A place to build

B.Bunny2863 · 03-23-2019, 02:45 AM

Hello to all,
I have a 1999 Amtram school bus RE, that I have been trying to convert into a studio apartment on wheels...
Finding a place to build without issues, or people watching you, and feeling like they are waiting for an opportunity to break in after your gone, is my fear....
I'm in my mid 50's, my kids are no longer kids, nor am I married anymore. So I don't require a three bedroom two baths house to be comfortable. I'm not at the retirement age yet but I would love to see some so this beautiful country of ours before I'm too old to move, and enjoy it..
Is there something I'm missing?

Thank you !!!!

Drew Bru · 03-23-2019, 07:20 AM

We were in the same position. We live in the suburbs of a major city and were struggling to find a place to do our build. We ended up finding an RV/Boat storage place on Craigslist for $35/mo. We found 2 places, actually but this was cheaper. Both would allow us to work on the bus. The place we settled on is out in the country and the guy is just looking for some extra cash to pay his property taxes.
All this to say: Look around on Craigslist for places that might be a little bit of a drive (ours is 45 minutes away) and aren't corporately owned.

B.Bunny2863 · 03-23-2019, 01:29 PM

Thank you Drew Bru, I am still new but I did send you a reply of thanks from my email, not sure if you got it ...And I wanted you to know that I appreciated your advice...

Phyllis in Dallas · 03-23-2019, 07:45 PM

Hi. What do you mean about missing something?

B.Bunny2863 · 03-24-2019, 04:28 AM

Hello Phyllis,
I read it over too, and I believe I may have been making the statement, that I am missing out on traveling through out this country....
Oops,
Thank you for addressing that.��

musigenesis · 03-24-2019, 06:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drew Bru

We were in the same position. We live in the suburbs of a major city and were struggling to find a place to do our build. We ended up finding an RV/Boat storage place on Craigslist for $35/mo. We found 2 places, actually but this was cheaper. Both would allow us to work on the bus. The place we settled on is out in the country and the guy is just looking for some extra cash to pay his property taxes.
All this to say: Look around on Craigslist for places that might be a little bit of a drive (ours is 45 minutes away) and aren't corporately owned.

Wow, $35 a month is awesome. I'm paying $200 for a spot in a "secure" facility (I put secure in ironic quotes because I got robbed last week anyway and lost all my power tools), although it does have the enormous advantage of being a quarter mile from a Home Depot and a Lowes.

musigenesis · 03-24-2019, 06:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by B.Bunny2863

Hello to all,
I have a 1999 Amtram school bus RE, that I have been trying to convert into a studio apartment on wheels...
Finding a place to build without issues, or people watching you, and feeling like they are waiting for an opportunity to break in after your gone, is my fear....
I'm in my mid 50's, my kids are no longer kids, nor am I married anymore. So I don't require a three bedroom two baths house to be comfortable. I'm not at the retirement age yet but I would love to see some so this beautiful country of ours before I'm too old to move, and enjoy it..
Is there something I'm missing?

Thank you !!!!

When I was looking for a work spot for my bus, I was mainly concerned about finding a place that had electricity available. Once I settled in I found that their electricity was not working so I had to buy a portable generator anyway. This was easy to do - found a used one on Craigslist for $150 and it's been working great for me, a gallon of gas lasts a couple of days so the fuel expense is negligible.

I realize now that it would have been much better to have found a place with running water and a drain, because dealing with the rust on a bus basically requires this (also helpful for painting and for testing out watertightness of the outside).

EastCoastCB · 03-24-2019, 07:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by musigenesis

Wow, $35 a month is awesome. I'm paying $200 for a spot in a "secure" facility (I put secure in ironic quotes because I got robbed last week anyway and lost all my power tools), although it does have the enormous advantage of being a quarter mile from a Home Depot and a Lowes.

That sounds horrible.

musigenesis · 03-24-2019, 07:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

That sounds horrible.

The $200/mo or the robbery? I guess they're both robberies in a sense. My secure facility gets bonus points because enormous dog turds keep showing up around my bus - I'm pretty sure at least one person is actually living in their trailer there and is the one with the dog.

The robbery wasn't so bad because at least they didn't gratuitously damage anything. All it would really take to end my skoolie project would be one kid with a stick smashing all my windows.

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