Many retirees that have never owned an RV, or ever considered living fulltime in one, didn’t plan on starting now. But plans do change, sometimes quite dramatically.
When Margie and John Stites and their three dogs rolled a 41-foot Monaco Knight motorhome into the Las Vegas Motorcoach Resort, it was supposed to be a temporary stay while their dream house was completed. But the resort became their permanent home when the couple found something unexpected: an enclave with all the amenities of high-end gated suburban communities, without the upkeep and bother of a traditional piece of property, reports the New York Times.
The resort has a terra-cotta-roofed clubhouse, five pools, two hot tubs, a fitness center, tennis courts, twice-weekly water aerobics classes and a nine-hole putting course — all at the center of a maze of 407 lots where owners and renters park RVs.
Much to the surprise of many friends and members of their family, the Stiteses canceled the house and instead bought a 35-by-80-foot lot for $95,000, or about $34 per square foot, in early 2016. They added an outdoor barbecue and bar, an expansive roofed living space and a large storage cabinet that also houses a washer and dryer. Such improvements can increase the resale value; one oversize corner site sold recently for $349,950.
