Static caravan advice

My daughter is looking in to buying a used static caravan ....any advice would be helpfull. I've spent the night searching different sites for her mainly in North Wales.( her preferred choice ).. and it appears to me re sales system ...they all want you to make an appointment for the sales pitch plus to discuss finance before telling you what's on offer....
Just like time share they want to pitch for the financial objection........
She knows what shes got to spend so isn't looking for finance.....any tips would be greatly appreciated...thxs in advance

 

What's her main purchasing influence, the actual site/amenities or the caravan? Most of the larger sites have a caravan show are where you can see what's for sale (not sure about used though) and at what price. I have one at Flamborough and as a pensioner, it wasn't the cost of buying it but the annual costs that I was more concerned with. You should be able to get feel for the quality/price of caravans by trawling the caravans for sale on the net. As well as knowing what she wants to spend on the van, she also needs to work out what she can afford for the annual costs i.e ground rent ( & for how many months) , rates, gas/electricity usage charges, gas/electric safety charges, insurance etc. As regards the van, some are better insulated that others which obviously affects heating costs as winter draws in. Hope this helps.

 

We had a caravan near cleethorpes, the advantages being clear. What was less clear was that it would soon appear to be a big hole that I had to keep shovelling money into. Work commitments meant we couldn’t use it as much as we’d like so, fewer visits. This makes every visit more expensive because the costs don’t stop when you don’t go.
We decided to let the van to friends, but we couldn’t charge mates the going rate and soon we were letting to people we didn’t know. That’s when things started to get broken or go missing. A little problem becomes a bigger one because of the distance.
Eventually we ran out of patience and sold the van. This is the game to be in if you get a kick out of legally robbing people blind whilst smiling broadly in their faces. When you buy the van it’s top dollar. When you sell it’s scrap value. If you try to sell private to achieve a better price, the site tells your customer they will have to pay a premium ground rent to put them off, but would not have to if they bought a van from them. So they’ve got you over a barrel with your pants down. You can’t get out without biting the bullet and losing money.
We have loved caravan holidays with the kids over the years and had great times but my advice would be to make sure the van is going to get used frequently and be prepared to pay. And remember that no matter how nice they seem at the site, you’re actually sitting in the middle of a nest of vipers.
We had look at few estate agents in cleethorpes, and we could have bought a two bed house for similar money.
Be sure you know what you are doing and have all your ducks in a row before you commit.

 

Echo the above, we had one at Ingoldmells and got rid after a few years. The ongoing cost are high, above and beyond ground rent. Now we just rent private ones out a few weeks and weekends a year.
Not saying not to do it but really look into the costs of owning it not just the cost of buying it.

 

THIS with bells on.
Had some friends with a van in grassington. It reached a period where the van was a certain age and they were requested to remove it from the site.
I bought a 2 bed house.

 

You can get an awful lot of nice hotel rooms (in different places) for the price of a static caravan

 

Same with Us too , your virtually forced to sell it back to site or take a big loss when you sell it

 

We own a static van inland in Lincolnshire , we have had one on this site since the late 90"s , the advantage of having one inland is that the charges are usually cheaper than the coast although they are still expensive . On our site , the site owners do sell vans but individual owners such as myself sell their own vans with a set fee also going to the site owners , but the advantage being that there are no salesmen , you just pick up a list of vans for sale from the site & wander round viewing at your leisure & if you fancy a van then you can negotiate between yourself & the van owner . The site has residential park homes & therefore is open 12 months a year . If your daughter likes the countryside then this type of site might be an option .

 

I’ve just put mine up for sale in Skeg Vegas mate, had it there 12 years, Giz a ring Bri if you need any questions answering

 

Us too. I've never sat down and worked out how much it all cost us in the end, I don't want to know.

 

Thanks for the advice guys very much appreciated ......I've relayed all your messages.....food for thought....thanks once again .....

 

use whatever money you are intending to buy the caravan as a deposit on a house, use the money you'd be spending on ground rent to pay the mortgage. houses go up in value and are far less hassle than a depreciating caravan.

 

3words don’t do it

 

Money pit. Ongoing costs and most of the sites close over Christmas/ NY so no hopes of a winter break. Mi mam & dad had one at Brid, which was great to use when our kids were small, but they ended up selling it at a huge loss. Site owners have you over a barrel.
We bought a tourer 2 years back and haven’t looked back. Been such a bonus having it during this sh1tshow.

 

We had one in Prestatyn, fees went up from £2600 to £4000 in 5 years, £80 a week in the end so we had either to pay £500 to have it moved off site as we were giving it to a homeless charity who asked for these to help the homeless, or give it to them, ********.

 

How much would it cost to buy a small plot of land big enough for a static?

 

I seriously considered going down this route myself.

Until I did some research, and then came across all these restrictions and costs.

Fack that. Just glad I did all that research before walking into any sales office

 

Try buying a reasonably priced tourer instead and siting it? We pay 150£ a month site fees in notts.

 

I look at my static differently than just financial, I absolutely love it, basically had a tourer for years & upgraded to a site we think is great.
It's a bolt hole, a place to get away from work & it chills me right out!
Summers are great with sunshine on the decking, few beers, kids safe & having fun without Xbox & Netflix, BBQ & all the rest
We never did touring in the winter, but it's equally as good, curtains shut, fire on, cosy, all the family together, still a few beers & a relaxing time.
I wouldn't swap mine for anything & I never want to leave.
I can afford it & don't begrudge it, each to their own, but i know we all have happy memories of it when we look back & it makes me smile knowing i'm off up this weekend again...

 

I suppose it’s too much to hope that the caravan park is on the site of a closed scab pit!!
Me, bitter?? Never!