Congrats! You’ve made the decision to purchase a motorhome. Whether it is for annual vacations, to give your family a chance at a nomadic lifestyle, or to replace your immobile home after retirement, buying a motorhome is a huge decision, and an even larger investment.

Before purchasing an RV, there are many things you must consider, aside from the typical things you may have already researched.

In order to ensure that you are going into this purchase fully informed, prepared, and confident in your choice, we have put together this list of 5 Things to Know before You Buy a Motorhome.

You May Need Specific Insurance:

Insurance: everyone’s favorite monthly payment... right?

As much as we all hate paying for insurance, it is definitely worth it when it comes to protecting an investment as large as a motorhome. The type of insurance you need will depend on the type of RV you have purchased. Typically motorhomes are considered their own vehicles, and cannot be added onto your current automobile policy.

An insurance policy for your new RV should cover claims regarding: damage, theft, personal injury, and even breakdowns.

Storage Can Be A Real Hassle:

Unless you have ample space at your house or someone who is willing to let you park the RV on their property while it’s not in use, finding and paying for storage, especially long term, can be tedious and can get very expensive.

Before making your purchase, ensure you have proper storage already taken care of.

Everything For RV’s Costs More:

Apart from the RV itself costing a lot more than a normal vehicle would, pretty much everything involved with being an RV owner costs exceptionally more as well. This includes anything from a tank of gas, monthly insurance, repair costs, and even cleaning costs.

There Are Different Styles of Motorhomes to Suit Different Needs

This is a given, but it is essential to buy an RV appropriate to what you intend to use it for.

Factors that can impact this decision could include: types of terrain you will be travelling, size limits for campsites or RV parks you will be using, amenities you require within the RV, etc.

You May Need A Special Driver’s License:

What many people don’t realize is that certain RV’s require the driver of the RV/vehicle towing the RV to have a specialized driver’s license – a typical Class 5 may not cut it.

Think Before You Buy:

You wouldn’t buy a house before researching the associated costs, nor would you buy a car that was not suited to fit your vehicle needs, so the same should go for an RV.

While they seem like big toys, they are actually serious investments. A lot of time and money go into owning an RV, and it is important to fully understand the scale of your purchase, as well as ensuring you make the proper purchase, when you decide to buy an RV.