Posted 2010-08-22 10:37 AM (#123910) Subject: What to do?? Need some opinions
Member
Posts: 48
Location: Stanardsville, VA
Im buying another trailer tomorrow. Im only buying it to fix it up and turn a profit. Its an older gooseneck stock trailer. Needs to be rebuilt,(new floor, lights,wiring,paint all the usual stuff) Its a stock trailer but could hold up to 6 horses if put on a slant. Heres where I need some opinions. The previous owner converted it to a 2 horse with a slant divider and made the front 2/3 of the trailer living quarters. The LQ is in shambles though. Completly homemade and in terrible shape. My thoughts are to gut all of it out and make it back into a complete stock trailer. I think it would be cheaper and I could return a bigger profit. Not sure though. Should I gut it or spend the time rebuilding the LQ? Any opinions would be greatly appreciated.
Posted 2010-08-22 11:26 AM (#123913 - in reply to #123910) Subject: RE: What to do?? Need some opinions
Regular
Posts: 85
Location: Galahad, AB, Canada
After my husband and I put in a weekend package on our trailer last winter, I have a whole new appreciation of the time and effort required. I personally wouldn't buy an older steel trailer for very much money, even if the living quarters was in good shape, because I'd have concerns about the upcoming rust and structural problems. So I wonder how much profit you'll make for all the work when it comes time to resell an older trailer with living quarters.
In our case we did all the work ourselves, kept things very basic, didn't put in furnace, air, running water, holding tanks, etc and still spent about $2500. And it took us about 4 weeks of part-time work with two of us to get the job done.
The costs of simply making the trailer back into a stock trailer would likely be lower, therefore there should be more potential for coming out ahead.