Personally, I love finding good deals. I believe that you make your money when you buy. Whether I am buying used furniture, used cars, or RVs, I like to be able to find the best deals that are out there.
One of the best ways to save money on cars, furniture, and RVs, is to buy them from a public auction. If you live near a large city, there is a good chance that there are local RV auctions that you can go to. If you live near a smaller city, you may have to find your RVs being auctioned on car auction lots. Whatever the case, buying from an auction can save you as much as 30 to 50%. This means it is well worth the effort to track down local auctions if you want to find a great deal.
Another way to save a lot of money is by finding motivated sellers. When it comes to small trailers and household furniture items, I have found lots and lots of great deals just by finding people who are truly motivated. How do you know somebody is motivated? Well, a lot of that has to do with their asking price. If the seller still wants to get the most for their RV, they aren’t likely be motivated. If they are willing to list it for sale at or below market value, they may be very motivated. Most of the time, the asking price alone isn’t enough to determine the seller’s motivation. You actually have to get on the phone and talk to them.
After talking to the seller for 10 to 15 minutes, see if you can ask them the reason that they are selling. A lot of motivated sellers will come out and tell you straight up that they are selling to avoid foreclosure, or that they are just trying to ‘get rid of the RV’.
The third way that you can get a good discount is to shop around. Every once in a while, it might be cheaper to buy an RV directly from the factory than to buy one used. Factories may have end of the year clearance on their older models. This will be a great opportunity for you to pay a lot less for an RV than you would from a dealer.
A fourth way to save money is to look for bank repossessed RVs. A lot of times, people will lose their RV at the same time that they lose their homes. The bank may be willing to consider an offer that is 30 to 40% less than what the seller owes. If you find the RV before the repossession takes place, you may be able to work at a short sale with the bank. After the repossession has taken place, you can just submit an offer directly to the bank. The bank then have the opportunity to accept or reject your offer. The bank needs to take your offer into account, but it is also going to cost them a lot of money to hold onto the RV and try and sell it on their own or through a third party. Buying bank repo RVs allow you to save 50% or more. Plus, you don’t have as much competition buying bank repos directly from the bank, than you would have at most auctions.