My experience of car registration and residency application in Florida was surprisingly smooth and easy. I didn't need any printed materials at all. Just change the addresses of your bank, insurance, or utility accounts first and then show these accounts on your phone to the agent at the service counter.
Unfortunately we had to print the mailing paperwork for Escapees because it had to be notorized. If not for that, we could have done everything electronically.
From living in Florida before, high auto insurance is due to the massive number of uninsured drivers. Lots of hit-and-runs, my wife was actually a victim to that in 2019 and our insurance had to cover everything.
Asa native Floridian currently living in FL, but through my various PCS location throughout the US and the world, FL was consistently higher. The one culprit was "No Fault Insurance". Florida has the regular liability and damages like all other State policies, but then they add "No Fault". It is like a rider with it's own line item cost that bumps the premium even higher. Still remember my last duty station in Phoenix, returning to Orlando - about the same size metropolis - the "No Fault" is what bumped the premium higher on the same vehicle. Vehicle license has always been less as Florida bases it on the weight putting wear and tear on the road, where Arizona and many other States base it on the value (ad valorem) traveling over the road. Hate to say it but as a 5th generation native Floridian, I have started looking around. Home insurance (no full time RV) is well known absurd. But while you are too young, Medicare Supplemental Insurance really drove it home as I faked different zip codes on the calculator and Florida was probably in the top 10% most costly nationally for the same plan G or Plan F coverage with some States half the cost.
I wonder why FLs Medicare premiums are so high. I know there are probably more seniors here than in other states, but I can't imagine that's the overriding reason.
All of the states you mentioned have the reciprocity for the tax you have already paid for your rv and vehicles. As long as the amount is more than their tax. So Florida if you have used/owned your vehicle outside the state for more than 6 months you do not have to pay the excise tax. Texas you have to pay the excise tax if your tax was less than their tax. Hope that all makes sense.
Yeah, we just misread the SD requirement and thought it was an actual registration fee like IN requires you to pay a registration fee each year AND an excise tax based on the current market value.
Funny your video came up in my suggested list and the title got my attention. Then I recognized the beach, which is where we are right now. We're looking to change residency within the next couple of years and looking at those same states as possibilities. Just beginning the research phase and every little kernel of information helps! Thanks for this one!
Thanks for watching! I would recommend researching the various mail services, if that's the route you're going to use, to see which county you would be domiciled in as another viewer mentioned rates can vary county by county. Since we're not ready to buy a home base, we're stuck with a mailing service.
Yes, for you, Florida is not a great value. But most of my income would be taxed in Indiana or most other states because most of my income comes from stocks so Florida to me is an absolute steal of a deal even with those other enhanced costs. People need to really carefully think it through becauseI would lose a fortune if I stayed in a state income tax state on my stocks.
That's really what we were trying to say. For us, it wasn't the right time to switch. It really depends on the situation, and like you said, everyone needs to think it through and make an informed decision.
We have been FTers since 2012. We chose SD as our domicile state and have been generally happy with that decision. No emissions or vehicle inspections for our MH and no special operator's license to obtain. We use one of the "big" mail forwarding services in SD to handle and forward our mail. Never had a problem with them in the 12 years we've FTed. When we started FTing, we owned a home in VA. We flew out to SD at the end of December (not the brightest idea) and secured our SD registrations for our MH and car, operator's licenses, registered to vote, obtained a library card and set up our mail forwarding service all within 3 hours. We certainly wouldn't have been able to do that back in VA.
I thought so, too...at first. But my regulator has a lip right at the inlet that sticks out just far enough that I can't turn the screen around without crunching it. I'll have to pay attention to that next time I buy one.
We wanted to satay at MacDill this year but they changed there breed restrictions to exclude our pups. Not a high deal but have a couple good friends that are in law enforcement in Tampa. We ended up in a nice coy park in Miami. We stayed here in 23 and liked it so chose it again as a launch for our RV Tech/Inspection ventures.(still in its crawl phase) We have those exact same MoRryde shirts lol, funny how many things we share in common with you two! We looked into the domicile stuff for a few months in 2022 and in mid 2023 chose for our situation to do South Dakota and have no regrets. Everything you shared is on par with what we deal with except your truck insurance is about half of mine…… good ole USAA taking me for a ride I guess haha. We also did experience the previous states sales tax being paid meant all we paid in SD was registration fees and I believe they based it off axles and weight so it’s not too bad really, wife just hit 100 with VA so both our vehicles are at 20 dollars per year total and the RV renewal is still the same. The other nice part to SD residency is unlike Texas which I was a resident for more than half of my military career, SD is just a much more enjoyable part of the country to visit and be associated with. That’s obviously my biased opinion but Texas…..I mean you’ll have a solid barometer for the place after a few months in Athens so let me know your thoughts lol. Solid video and thanks for sharing all your research as it helps a lot of folks in the decision making process when they see it from a comparative angle!
We are FTers domiciled in Louisiana, as we were LA residents before we went FT and it was easier to do so than get new DLs, registrations, etc. in another state. There's good and bad for FTers domiciled here. The state treats retirees favorably income tax wise. It works out for us as we have SS income, a couple small pensions and take about $8k/yr out of our IRA, yet we only pay about $50 in state income taxes annually and no federal income tax. If you work FT here, you will pay the flat 3% state income tax now. Initial vehicle registration here is super expensive. Each parish has different sales tax rates. The one I am domiciled in has a sales tax rate of 10.25% (some are over 12.5%). This means not only will a $100k vehicle cost $10,250+ to register initially but everything you buy online from Amazon or other big online vendors will also be taxed at that rate. After the initial registration, renewals are cheap. Our motorhome and toad only cost us $80 to renew both their registrations every 2 years - that's $20/vehicle/yr. You can't beat that! Our insurance on both vehicles is a little over $1,000/yr. Vehicle inspections in my parish don't require smog checks and aren't required to renew your registration. This means that if we don't return to the state, we don't have to get our vehicle inspected till we do. They are serious about your vehicle being insured though. If you let your coverage lapse just by one day the state DMV will fine you hundreds of dollars.
Unfortunately we're limited on locations when using a mail service. It would be much nicer if we could choose which county for our address. Thanks for the info on Crestview, though. If we ever decide to buy into a 55+ community in FL, we will definitely look into the insurance costs when making our decision.
Great info! Why do you thing SD over TX when your chart has a bigger savings in TX? Is that because of your business you are planning to start? Side note- are you guys going to be at the Tampa show?
TX would require a CDL-tyoe license because of our size and SD just seems so much easier and user-friendly. We just left Tampa and are heading towards TX, so no Tampa show for us.
@ oh dang that’s too bad! We are headed that way later this week. Thanks again for the info on your decision making process. Safe travels! - Mike and Shelley
I'm taking the advanced tech and inspector classes. I'm not sure exactly how much it is because my GI Bill is paying for it, but I want to say it's close to $15K for both. Definitely not cheap! Lol
First, thank you for this video. It's my first time watching one of your videos. Also, happy and wonderful new year. I'm considering NH for residency. It has no sales tax and no state income tax (except for revenues from investments). When you buy a 100k RV, sales tax get very expensive... Anyway, I wish you continued success for all of your adventures.
We are currently researching TN. Not sure on the difficulty of proving / maintaining residency (we have relatives so it is pretty easy), but everything else is way cheap. No tax on vehicles, very low flat fee registrations. Very few rules (pick a rural county - no rules at all!), great insurance, no income tax, if you buy a vacant lot for your RV (storage barn & easy residency) very low property tax - like 50-100/yr, but almost 10 percent sales tax. But if you live across the border from KY or GA or MO or if your traveling you don't pay TN sales tax anyway. Still verifying everything, but way better than FL. BTW for a 'free' state Texas really sucks. They have the most inconsistent and intolerable nit picking rules and laws. Vehicle inspections ayfkm! Also, I was really hot on SD a few years ago but I got bulletins that said they were cracking down on part time residents using the the one day stay rule. I don't know if that stuck or went back to 1 day stay but you best check on that if thats the way you go. Montana is also very good but the charge vehicle taxes that can seem complicated and SD & Montana are too far north!
Choosing a state for residency is no easy task. We thought it was going to be when we first started...just pick one of the top three. Hahaha, were we wrong.
So did you compare insurance rates between companies to see if you're getting the best rate instead of just going with the company you have now? We found out the company we were with was charging us over $600 a year more than the lowest rate and comparable coverage.
We only compared USAA quotes because we've been really pleased with them over the years. I hesitate to go with another company that's cheaper only to find they fail us when we need them. Not saying there aren't good insurers out there, but I guess I'm paying for peace of mind.
Just curious.... the insurance rate you are using for Indiana, is that based on your insurance company knowing you are going full-time RV living? We had quite an awakening going full-time from sticks and bricks living. Insurance rates increased significantly.
Do you need to inspect your vehicle to establish residency and is there a yearly inspection in south Dakota? You mentioned the rv but not the truck. Thanks
On your pressure regulator why not plumb it hard in the unit. I have mine after the water hose real and before the water filter, it is set to 60psi. Never an issue. As someone else has said Fl has reciprocity on the sales tax after 6 mos. ownership. So no issue. I have lived in TX for 20 years and FL for the last 15 years. Yes, we do have some higher insurance rates but again as someone else has said it is zip code dependent. Central FL is less than on either coast. Exception might be Orlando and all along that I-4 corridor give or take 15 miles north or south. If you are looking to do RV inspections or repairs as it seems you are, keep in mind that TX is spread out. El Paso TX to Orange TX is 858 miles and Brownsville to Peryton TX is 844 miles. Key Largo FL to Yulee FL north - south is 447 miles and East - West from Clearwater to Indian River Shores is 175. Pensacola - Jax is 375 miles. Your main RV resort areas are from Ocala south to Naples and from West Palm up to Saint Augustine. Put yourself somewhere in the middle and you will be busy. The Keys are a land of its own, more boaters than RV’ers. All of FL is south of Austin TX, here in Port Saint Lucie we are bitching today as I will only get to 60*. It’s 13* in Spearfish SD. Fl has the third highest number, 53, Military installation in the country not counting over 35 USCG stations, seven VA hospitals. So as retired military you will have easy access to all those bases.
All of those are good points, but no matter which state we establish residency in, we will be out of the state more than in the state, at least for the foreseeable future. We plan to travel the entire country and see all the things as long as it's still enjoyable for us. I do like the availability of military bases, but not the traffic in FL, lol. Maybe all of FL isn't like that, but we had atrocious traffic in Tampa, lol.
From what I read in South Dakota guidelines that 4% you're talking about is tax on goods and services not plates. From What I understand from a resident there that state goes by weight of the vehicle to register it. They have no taxes on plates.
It was essentially them requiring you to pay the difference between where you previously paid sales tax on your RV or truck and their rate if you paid less than their rate. Since it's only a one-time fee, it's not as bad as some other states that hit you year after year.
@@fairwindsrv Yeah my bad you guys addressed that on video after I wrote that! Yeah I live in Nebraska and 7.25% sales tax for everything including a wheel tax you get hit with every year. except restaurants and drive thru where that tax in 9.0%.
I've heard from another TH-camr in TX that vehicle registration is a pain. Apparently you must be in TX annually to have a vehicle inspection before you can get it registered. Something you might want to take a look at. You wouldn't want to be across the country and have to pick up and get to TX for an inspection.
As of 2025, you no longer need a yearly inspection. The only reason to be there in person now is if you register in a select few counties that require an emissions inspection.
I did see where some counties in Texas have done away with vehicle inspections. That was a law that was passed last year when it goes in effect I am not sure!
It looks like it's 6% plus a discretionary sales surtax (if you reside in a county that imposes one - and it says most of them do). The discretionary tax is only on the first $5,000 and ranges from .5%-2%, with most counties in the 1%-1.5% range.
@ Ok thanks for clarification good to know. We are 2.5 years fulltime and have kept our SC residency sales tax on purchase is capped at $300 but there is property tax.
@@fairwindsrv if you are traveling it becomes hard business wise. Being stationary may help, but come tax time traveling is a nightmare, some states even require a special permit if you are not a business registered in their state. Pam and Howard who were the brains behind the inspection courses also just left the NRVIA because of how things are headed at the school. Also keep in mind the insurance cost of the business, the inspection software is expensive and a pain, plus there becomes a yearly required fee that you have to pay the school to continue being listed as certified. There is another school in Indiana that many also recommend.
We found this to be totally different. Florida is the state we choose. Health Insurance was a big deal for us, and Florida had the best option for insurance that we could use in most states. Our RV ins (Class A) is less than 1800 per year, and about 55 per year for registration. Our jeep ins is about 1300 per year and registration is about 40 per year. In Florida, we pay no state income tax. In all, this was the less expensive state for us. Please recheck youi insurance rate for your truck, that seemed excessive. We use State Farm for our Insurance Carrier. We do have Full Time RV insurance.
Medical insurance isn't a consideration for us as we have Tricare, but it would be for a lot of people. Thanks for the info on that. We use USAA for our auto insurance because we love their customer service, but they do tend to be a little higher than other companies.
Have you heard anything about not being able to get your government pension deposited if you don’t have a physical residence? I heard something about that once, but I haven’t heard anything recently.
I haven't but I wonder if that's more tied to needing a physical address to get a bank account for it to be deposited into. Luckily Escapees provides a recognized street address to help with that. I'm not sure about the other mailing services.
True, but in our situation, IN and FL were about even for this year and then IN would go down even more every year afterwards. For us, if you just consider the RV and truck insurance, registration costs, and taxes, FL is way more expensive than SD or TX.
I live in FL. My 2020 Colorado annual insurance is $800 a year full coverage. My 2016 30 foot motorhome insurance is under $900 a year. Your insurance prices are waaay high.
We are full-time so I wonder if that adds anything, plus the truck is a dually and that tends to make for higher premiums. Are you happy with your insurance provider?
It’s zip codes. We live in Texas and because we are 50 min from the coast and our county is so big we pay a phenomenal amount for insurance. If we were to move 20 mins southwest we would pay way less. Crazy how that works lol.
The only benefit to Fla is you have first shot at state parks and so on as resident that's why so many full timers do it most of them are older and are chasing the warmer climate, we are in a similar situation to you I have full benefit plus retirement from VA plus social security and a partial retirement from a construction union so Fla is still on our list also no property tax for 100% disabled Vetrans and that helps make up for insurance difference
That's pretty cheap, it what are you using to haul your fifth wheel? A lot of the cost of insurance is based on how much damage your vehicle will do to other vehicles or property, so the cost for our dually is higher than our daughter's sedan.
Rv’ers in Florida should pay an out of state fee for using our public service. Your insurance could be basic on credit score. I pay less than 1/2 for a year on two 100,000 full coverage vehicle. Mine house and car insurance does go down every few years. I have a classic car we drive, full cover for 230.00 per year. Florida is not expensive. Good do not stay.
Thanks for such a positive and welcoming comment! Lol. It's not a credit issue. They don't even run a credit check, so not sure why you think that. We're glad you're insurance costs are low, but that is NOT the norm for Florida. Have a wonderful day and thanks for dropping by!
@@fairwindsrvThis is my first time on your YT channel & I really appreciate your info. Idk y this guy has a problem with your information bc I’ve heard from many RVrs that insurance costs for everything has gone up everywhere. My auto, flood, boat & home insurance has gone up & I live in NC. 😢😊
@willowdreams1786 thanks! We've found that we can't please everyone. Yeah, I agree. Insurance is going up everywhere, but places like FL and NC are getting hit hard because of the storm damage, not only from the most recent storms but just the sheer number they get hit with.
We just changed from Colorado to South Dakota residency. We have had our Heavy Duty Volvo Truck registered and insured in South Dakota for a year and a half while we await our New Horizons 5th Wheel to finish up here any day. Super easy in South Dakota.
We have lived in NV for 20 years and for RVing you have a couple considerations. First insurance costs are high due to accidents and hit and runs and registration costs are terrible. The do it every year off your MSRP. MY truck is $800 a year in registration. Our 13 year old SUV is still $200 a year. The RV which is $52K on the DMV records is $900 a year, So that is almost $2000 a year to register the vehicle, due to all the governmental taxes that make up the total reg cost. Registration is so bad, people keep their california tags. We are not going to keep domicile in NV when retiring as insurance and registration will kill you. The only plus is not state tax. But all the other places are better.
This makes me glad I live in NY. The registration for our motorhome is $70.00 for 2 years and the insurance is $784 per year. I do not pay state income taxes on my pension or social security. The property taxes on our house is high, but we expected to get a reduction this year since I turned 65.
@@fairwindsrv absolutely! It doesn't matter much which state you live in, they will get their money one way or another. For myself, I already paid taxes on my pension over the working years which is the reason it is not taxed now that I am retired. We still have sales tax, tolls on our thruways and bridges and other areas.
We wanted to stay at MacDill this year but they changed there breed restrictions to exclude our pups. Not a hugh deal but have a couple good friends that are in law enforcement in Tampa. We ended up in a nice city park in Miami. We stayed here in 23 and liked it so chose it again as a launch for our RV Tech/Inspection ventures.(still in its crawl phase) We have those exact same MoRryde shirts lol, funny how many things we share in common with you two! We looked into the domicile stuff for a few months in 2022 and in mid 2023 chose for our situation to do South Dakota and have no regrets. Everything you shared is on par with what we deal with except your truck insurance is about half of mine…… good ole USAA taking me for a ride I guess haha. We also did experience the previous states sales tax being paid meant all we paid in SD was registration fees and I believe they based it off axles and weight so it’s not too bad really, wife just hit 100 with VA so both our vehicles are at 20 dollars per year total and the RV renewal is still the same. The other nice part to SD residency is unlike Texas which I was a resident for more than half of my military career, SD is just a much more enjoyable part of the country to visit and be associated with. That’s obviously my biased opinion but Texas…..I mean you’ll have a solid barometer for the place after a few months in Athens so let me know your thoughts lol. Solid video and thanks for sharing all your research as it helps a lot of folks in the decision making process when they see it from a comparative angle!
Sorry for the late reply. Are you planning to stay down in Miami for the business or move around? We have USAA as well and I wonder why your insurance is so much higher. We've been in Texas previously and liked certain areas (San Antonio Riverwalk, Big Bend), but agree that SD is probably more to our liking.
My experience of car registration and residency application in Florida was surprisingly smooth and easy. I didn't need any printed materials at all. Just change the addresses of your bank, insurance, or utility accounts first and then show these accounts on your phone to the agent at the service counter.
Unfortunately we had to print the mailing paperwork for Escapees because it had to be notorized. If not for that, we could have done everything electronically.
This was a really great breakdown on residency costs! This will be SUPER helpful for people!
Thank you!
From living in Florida before, high auto insurance is due to the massive number of uninsured drivers. Lots of hit-and-runs, my wife was actually a victim to that in 2019 and our insurance had to cover everything.
Well...now that we've spent some time down here, it's not just a joke that Florida has some of the worst drivers. It's been interesting.
Asa native Floridian currently living in FL, but through my various PCS location throughout the US and the world, FL was consistently higher. The one culprit was "No Fault Insurance". Florida has the regular liability and damages like all other State policies, but then they add "No Fault". It is like a rider with it's own line item cost that bumps the premium even higher. Still remember my last duty station in Phoenix, returning to Orlando - about the same size metropolis - the "No Fault" is what bumped the premium higher on the same vehicle. Vehicle license has always been less as Florida bases it on the weight putting wear and tear on the road, where Arizona and many other States base it on the value (ad valorem) traveling over the road. Hate to say it but as a 5th generation native Floridian, I have started looking around. Home insurance (no full time RV) is well known absurd. But while you are too young, Medicare Supplemental Insurance really drove it home as I faked different zip codes on the calculator and Florida was probably in the top 10% most costly nationally for the same plan G or Plan F coverage with some States half the cost.
I wonder why FLs Medicare premiums are so high. I know there are probably more seniors here than in other states, but I can't imagine that's the overriding reason.
All of the states you mentioned have the reciprocity for the tax you have already paid for your rv and vehicles. As long as the amount is more than their tax. So Florida if you have used/owned your vehicle outside the state for more than 6 months you do not have to pay the excise tax. Texas you have to pay the excise tax if your tax was less than their tax. Hope that all makes sense.
Yeah, we just misread the SD requirement and thought it was an actual registration fee like IN requires you to pay a registration fee each year AND an excise tax based on the current market value.
Funny your video came up in my suggested list and the title got my attention. Then I recognized the beach, which is where we are right now. We're looking to change residency within the next couple of years and looking at those same states as possibilities. Just beginning the research phase and every little kernel of information helps! Thanks for this one!
Thanks for watching! I would recommend researching the various mail services, if that's the route you're going to use, to see which county you would be domiciled in as another viewer mentioned rates can vary county by county. Since we're not ready to buy a home base, we're stuck with a mailing service.
Don’t feel dumb ! We all make similar mistakes…
Yes. Yes we do! 😂
Yes, for you, Florida is not a great value. But most of my income would be taxed in Indiana or most other states because most of my income comes from stocks so Florida to me is an absolute steal of a deal even with those other enhanced costs. People need to really carefully think it through becauseI would lose a fortune if I stayed in a state income tax state on my stocks.
That's really what we were trying to say. For us, it wasn't the right time to switch. It really depends on the situation, and like you said, everyone needs to think it through and make an informed decision.
We have been FTers since 2012. We chose SD as our domicile state and have been generally happy with that decision. No emissions or vehicle inspections for our MH and no special operator's license to obtain. We use one of the "big" mail forwarding services in SD to handle and forward our mail. Never had a problem with them in the 12 years we've FTed. When we started FTing, we owned a home in VA. We flew out to SD at the end of December (not the brightest idea) and secured our SD registrations for our MH and car, operator's licenses, registered to vote, obtained a library card and set up our mail forwarding service all within 3 hours. We certainly wouldn't have been able to do that back in VA.
SD just seems like the way to go since they make it so easy.
No mention of drivers licenses. Insurance is driven by weather in TX and FL.
We almost mentioned the licenses, lol.
@fairwindsrv Also dont forget you will need fulltime insurance on your RV. Big difference.
You could also take that screen and turn it upside down so the bubble is in words.
I thought so, too...at first. But my regulator has a lip right at the inlet that sticks out just far enough that I can't turn the screen around without crunching it. I'll have to pay attention to that next time I buy one.
We wanted to satay at MacDill this year but they changed there breed restrictions to exclude our pups. Not a high deal but have a couple good friends that are in law enforcement in Tampa. We ended up in a nice coy park in Miami. We stayed here in 23 and liked it so chose it again as a launch for our RV Tech/Inspection ventures.(still in its crawl phase)
We have those exact same MoRryde shirts lol, funny how many things we share in common with you two!
We looked into the domicile stuff for a few months in 2022 and in mid 2023 chose for our situation to do South Dakota and have no regrets. Everything you shared is on par with what we deal with except your truck insurance is about half of mine…… good ole USAA taking me for a ride I guess haha. We also did experience the previous states sales tax being paid meant all we paid in SD was registration fees and I believe they based it off axles and weight so it’s not too bad really, wife just hit 100 with VA so both our vehicles are at 20 dollars per year total and the RV renewal is still the same. The other nice part to SD residency is unlike Texas which I was a resident for more than half of my military career, SD is just a much more enjoyable part of the country to visit and be associated with. That’s obviously my biased opinion but Texas…..I mean you’ll have a solid barometer for the place after a few months in Athens so let me know your thoughts lol.
Solid video and thanks for sharing all your research as it helps a lot of folks in the decision making process when they see it from a comparative angle!
We are FTers domiciled in Louisiana, as we were LA residents before we went FT and it was easier to do so than get new DLs, registrations, etc. in another state. There's good and bad for FTers domiciled here. The state treats retirees favorably income tax wise. It works out for us as we have SS income, a couple small pensions and take about $8k/yr out of our IRA, yet we only pay about $50 in state income taxes annually and no federal income tax. If you work FT here, you will pay the flat 3% state income tax now. Initial vehicle registration here is super expensive. Each parish has different sales tax rates. The one I am domiciled in has a sales tax rate of 10.25% (some are over 12.5%). This means not only will a $100k vehicle cost $10,250+ to register initially but everything you buy online from Amazon or other big online vendors will also be taxed at that rate.
After the initial registration, renewals are cheap. Our motorhome and toad only cost us $80 to renew both their registrations every 2 years - that's $20/vehicle/yr. You can't beat that! Our insurance on both vehicles is a little over $1,000/yr. Vehicle inspections in my parish don't require smog checks and aren't required to renew your registration. This means that if we don't return to the state, we don't have to get our vehicle inspected till we do. They are serious about your vehicle being insured though. If you let your coverage lapse just by one day the state DMV will fine you hundreds of dollars.
Wow! We thought IN had a high sales tax.
At the water faucet I use a simple water hose shutoff between the anti-backflow device and the regulator.
Good idea! Thanks for sharing!
Your making me feel real good about Oregon
Haha, glad we could help! It's crazy how each state, and even each county, is so vastly different from each other.
In Florida insurance costs vary widely based on your zip code…in crestview fl, my rv mail would lower your insurance rate a lot.
Unfortunately we're limited on locations when using a mail service. It would be much nicer if we could choose which county for our address. Thanks for the info on Crestview, though. If we ever decide to buy into a 55+ community in FL, we will definitely look into the insurance costs when making our decision.
There is a huge learning curve. Besides, 😊we are all human or trolls😊
Haha, yes and yes!
Great info! Why do you thing SD over TX when your chart has a bigger savings in TX? Is that because of your business you are planning to start? Side note- are you guys going to be at the Tampa show?
TX would require a CDL-tyoe license because of our size and SD just seems so much easier and user-friendly. We just left Tampa and are heading towards TX, so no Tampa show for us.
@ oh dang that’s too bad! We are headed that way later this week. Thanks again for the info on your decision making process. Safe travels! - Mike and Shelley
How much does that school cost? The repair tech part? Just wondering. 🤔
I’ll probably register in Texas. Join Escapees. ✌🏼
I'm taking the advanced tech and inspector classes. I'm not sure exactly how much it is because my GI Bill is paying for it, but I want to say it's close to $15K for both. Definitely not cheap! Lol
First, thank you for this video. It's my first time watching one of your videos. Also, happy and wonderful new year. I'm considering NH for residency. It has no sales tax and no state income tax (except for revenues from investments). When you buy a 100k RV, sales tax get very expensive... Anyway, I wish you continued success for all of your adventures.
You're welcome and thanks for watching! Yeah, paying the sales tax in IN was quite painful, lol.
We are currently researching TN. Not sure on the difficulty of proving / maintaining residency (we have relatives so it is pretty easy), but everything else is way cheap. No tax on vehicles, very low flat fee registrations. Very few rules (pick a rural county - no rules at all!), great insurance, no income tax, if you buy a vacant lot for your RV (storage barn & easy residency) very low property tax - like 50-100/yr, but almost 10 percent sales tax. But if you live across the border from KY or GA or MO or if your traveling you don't pay TN sales tax anyway.
Still verifying everything, but way better than FL. BTW for a 'free' state Texas really sucks. They have the most inconsistent and intolerable nit picking rules and laws. Vehicle inspections ayfkm!
Also, I was really hot on SD a few years ago but I got bulletins that said they were cracking down on part time residents using the the one day stay rule. I don't know if that stuck or went back to 1 day stay but you best check on that if thats the way you go. Montana is also very good but the charge vehicle taxes that can seem complicated and SD & Montana are too far north!
Choosing a state for residency is no easy task. We thought it was going to be when we first started...just pick one of the top three. Hahaha, were we wrong.
Great info! Why do you thing SD over TX when your chart has a bigger savings in TX? Is that because of your business you are planning to start?
Thanks! Texas requires a special CDL license because of our size and SD seems super easy.
So did you compare insurance rates between companies to see if you're getting the best rate instead of just going with the company you have now?
We found out the company we were with was charging us over $600 a year more than the lowest rate and comparable coverage.
We only compared USAA quotes because we've been really pleased with them over the years. I hesitate to go with another company that's cheaper only to find they fail us when we need them. Not saying there aren't good insurers out there, but I guess I'm paying for peace of mind.
Just curious.... the insurance rate you are using for Indiana, is that based on your insurance company knowing you are going full-time RV living? We had quite an awakening going full-time from sticks and bricks living. Insurance rates increased significantly.
I'm almost positive that it is a full-time policy, but will check just to make sure. Thanks for the reminder!
Do you need to inspect your vehicle to establish residency and is there a yearly inspection in south Dakota?
You mentioned the rv but not the truck. Thanks
No and no. It looks like SD is the most user-friendly of the top three full-timer states. Wish we had known that sooner, lol.
On your pressure regulator why not plumb it hard in the unit. I have mine after the water hose real and before the water filter, it is set to 60psi. Never an issue.
As someone else has said Fl has reciprocity on the sales tax after 6 mos. ownership. So no issue. I have lived in TX for 20 years and FL for the last 15 years. Yes, we do have some higher insurance rates but again as someone else has said it is zip code dependent. Central FL is less than on either coast. Exception might be Orlando and all along that I-4 corridor give or take 15 miles north or south.
If you are looking to do RV inspections or repairs as it seems you are, keep in mind that TX is spread out. El Paso TX to Orange TX is 858 miles and Brownsville to Peryton TX is 844 miles. Key Largo FL to Yulee FL north - south is 447 miles and East - West from Clearwater to Indian River Shores is 175. Pensacola - Jax is 375 miles.
Your main RV resort areas are from Ocala south to Naples and from West Palm up to Saint Augustine. Put yourself somewhere in the middle and you will be busy. The Keys are a land of its own, more boaters than RV’ers.
All of FL is south of Austin TX, here in Port Saint Lucie we are bitching today as I will only get to 60*. It’s 13* in Spearfish SD.
Fl has the third highest number, 53, Military installation in the country not counting over 35 USCG stations, seven VA hospitals. So as retired military you will have easy access to all those bases.
All of those are good points, but no matter which state we establish residency in, we will be out of the state more than in the state, at least for the foreseeable future. We plan to travel the entire country and see all the things as long as it's still enjoyable for us.
I do like the availability of military bases, but not the traffic in FL, lol. Maybe all of FL isn't like that, but we had atrocious traffic in Tampa, lol.
From what I read in South Dakota guidelines that 4% you're talking about is tax on goods and services not plates. From What I understand from a resident there that state goes by weight of the vehicle to register it. They have no taxes on plates.
It was essentially them requiring you to pay the difference between where you previously paid sales tax on your RV or truck and their rate if you paid less than their rate. Since it's only a one-time fee, it's not as bad as some other states that hit you year after year.
@@fairwindsrv Yeah my bad you guys addressed that on video after I wrote that! Yeah I live in Nebraska and 7.25% sales tax for everything including a wheel tax you get hit with every year. except restaurants and drive thru where that tax in 9.0%.
I've heard from another TH-camr in TX that vehicle registration is a pain. Apparently you must be in TX annually to have a vehicle inspection before you can get it registered. Something you might want to take a look at. You wouldn't want to be across the country and have to pick up and get to TX for an inspection.
As of 2025, you no longer need a yearly inspection. The only reason to be there in person now is if you register in a select few counties that require an emissions inspection.
I did see where some counties in Texas have done away with vehicle inspections. That was a law that was passed last year when it goes in effect I am not sure!
My understanding was January for that.
Also in Florida, (correct me if wrong) if you buy a new rv in the future residents pay 10% sales tax. That could be significant.
It looks like it's 6% plus a discretionary sales surtax (if you reside in a county that imposes one - and it says most of them do). The discretionary tax is only on the first $5,000 and ranges from .5%-2%, with most counties in the 1%-1.5% range.
@ Ok thanks for clarification good to know. We are 2.5 years fulltime and have kept our SC residency sales tax on purchase is capped at $300 but there is property tax.
If you own property/ real estate in Indiana you must file income tax annually no matter where you establish your residency.
Great point! Good thing we don't own any property there...or anywhere else. Lol.
The title said costly mistakes. So you're stretching the video out talking about weather and water spigots. Bye thumbs down. Get to the point.
New to the TH-cam world are ya? 😂😂 It's chaptered out...you can quickly get to the point yourself. Thanks for stopping by!
Good luck with the NRVIA. Good info but businesswise not a good move.
Why do you say it's not a good business move? Is there something we're missing and need to research?
@@fairwindsrv if you are traveling it becomes hard business wise. Being stationary may help, but come tax time traveling is a nightmare, some states even require a special permit if you are not a business registered in their state.
Pam and Howard who were the brains behind the inspection courses also just left the NRVIA because of how things are headed at the school. Also keep in mind the insurance cost of the business, the inspection software is expensive and a pain, plus there becomes a yearly required fee that you have to pay the school to continue being listed as certified. There is another school in Indiana that many also recommend.
Great information and things to consider. I would have thought that any state would be cheaper than Indiana!
Thanks! I think a lot of it is the situation.
We found this to be totally different. Florida is the state we choose. Health Insurance was a big deal for us, and Florida had the best option for insurance that we could use in most states. Our RV ins (Class A) is less than 1800 per year, and about 55 per year for registration. Our jeep ins is about 1300 per year and registration is about 40 per year.
In Florida, we pay no state income tax. In all, this was the less expensive state for us. Please recheck youi insurance rate for your truck, that seemed excessive.
We use State Farm for our Insurance Carrier. We do have Full Time RV insurance.
Medical insurance isn't a consideration for us as we have Tricare, but it would be for a lot of people. Thanks for the info on that. We use USAA for our auto insurance because we love their customer service, but they do tend to be a little higher than other companies.
@@fairwindsrv We have access to USAA, but it was just too expensive for us, State Farm beat their rates by an huge margin.
Have you ever had a claim with them? If so, what did you think about their customer service? We've never used them.
Have you heard anything about not being able to get your government pension deposited if you don’t have a physical residence? I heard something about that once, but I haven’t heard anything recently.
I haven't but I wonder if that's more tied to needing a physical address to get a bank account for it to be deposited into. Luckily Escapees provides a recognized street address to help with that. I'm not sure about the other mailing services.
Thank you very much!
What about property taxes in Indiana on your camper and truck? None in Florida.
True, but in our situation, IN and FL were about even for this year and then IN would go down even more every year afterwards. For us, if you just consider the RV and truck insurance, registration costs, and taxes, FL is way more expensive than SD or TX.
I live in FL. My 2020 Colorado annual insurance is $800 a year full coverage. My 2016 30 foot motorhome insurance is under $900 a year. Your insurance prices are waaay high.
We are full-time so I wonder if that adds anything, plus the truck is a dually and that tends to make for higher premiums. Are you happy with your insurance provider?
@@fairwindsrv Yes, Progressive.
I'll need to check them out.
It’s zip codes. We live in Texas and because we are 50 min from the coast and our county is so big we pay a phenomenal amount for insurance. If we were to move 20 mins southwest we would pay way less. Crazy how that works lol.
@lemichaeljohnson2069 we will definitely need to price various counties when we make the switch next time.
The only benefit to Fla is you have first shot at state parks and so on as resident that's why so many full timers do it most of them are older and are chasing the warmer climate, we are in a similar situation to you I have full benefit plus retirement from VA plus social security and a partial retirement from a construction union so Fla is still on our list also no property tax for 100% disabled Vetrans and that helps make up for insurance difference
True, good points, especially the 100% disability benefits.
You need to find insurance company I live in FL I pay $3900 a year for 42' fifth wheel Toyota RAV 4 and 1952 MGTD and boat
That's pretty cheap, it what are you using to haul your fifth wheel? A lot of the cost of insurance is based on how much damage your vehicle will do to other vehicles or property, so the cost for our dually is higher than our daughter's sedan.
Rv’ers in Florida should pay an out of state fee for using our public service. Your insurance could be basic on credit score. I pay less than 1/2 for a year on two 100,000 full coverage vehicle. Mine house and car insurance does go down every few years. I have a classic car we drive, full cover for 230.00 per year. Florida is not expensive. Good do not stay.
Thanks for such a positive and welcoming comment! Lol. It's not a credit issue. They don't even run a credit check, so not sure why you think that. We're glad you're insurance costs are low, but that is NOT the norm for Florida. Have a wonderful day and thanks for dropping by!
@@fairwindsrvThis is my first time on your YT channel & I really appreciate your info. Idk y this guy has a problem with your information bc I’ve heard from many RVrs that insurance costs for everything has gone up everywhere. My auto, flood, boat & home insurance has gone up & I live in NC. 😢😊
@willowdreams1786 thanks! We've found that we can't please everyone. Yeah, I agree. Insurance is going up everywhere, but places like FL and NC are getting hit hard because of the storm damage, not only from the most recent storms but just the sheer number they get hit with.
We just changed from Colorado to South Dakota residency. We have had our Heavy Duty Volvo Truck registered and insured in South Dakota for a year and a half while we await our New Horizons 5th Wheel to finish up here any day. Super easy in South Dakota.
Awesome! We've heard nothing but good things about it being so easy in SD.
Are you guys aware that there are 5 States to domicile in? Your missing Tennessee and Nevada.
We'll need to look into those and see how they compare to the others. I never knew that they were considered RV-friendly. Thanks for the tip!
We have lived in NV for 20 years and for RVing you have a couple considerations. First insurance costs are high due to accidents and hit and runs and registration costs are terrible. The do it every year off your MSRP. MY truck is $800 a year in registration. Our 13 year old SUV is still $200 a year. The RV which is $52K on the DMV records is $900 a year, So that is almost $2000 a year to register the vehicle, due to all the governmental taxes that make up the total reg cost. Registration is so bad, people keep their california tags. We are not going to keep domicile in NV when retiring as insurance and registration will kill you. The only plus is not state tax. But all the other places are better.
Wow! That sounds like IN and a big reason why we were looking elsewhere.
@@fairwindsrvTennessee is good option.
You will need a class A noncomercel drivers license in Texas.
Yeah, that's a negative for TX on our personal pros and cons list.
Your dog is controlling your mind!
This makes me glad I live in NY. The registration for our motorhome is $70.00 for 2 years and the insurance is $784 per year. I do not pay state income taxes on my pension or social security. The property taxes on our house is high, but we expected to get a reduction this year since I turned 65.
$35/year is a really good price, along with your insurance rate. Do the house property taxes pretty much eat up the savings?
@@fairwindsrv absolutely! It doesn't matter much which state you live in, they will get their money one way or another. For myself, I already paid taxes on my pension over the working years which is the reason it is not taxed now that I am retired. We still have sales tax, tolls on our thruways and bridges and other areas.
So true, they'll get you one way or another.
Hi Patty, my property tax in NY was $18000 A year for a 3 bedroom 1 bath house. It was time to leave
@tonyru303 holy cow that's a lot of money!
We wanted to stay at MacDill this year but they changed there breed restrictions to exclude our pups. Not a hugh deal but have a couple good friends that are in law enforcement in Tampa. We ended up in a nice city park in Miami. We stayed here in 23 and liked it so chose it again as a launch for our RV Tech/Inspection ventures.(still in its crawl phase)
We have those exact same MoRryde shirts lol, funny how many things we share in common with you two!
We looked into the domicile stuff for a few months in 2022 and in mid 2023 chose for our situation to do South Dakota and have no regrets. Everything you shared is on par with what we deal with except your truck insurance is about half of mine…… good ole USAA taking me for a ride I guess haha. We also did experience the previous states sales tax being paid meant all we paid in SD was registration fees and I believe they based it off axles and weight so it’s not too bad really, wife just hit 100 with VA so both our vehicles are at 20 dollars per year total and the RV renewal is still the same. The other nice part to SD residency is unlike Texas which I was a resident for more than half of my military career, SD is just a much more enjoyable part of the country to visit and be associated with. That’s obviously my biased opinion but Texas…..I mean you’ll have a solid barometer for the place after a few months in Athens so let me know your thoughts lol.
Solid video and thanks for sharing all your research as it helps a lot of folks in the decision making process when they see it from a comparative angle!
Sorry for the late reply. Are you planning to stay down in Miami for the business or move around? We have USAA as well and I wonder why your insurance is so much higher.
We've been in Texas previously and liked certain areas (San Antonio Riverwalk, Big Bend), but agree that SD is probably more to our liking.