Is It Really Worth It to Have a House and Car if I'm OTR for the Foreseeable Future?

For over 15 years when I started OTR trucking I just rented a room. Not sure but think I paid 2 or 300 bucks a month for a bedroom in a house I didn't own. Had kitchen and bathroom rights, it enabled me to purchase a home later on with the savings. I imagine inflation has increased rental costs. And as far as a car goes, that's a must have..the value is up to you.

 

Some really good advice above. MY GOAL when I entered this industry was to AVOID rent and utility bills. I have a paid for 9 year old car, pay for car insurance and have a friend that lets me park it in her garage. I pay her internet bill every month. Out of the weather and plugged into a battery tender for 10-12 weeks at a stretch. Win Win for both of us. BTW......I bank a buttload of cash every month without $1200.00 worth of rent and utilities I would rarely use.

 

Im assuming you're pretty young, I'll tell you probably the most important thing I every learned from my dad. That is "I can't tell you what to do, but I can tell you what not to do".

Right now we're living in full on clown world. Inflation is happening thanks to the .gov and somehow people are just throwing ridiculous money at everything from homes/land/vehicles/etc. Renting while being otr is asinine. Do whatever you can to build your credit if you haven't yet, get a cc with limit of $300-500 and use it while on the road, then pay it off each month. What you want isnt necessarily the ability to have big lines of credit, but to have a good documented credit history. I ignored building my credit when I was younger because I had $ to buy what I wanted. Now I dont have the history to help me purchase the land that I want to build a house on and don't have enough $ to pay cash.

If you save and have $ in the bank and a good credit history you can pretty much get what you want without using your $ up front. Land is a tangible asset. Vehicles, while necessary, are not. But a good 4x4 truck will always be a useful tool. Set yourself up now by working and you wont habe to kill yourself in your 40's or 50's doing the same work.

Another protip: If you plan to stay in trucking, get into more specialized hauling. Set yourself apart from the steering wheel holding dingbats. Mega carriers are not where you'll make $. You are nothing but meat in the seat.

 

I’m married now, and I married into a family situation so I’m kinda stuck with the house and the mortgage, but I’ve always thought a travel trailer or a bus conversion would be the way to go if I was single. Find a nice little park out in the sticks with people that will keep an eye on your stuff, and whenever you want to relocate to a different locale, just get the wheels turning.

 

I’ve lived exclusively in a truck on and off for many years. Best thing in the world I saved up tons of cash and have zero debt of any kind. When I need a break I stay at the Doubltree , Hilton , Ritz Carlton , Trump National , Mandarin Oriental , Marriott etc ... really nice vacations when I want them. I’ve saved up enough money over the years that if I get tired of driving I can just pay cash for a place to live. Freedom is a wonderful thing.

 

Buy if you can. Property greatly increases in value. Think of it as a savings account with a super high yield.

If your flexible on location and are going to stay in this business, find a place near a major trucking market.

 

Buy a house with a big lot. Rent main house out and park RV at end of property.


House pays for itself with renters and you stay for free, better to invest then let money sit idle.

 

The thing is when you have to renew you CDL, you need to have a proof of residence and a mailbox at the UPS Store is not going to cut it. Just check what your home state requires before you are surprised by this at the last minute.

 

No; I only pay rent for my cats to live with my sister and then I would only stay there for a week every month or so. I only recently bought a car because of the rental car-apocalypse. If I wasn’t sidelined, I wouldn’t have needed it.