Hit me with reasons why owning a static caravan is a bad idea

[SausageDogBusyStreet]

Can't be used November to March - 4 months
8 hours drive away
Small - 4 berth for a young family of 4, especially if it rains all day
Stuck in one location
Could get 3 weeks in a cottage nearby in August for the same price as the ground rent
Extra costs - insurance, fuel

Expense of initial purchase
DH out on the golf course for much of the time.

Site fees are massive.

It depreciates in value.

8 hours away in good traffic or typical Friday night traffic...

OMG 8 hours with young children are you insane?

they're popular arson targets when they're empty

you can't use them enough for them to make financial sense, only X amt of weeks per year
and therefore, mould!

most sites have huge "transfer fees" if you ever sell

I was once told they are not a good investment as they loose a lot of value over time. But I suppose if you bought an old one, it might have already lot value.

The 8 hours away would bother me most. How much will you actually use it yourself? How much income will you make if you let it out?

Maintenance costs/effort.

Come on, I need more negativity than this (can you tell it's dh's dream, yet I don't want to )
It will cost £4500 to buy, £1450 in site fees yearly.
The site has about 30 caravans in the middle of nowhere, so arson or vandalism is unlikely.
The caravan is about 12 years old, but in great condition. The site is very relaxed, there is no maximum age for a caravan.

You will go once and swear on your life NEVER AGAIN

"no" is a complete sentence

noone else would be remotely tempted in buying it off you, so you'ld be STUCK WITH IT! forever! you'ld never be able to release any of that cash!

We've been on a waiting list for 4 years to be offered a plot. Obviously I just thought we would never make it to the top of the list.

Blimey - sounds brilliant! The ones I've been looking at start at £50k with a minimum site fee of £5k. I'd say go for it! kids love it. Something very easy about going somewhere familiar. You can leave your own toys/bikes/stuff inside it...

am i helping much?

I looked into buying a caravan quite a few years ago and decided against it because of costs. It meant we couldn't go on any other holidays and afford the really high site fees. However I do think your sums could add up because the caravan is a great price. Check out the facilities on the site and really think if the caravan type of holiday will suit your families needs in a few years time.
Sorry just read the 8 hours bit-don't do it. I was more thinking up to 2 hours away so you could bomb down at the weekend etc.

Caravans, static or otherwise, owned or rented, are a great idea when you have children. But 8 hours drive? Absolutely not. Imagine instead that your DH was offering you free use of a luxury hotel with whatever facilities your heart desires, and you could use it as often as you liked - but you had to drive 8 hours to use it. And 8 hours back again. How often would you do it? Exactly. And this isn't a luxury hotel, it's a caravan! Find one closer to home - within 3 hours drive max.

I know people who did buy a static, and their friends did the same. The two families had assorted children and went there every couple of weekends over much of the year. They planned ahead together, shared the food prep and everything, and it was an important and valuable part of their social lives, for about 5 or 6 years, and they clearly gor their money's worth out of it. It sounded wonderful. Your DH's proposition does not.

8 hours drive is the showstopper. Unless you're prepared to decamp there for the whole summer holiday each year you're just not going to get value out of it.

8 hours drive would be a deal-breaker for me, as you couldn't nip away for a cheeky weekender.

Unless you rent it out, £1450 a year is a lot of money for one or two caravan holidays.

The park could change hands and the new owners could put up prices and put an age limit on vans - this happened to a friend of ours and they lost a lot of money.

Work out how much it will cost you per weeks holiday over the next 5 years, how often are you going to use it, would you let it out?

A small four birth sounds like a bad idea, as for an 8 hour drive - madness!!!

Would you want to go to the same location for your holidays year in year out for as long as you have the caravan?

Have you got spare money for any repairs needed? As the caravan gets older the amount of problems will only increase

That said compared to most places the cost sounds very reasonable!

Grrrr.
I love going to new places, dh loves the idea of going to the same place each year.

The idea would be that we decamped there for 6 weeks every summer, I'm not sure about Easter and half terms, though presumably we could go for 2 weeks at Easter and 1 week at the summer and autumn half terms.

It is in the middle of nowhere. The wilds.

There is much potential for camp fires and playing in streams all day.

Equally there is the potential issue of dh playing golf all day whilst I sit in the drizzle in a caravan entertaining 2 children.

My vegetable plot is going to suffer isn't it.

Home would have to be seriously shitty for me to want to spend all summer in a caravan.
Tiny flat, no garden, central London, very hot summer!

Otherwise I like variety in my holidays.

Sorry, I wouldn't buy a caravan near a place where one half of the couple can spend a lot of time on their hobby and the other half of the couple spends a lot of time doing childcare.

Unfair and boring.

Couldn't you each go away separately for a 'hobby' week holiday for the price of the ground rent, petrol and maintenance costs?

There would be a few deal-breakers here for me.

1. 8 hours travel
2. golf
3. caravan.

Unless you are both teachers or similar surely you aren't going to be able to spend more than about 4 weeks a year there? Then that's all your annual leave gone. Even if you have got enough leave to spend all available school holiday time there, as your DCs get older they are likely to want to spend more of their holiday time at home hanging out with friends, going to activity clubs etc. I really wouldn't do this unless it wad near enough to do weekend breaks. As for the golf thing, that would probably have me thinking about divorce....

Your DH's dream is to own a caravan? Really? Oh hang on I just read that he plays golf. It all seems to seem more believable now. Don't do it. It sounds dire.