Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

So, I was thinking about putting an ''H'' on my cabinet doors for a nice custom touch and got to thinking about resale value. Any thought on how custom is too much as far as resale value goes? My grandparents neighbor had an 'm' in the brickwork in thier chimney, had a helluva time selling the house when they went to the home.

Good point. The Compass Rose with a G inside on ours is easily removable.

One of the first things I do when I restore a trailer for resale is DE-personalize it.

Just look at Dan's situation; http://tnttt.com/viewto ... highlight= Now this is extreme, BUT!

Do I think De-personalizing helps in resale? Yes. How much...don't know. Is my current trailer Personalized? Very much so.

But it can be very easily DE-personalized.

I think an emblem that can be taken off is just as effective as notching a "Letter" into a cabinet. A decal can be removed as well as a plaque on an interior wall.

I have lost sales over much scuttler items.

The "M" in the Chimneys Brickwork is a good example.

Happy Trails

Len

I'm just put my trailer up for sale. The Saltire painted on the sides is pretty permanent, unless someone wants to paint over it. I also have some vinyl lettering and graphics on the hatch and sides though. If the new owner wants the graphics removed, then I'll take a half hour and do it.

Like Len said, try to design something that will be easily reversible but still look nice while the trailer is yours. Have some fun with it!

Recently looked at a old U-HAUL unit (yes it was a 396-c or whatever the numbers were) and person had personalized it.... He had put overlays on all the cabinet doors to cover up old U-Haul logos removed all the GAS PIPING and propane tank mounts and stove and heater.... He screwed a wood cutting board onto counter top to cover hole where stove was removed....

Sad part was all the work would have to be reversed to make it nice unit.... IT was only $2500 listed price but would have taken $2500 to bring it back to useable and comfortable condition....



Just be careful what you do, you may be destroying value of unit below what it cost to restore it and make it unsaleable....

Dale

If you decide to sell it replace the doors, or offer to make custom doors with the new owners monogram. Just a wacky thought but if you did sell and replace the doors, hang the old doors like a picture as a momento.

Aaron Coffee wrote:If you decide to sell it replace the doors, or offer to make custom doors with the new owners monogram. Just a wacky thought but if you did sell and replace the doors, hang the old doors like a picture as a momento.

I had thought about this, but getting the stain to match could ba a PITA... Especially when you factor in age and usage.

I had also considered screwing the letters in from the back so they could be changed, but, availability of the same sized letters or chancing that the holes for H would line up with a P, and even if they did, you would still have a nice imprint of the H that didn't get any wear...

I don't know if a former owners initials were on the camper if that would. Stop me if I was seriously. Interested. In it. Small details, it wasn't built new for me, it can be covered over or camoflaged.

Deryk

Deryk the Pirate wrote:I don't know if a former owners initials were on the camper if that would. Stop me if I was seriously. Interested. In it. Small details, it wasn't built new for me, it can be covered over or camoflaged.

Deryk

I'm with Deryk, much like buying a used 'anything' car, house, etc... are the 'bones' good? ok then most of the trimmings etc are negotiable or can be overlooked.

Build and personalize for you... the next owner's going to redo it to their taste anyway...

If I were building it to sell, I would keep it "generic". But if building for myself I would mark it an way I want and make it mine. If there is a next owner they can decide what needs to be changed.

My sister lived in a house with a big "H" built into the chimney. Since it had nothing to do with her name she just told everybody it stood for "Home"....

I agree with Larwyn. We build ours to use. We made it ours. If somewhere down the road we want to sell it, well, we will deal with that when the time comes. It is a part of us, and we wanted to make it comfortable for us.

Greg(and Laurie)

dh wrote:Any thought on how custom is too much as far as resale value goes?

There's lots of people that are buying because they can't do this type of work even to the point of a cabinet door. I'd think that having to remove or strip a lot of really personal touches might not be what they want to do before they could really take it out and call it theirs. Especially if it involves a paint job to remove some NFL etc... team colors logos etc... that they don't give a crap about, whether the team is a winner or not. As a seller you ought to plan on immediately taking a hit on it on your sale price cuz it's gonna take time and money to undo what you did. Same thing with a high dollar sound system in one. Just my opinion. Doug

It seems that the folks that have built several trailers, and either do or almost do it for a living go for the "Vanilla"

There are very few people who have built there first trailer that are satisfied with it for long. Posts throughout this forum substantiate this, in fact I think there's a notation on some avatars that say something to affect of people having built multiple trailers....I think!

At any rate, the second owner is something to consider.

I told a story a while back, a guy came into my shop to put his Teardrop on our lot for sale.

It was a Typical first build, 4X8 on a HF frame, with passable workmanship, nothing built in, just shelves with "Just a little Leak at the hatch" and painted a truly obnoxious Red. A $1200 to $1500 unit.

He had a napkin with Red Skeltons autograph that was laminated into the counter in the galley.

In his opinion that laminated napkin brought the Tear into the $5000 range.

Fact is that it did nothing for the value of the trailer and was probably a deterrent for any potential buyer

Happy Trails

Len

If you are building something for eventual resale, personalization is a bad idea. You are playing to a very small audience and to find someone that shares your monogram or name or whatever is slim, at best. It would be better to build, instead, with a theme that is generally acceptable to a broader demographic. Route 66, Old West, 50's Diner would be good examples, in my opinion. You can have fun, building it as you like it and if the time comes to sell, few people will go, "Ugh, what was he thinking of?"
I post on another site that focuses on V8 motorcycles. One guy had a very nice, show quality trike for sale. It was stunning. It had a very expensive paint job with Biblical scenes on it. Again, with the small audience, the price, the paint scheme, the economy, etc., he ended up taking a bath on the deal. It had to be sold, minus the cost of a new paint job at the least. If you're going to personalize, be prepared for some issues at resale time

Reduced value from Kilroy. Sacre bleu!