I picked up an
Amerigo a few months ago for $1500. At that price, I expect it to have some issues, but it has no current
leaks, the
electrical system works, the AC works, gas stove works and the mini
fridge works. Even the toilet works. I figured it's got enough to it that $1500 was a good deal. We've had some gorgeous weather here this week, so I finally was able to roll up my sleeves and start pulling things out start the process of getting down to bones.
A little background on me: My family downsized our 4400sqft house a little over 3 years ago and fulltimed in a class A, and later in a 40ft 5th wheel. This year we decided to buy a home on Ocracoke Island in NC. We moved in the third week of August. Less than 3 weeks later, on September 6th, Hurricane Dorian flooded my home with 2ft of water causing over $100k worth of damage to our house. We lost both cars and almost all of our belongings.
Our 5th wheel was spared as it is in a permanent spot on the mainland where my husband stays when he has work there. We moved the 5th wheel to the island for two months until we had power back to our home and could live upstairs and work on the downstairs repairs.
We bought the
Amerigo to use on the permanent mainland spot while my husband worked. He never had
leaks, the 20amp power ran his space heater and the
fridge. It served a purpose for which we are completely grateful.
But now it's time to clean out the rot and make it habitable for my son and I for a few months in a stationary spot on our property while we have the house lifted 3 more feet. We hope to have this done as soon as possible (before the next hurricane season!) So I'm shooting for the camper
renovation to be done by the end of April. I know that's a huge stretch, but I've got a ton of time, a ton of elbow grease, and I'm not scared of the money needed to do it right. Once we are done living in it we will most likely be able to rent it out to tourists as an Airbnb on our property and make our money back.