For some, better a trailer home than no home

McClatchy Newspapers (MCT) - It wasn't supposed to work out this way for Dave MacNeill.

Three years ago, he was pulling down six figures as a magazine editor in his hometown of Sacramento, Calif. Today he's not even scraping by in Boise.

MacNeill and his family will lose their rental home at the end of the month. The only affordable options they have found are the homeless shelter or a travel trailer.

They're going for the trailer.

MacNeill isn't alone. Area campgrounds are getting more inquiries from cash-strapped Idahoans desperately seeking affordable-housing options. Available spaces are filling up.

MacNeill and his family came to Boise in 2007 after his publishing company slid toward insolvency and he was forced to leave.

"I worked for free for a few months, hoping it would turn around," MacNeill said.

It didn't.

They came at the suggestion of a friend who had a home for rent in Southeast Boise. The high desert Foothills and the Boise River running through the heart of town reminded MacNeill of the Sacramento he grew up in. He found work as a freelance writer, and by recording local musicians. Those income sources have dried up.

His wife, Leslie, has been a substitute teacher and sells marketing materials on commission, but that business has dried up, too.

In October, the 51-year-old took a sales job on commission at a Boise music store. He has made more than minimum wage only once since October.

As they have watched their incomes vaporize, they've sold almost everything they own, from recording equipment to jewelry.

"When you're selling your leather jacket, and you stop to wonder if your shoes are worth anything, you know you've hit the bottom," he said.

MacNeill hopes to pull together enough cash to buy an aging RV for him, his wife and his grade-school-age daughter.

"We can get a space for $400 including utilities," he said. "All I have to do is find about $3,000." He has set aside $500 from book sales and hopes to raise most of the rest by borrowing small amounts from many people. He sent friends and family an e-mail asking for "microloans" of $50 to $100, promising to pay them back as soon as he can.

Martin Johncox is giving MacNeill $50. The two met and became friends through connections in the Boise music scene.

"Times are tight, and any of us can find ourselves in the same position," said Johncox, a public relations consultant.

MacNeill is confident he can find a bargain.

"It's a buyer's market for RVs right now," he said. "One of the first things people unload in hard times is their trailer, and there are some great deals out there. I'm more worried that the trailer parks are filling up, because I'm not the only one having to do this." Recreational vehicle park managers in the area say they are seeing more people moving into RVs full time, but spaces are limited. There are only 10 RV parks in the Idaho Treasure Valley and park owners and managers say their monthly spaces are nearly full.

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"We've had three families move in this week," said the manager of Mountain View RV Park at 2040 Airport Way in Boise, who declined to give his last name. "I have one tenant who got last month's rent from her church." Like many of the RV campgrounds, Mountain View is required to keep a percentage of its 63 spaces available for daily and weekly Good Sam and AAA campers. The remaining spaces, which are available for monthly rentals, are full.

Calvin Cummings, manager of Boise Meridian RV Resort in Meridian, Idaho, said he is hearing from more people considering living in RVs beyond the usual retirees heading for a carefree life on the open road.

"There have been working-age people who can't afford a home move in here," he said. "We have about 70 residents who pay month to month." Spaces rent for $400 a month, which includes a sewer hookup and water. Most people heat the homes with propane. Cummings said residents spend as much as $150 a month to heat their RVs in winter.

Condensation is a problem. Cummings said most people use the campground's showers instead of their trailers' and are careful about cooking to avoid raising the humidity in the small living spaces.

"It's a fairly inexpensive way to live if you can put up with cold and small spaces," he said.

For some who are downsizing, a new RV has become an option.

Matthew Young, general manager at Camping World RV Sales in Boise, said business is down from two years ago, but January was actually a very good month.

He said he has been selling more RVs to people looking for less expensive housing, but they generally don't tell him directly because banks usually won't finance an RV if it is going to be a primary residence.

"Fifth wheels are more conducive to living in than motor homes because they are roomier," he said. They're also less expensive.

New fifth-wheel trailers _ designed to be towed by pickups with a hitch installed in the truck bed _ typically provide about 275 square feet of living space. They sell for between $25,000 and $60,000 and are typically 8.5 feet wide by 27 to 35 feet long. Motor homes start at about $50,000.

MacNeill is confident he and his family can live in the confined space.

"Leslie and I lived in a sailboat for a while, so we are handy and we're used to living small," he said.

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© 2009, The Idaho Statesman (Boise, Idaho).

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