lemmon, where it’s actually cool all summer.
Thank you!
It’s taking me a lot of creativity and novel thinking to design this next phase of what I hope will be a comfortable and satisfying retirement. As for the heat, yes! We took the dog along to Mt. Lemmon on a day trip, where there was still some snow, despite it being over 90 degrees down in the Tucson basin. But that was a long drive from our RV park in South Tucson. We bundled that trip with a couple of other errands along the way, and a visit to the upscale La Encantada Mall, where we were able to have a nice late lunch with the dog on the patio. Tucson’s supposed to be one of the most dog-friendly cities, but I have to admit the dog seems to enjoy life at home a bit more than in the desert.
My brother and sister-in-law took a friend visiting from California to the Kitts Peak observatory, where the temperatures were 20 degrees cooler. Another popular getaway is Madera Canyon. There are a number of “sky islands” with mountain climates without driving too far from Tucson. Though my favorite is just heading over to the nearby Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum with its own micro-climate exhibit areas.
It’s also hot in our home town in the summer, but my old house is roomy and doesn’t need as much cooling as the park unit. I’m actually thinking about replacing the electric range in my Tucson unit with an induction one, so that I can cook without producing the heat of a stovetop burner. (Cooking for one person being a novel skill I’m developing.)
Well, keep writing! A fun read about a complicated subject.
Congratulations on what sounds like a great next step. Hope it works out for you. A friend sold her house and bought a small RV. She wound up spending winters in a park in the south and summers up north near family. The regulars at the southern park became a second family.
Thanks!
I’ve learned a lot from your own journeys and choices, and I know that a RV resort has nothing like a continuum of care, though a few residents seem to have home health aides.The “temporary” nature of the place is a defining feature here, belied somewhat by longtime returnees. And I’m definitely the new kid on the block.
Your friend’s experience matches that of the RVers I’ve met at the park. So many spring farewell parties and everyone talking about when they expect to return next fall. A few deciding on new winter grounds for next year. Part of the pleasure of the RV, I imagine, not bound to any one place.
Here’s a few ways having a small unit under 400 square feet in this 55-plus community is more age-appropriate than my family home.
It’s much easier to keep clean, being only two rooms.
I only need a step ladder with two steps to change a lightbulb.
Garbage pickup is twice a week, so I don’t need to lug a giant can or two to the curb, just a single small trash bag.
There’s no second story! with everything that entails (longer ladders…)
I don’t have to do the pool maintenance or other work. I can focus on a small garden of cactus and wildflowers and it looks like there’s not much pruning which is something that never ends at home.
Of course there are downsides. Many over-55 parks are at the outer edges of metro areas, far from the excitement of downtowns and university districts, or even most shopping. If a person wants something beyond what’s offered in the small number of shops and businesses in the immediate neighborhood, then it’s either a considerable drive or order online. I’ve also chosen a spot in the Sonoran Desert so it’s real hot in the summer (thus “temporary/seasonal” housing for most) and I have to walk the dog with a comb in my pocket in case he bumps into a cactus. Not to mention that he has to stay on the leash except in the fenced in dog park. No chasing bunnies into the desert chaparral!
Catherine, congratulations on your purchase! Great article too. Lots of food for thought there.
Thanks! I still think it’s all a bit of madness. But I definitely am challenged with new experiences, hopefully good for my aging neurons.
The terms “self-awareness” and “pragmatic” came to mind as I read your excellent article. This item in particular caught my eye:
A branch of financial planning that has developed is called life planning. It might actually be a better term. Tinkering with investments is interesting (to some) but planning one’s life might actually pay better dividends.
Thanks for your comment. Those are both admirable qualities I’d like to be identified with!
I’ve been using three questions to shape my thinking about the future lately.
What do you want to do?
Where do you want to do it?
Who do you want to do it with?
“Planning” for getting older seems to involve uncertainties with variable costs, depending on what goes right/wrong and what opportunities might exist, and despite many possible scenarios, I will only be living one. It’s good to have some ideas, though, whether to discuss with one’s financial planner or one’s family.
Great point
Catherine, Thank you for sharing some of the thoughts and logic behind your journey and decisions. It sounds like you made the right choices for yourself, and I commend you for that! Please keep us posted; I would especially like to hear how the community changes in respect to seasonal residents.
Thanks, I will!
I’m amazed already with the adventurousness of many residents, who seem to have a steady stream of trips planned to see friends and families all over or visit places around the country. Even the “year rounders” do a fair amount of traveling.
My only past exposure to the RV holiday lifestyle came at Walt Disney World, where I stayed with my family at Fort Wilderness in their single wide “cabins” (harbinger of my own future, I now see.) which also included many spots for others to park RVs. We stayed there because the “rooms” came with kitchens and a camp store and boat shuttle service directly to Magic Kingdom and the park transport monorail to Epcot. Disney’s just replaced all those park units with new ones, selling off the “cabins” to anyone with a hankering for that nostalgic Disney World experience.
https://www.sfgate.com/disneyland/article/disney-world-hotel-rooms-furniture-for-sale-19390351.php
In high season organized activities run all day in the community center, with movies in the evenings too. As that’s wound down, those people who stay all year turn to solitary pursuits (lots of hiking in Tucson Mountain Park), block parties, and shared dinners. My brother and sister-in-law visit the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum https://www.desertmuseum.org/ several times a week year-round where the long desert loop trail provides a healthy walk which they follow with morning coffee on the shady veranda.
It’s a completely different lifestyle for sure!
Your brother probably already knows about this, but the outside aerial demonstration at the Desert Museum of the hawks and owl is unbelievable. Get their early so you’re near the head of the line. They literally fly so close over your head that you’re told to keep your arms down to avoid collisions. It’s a testament to how well they’re treated that they don’t just fly off since the show is outside.
Yes! The Raptor Free Flight show is a highlight of many people’s visits, and can be viewed six mornings a week between the end of October and the beginning of April.
Catherine, what a delightful and surprising article, with your usual dose of humor 😊. I think the key here is the good relationship you have with your brother and sister in law, and the knowledge that you enjoy each other’s company and will get along when living in close proximity. Best Wishes for this new adventure.
Yes, that’s the key! We’ve lived in different states nearly all our lives, but grew close and stayed in touch by phone starting in our 30s. It’s been a blast living nearby and the family dog knows by heart the ten-minute rambling route the long way round through the open desert parkland and across the dry wash to their unit and a friendly snack.
Great story! Thank you for bringing us along on this adventure. Sounds like a perfect match with your lifestyle!
Thanks for your company. So far it’s working well, and I love having a place that leaves plenty of wiggle room in my budget.
Sounds like you’re thoughtfully impulsive, Catherine. Great article.
“Thoughtfully impulsive” is a good description. Better than “paralysis by analysis.” It can be nerve-wracking to make up my mind and act, especially where larger sums of money changes hands. Doesn’t come naturally!