Selling your RV is a lot like selling your house. You can sell it yourself, or go through a dealer (who will outright buy it or selling it on consignment). We contacted some RV dealers, but they were offering extremely low-ball offers, so we decided to sell it ourselves. It was just like selling a house: fixing little things, cleaning out our stuff, doing a deep clean inside and out, and posting it in different places.
Step One: Clean and Repair
- Make any repairs and clean. We fixed a few small things like holes where screws were taken out when we removed the couch, dinette seat, and bottom bunks. We looked around the outside and made sure all the seals and caulking were in good condition. We did a thorough clean on the inside and scrubbed and waxed the outside.
- We emptied the RV of all of our stuff. Since we were close to home, we kept things with us at my in-laws where we were staying or at the storage locker. Less clutter makes a tiny space seem bigger.
Step Two: List Your RV
- RVs are like cars: you need to pay off the loan to get the title. Before listing, we paid off the RV. Once we received the Loan Release letter, I went to the DMV with the letter to get a paper copy of the title. (Ohio now has electronic titles and you have to go in person to an office to get a paper title.)
- We listed it on Facebook Marketplace, several RV Facebook groups, and RVT.com, RV Trader, RV Postings.
- Similar to listing your house, some places charge* for the listing.
- RVT.com charges $29.95 for a Basic listing (Listed 30 days, 5 photos, unlimited text) all the way up to $239.95 for the Ultimate National (Listed Until Sold, unlimited photos, unlimited text, video, National spotlight, National search featured, National homepage listing).
- RVTrader.com starts at $54.95 (Listed 2 weeks, 4 photos) and goes up to $199.95 for the Best Package (Listed 1 year, 50 photos, YouTube video, featured on homepage and results, premium placement).
- RVPostings.com starts at the Standard free package (Listed 3 months, 20 photos, video, featured on social media page) and has a $12.99 Featured Package (Listed 3 months, 20 photos, video, featured on social media page, featured on homepage above standard postings).
- I started with the Basic packages on the listing websites, but soon realized that the more expensive packages could help sell it faster. I upgraded the RVTrader.com listing to the Best Package. TIP: If you are even thinking about changing later to a higher package, do it first. When I clicked “Upgrade”, it charged me the full amount, even though I was upgrading packages within the original package listing time-frame. You will not get a prorated amount for the higher packages, you will just be charged the full amount for both types of listings.
- Similar to listing your house, some places charge* for the listing.
- If you are able, place a For Sale sign on the RV. These signs are $1 or less at Walmart and are an easy way of passive advertising. However, not all campgrounds will allow the sign. The campground we were out removed it.
- Make sure your timing is right. In general (for the Midwest at least), not a lot of people are going to be buying in the winter, unless they are looking for a great deal. We wanted it sold relatively quickly, as we were at a Thousand Trails campground and only had a limited time to stay (21 days). Once our first time was up, we placed it in the storage yard at the campground. We had just made a bunch of minor fixes, cleaned and waxed it, and really didn’t want to chance driving it again and having something happen (you just never know when you are on the road). The week in the storage yard counted as our time out of the park, so we were able to come back in for another couple of weeks with our membership.
STEP THREE: SHOW THE RV TO BUYERS
- We had a buyer reach out to us to look at it and we met them at the campground on 7/30. At this time the RV was in the storage lot, but they still wanted to see it. They lived almost 2 hours away in Kentucky!
STEP FOUR: NEGOTIATE
- They gave us a $500 deposit to hold it for them, as they were leaving for vacation and the closing date would be later than what we were hoping for. They had a RV Inspector come out on 8/3 to look it over. We had just moved it to a full hook-up site, so the timing really worked out well. Once they received the report and we negotiated the price a little bit, we settled on a closing date.
STEP FIVE: FINALIZE DETAILS & SELL
- We had requested a cashier’s check for payment, as we had heard stories about cash transactions going poorly (Thank you Uncle John for the cashier’s check idea!).
- I printed out a bill of sale, since I didn’t know what Kentucky would require in order for the buyers to get tags.
- We wanted to make sure the funds were in the bank before handing over the keys, so we arranged to meet the buyers at our bank. I called the bank to make sure a notary would be there. On the date of closing, we met at the bank to notarizing the title and the bill of sale and to exchange payment. Once the check had been deposited and the paperwork notarized, I handed over the keys. They were first time RV owners and wanted me to walk them through the RV and our process for setting up/breaking down. They hadn’t even seen it with the slides out since they had been on vacation! The boys and I headed up to the campground to show them around. They were a really nice couple and I am glad to see Betsie go to a good home.
STEP SIX: RELAX
- It was a big relief when the RV sold. We no longer had to worry about where to store it for the winter, carry payments and insurance on it.
Money Breakdown:
- Bought for $31,101.03 on 6/4/20.
- Had a payoff balance of $30,093.47. Unlike a home, you have to have the balance paid off in order to get the title to hand over to the buyer. We moved a few things around and were able to pay it off before selling it.
- Listing Fees: $284.85.
- Of course, there were other expenses along the way, just like owning a home. During our trip, we had to replace the propane tank regulator, have a Mobile RV Tech come out to replace the computer board in the bathroom fan (luckily the manufacturer sent us the part under warranty), I replaced the water valve in the toilet, and other little repairs and fixes along the way.
- Paper Title: $16. Ohio has electronic titles now. You have to go into the DMV with the cleared loan letter to get a paper copy.
- Sold it with the TPMS (tire pressure monitoring system) ($327), Furion Back-up camera ($545.65), and the WeeBoost. We also included the futon we replaced the broken couch with ($200).
- Sold on 8/10/21 for $29,500.
All in all, after selling the RV, it costs us about $2700 to live in the RV for a year (not including campground fees).
*Prices correct at time of post. Please check current pricing before you sign up.
