does anyone own static caravan?? pros and cons please.

[horseshoe]

does anyone own static caravan?? pros and cons please.

my mum has one, I know the ground rent has risen alot and she pays over a grand a year for it. Pros are all the family uses it and you get to know the neighbours tho some may think thats a bad thing, plus you will always have somewhere to go through the summer including weekends and you don't have to fork out more cash

my mum has one too
Cons you have to be absent - (well mums camp closes from xmas to march) for 3 mths a yr for council tax reasons
permamnest camp users nick your gas
pros we can use it!
Its cheap to run

me and dh used it for dirty weekends away before we had dd obviously, aahhhh distant memories now

We own one
Pros I take the children down there all of the school holidays.( friends got it this week).So the kids get freedom to run about and I don't need to clean a whole house.
We always have a holiday
i love it
cons
can't think of any except there are some moaning minis on the site but you get that everywhere

BK,

Does it really cost as much or can I bargain with the site over fees.

We have worked out that fees and Rates will come to just under £3500 per year. I am lloking forward to getting away from the hustle and bustle of London each weekend but wondered as freinds say that is too much.

horseshoe am currently trying to decide whehter to buy a static in Kent. Rent etc is about £1.5k to 2k depending on the site. Caravans I am looking at are about £12K second hand. The caravan will only have a 5 yr life which means it works out a total cost of about £4.5K per year over 5 years. DH suggests that it is cheaper to rent a caravan as and when I need but I like the fact that could leave stuff there and can go on spec. But £4.5K a year is a lot of cash.

Yes it is alot and that is a short time. Can you look elsewhere for sites that do not restict caravans age???

Yes - we are in our 3rd year and LOVE IT. We paid just over 15k for a brand new van and it has an unlimited life. Fees are around £3.5k a year but we have reallocated our holiday fund to the caravan and tend not to holiday abroad anymore. You can pay fees in installments (around £300 a month). You can barter over the cost of the caravan but not the fees and be warned if they include 2006 site fees in the sale, you'll have to fork out 2007 site fees in November. Also, do not take their finance - we took out a personal loan (a lot cheaper). Where are you considering horseshoe?

Pros: Every weekend is a holiday for us (we get in the car, drive down from London on a Friday night) where we escape from the hassles and worries of our day-to-day life. We are able to take our holidays the same time as the school ones. The kids LOVE IT - they can go swimming/to the beach/enjoy the entertainment whenever they want. It is home from home from us - we even have a washing machine. We have piped gas so have no worries about supply (and price rises).

Also, it has really strengthened our marriage - we get to spend quality time together rather than being at home trying to finish all the jobs that need doing.

We have made some lovely friends as well, and really enjoy the community feel.

Cons: Repairs/jobs at home tend to get left (although not washing); Extra Petrol costs; no mumsnet

If you need help negotiating - pitfalls to watch out for, etc, let me know.

Hi thanks MR.

We are off to Clacton from London.

Like you...the one we are buying has a washing machine too I am buying privately after owner needed a quick sale and have managed to get a caravan for 14,000 even though the site would sell it for £28,000

They do want 15% + VAT changeover fee plus we dont get discounted on the site fees but it still works out cheaper this way and current owner happy for us to keep site in her name so we qualify for discount this year.

Wow that sounds a brilliant bargain - go for it. You're also going the right away about keeping it in her name. You'll probably find out a few years down the line, the site will try and sell you an upgrade so you should start getting discounted fees.

At our site (Camber Sands), we were going to buy our friend's at a discounted rate (but more than the site would pay) and were told that the site has first refusal to buy it. They really are crafty these salesmen.

Your vans all sound posh.We have one near Dymchurch in kent.It is on a site with no entertainment and it is in the middle of fields. It is bliss. 5 mins from beach but far enough away from crowds.

We also have one but we share with other family members - it makes it so much cheaper and we don't all tend to want to go at once anyway since we've had it about 4 years now.
It's a real home away from home where the kids look forward to going so much and settle there straight away. You can leave loads of stuff there which helps with a quick getaway on a Friday evening. We even have a full size cot in ours so we don't have to bother with travel cots etc. One drawback I can think of - our site lets the vans stay 12-15years depending on condition but if you want to move it to another site before that time they charge about £1000 to undo all the water, waste, gas etc and tow it off site. I must say sometimes I get bored going the same place for weekends, holidays etc but this is quickly eradicated in my thoughts by thinking how lucky I am to be going anywhere at all (specially in school holidays and Bank Holiday weekends) and also the lack of hassle going somewhere you know your way around the local supermarket and town centre as well as you do at home.

They are very crafty with their fees. My friend had to offer the van to the site aswell and they offered her £4000. I couldn't believe it as they will sell for £28,000.

The good thing is now that the office of fair trading have published guidelines and rule alot of things that these sales managers do as unfair so if anyone was ever bothered to take them to court they would probably win.

Im looking forward to it so much.