When we were moving from VA to FL in 2000, we went to rent a trailer so we could move my husband’s motorcycle and we ended up buying a brand-new 4X8 open trailer for about $800. At the time, it killed me to spend the money, but doggone, has it paid off in the long run. That trailer moved our daughter from Jacksonville to Orlando for college, moved us from FL back to MD, moved furniture from OH to NC for the inlaws, and has made more runs from home to the landfill than we could count. It’s parked behind our shed until we need it again.
Anyway, the only advice I have - make sure you use/buy a trailer with full-size tires. They do so much better on the highway and don’t overheat as readily as the smaller ones.
Why would you expect to lose money on the trailer when you sell it? Buy a used trailer and you should be able to get as much as you paid or more. A used trailer should not depreciate significantly from one trip.
IF the OP was buying & selling in the same locale this would be excellent thinking. BUT …
The OP is buying in WI and selling in FL. Along with thousands of other folks who’ve moved to FL in the last 6 months. Many of whom brought utility trailers with them that they’re now eager to get rid of.
In the Midwest it’s easy to stow a disused trailer in your large backyard or find somebody with a plot of land who’ll rent you a spot to store it for $50/year. In coastal FL, where land rents for several dollars per square inch per month not so much. So around here yards are smaller, HOAs don’t permit trailers in driveways, and dedicated boat / RV / trailer storage yards charge $150/month to store a utility trailer. Pretty quickly trailer owners are willing to give them away.
So that’s the competition the OP will be facing when he tries to sell such a trailer.
Obviously if he’s moving to a small rural agricultural town in mid-state his experience will be a bit different. But rural folk are famous penny pinchers; they’ll know they can go get an almost free trailer any time they want by driving to a major city/suburb. One tank of gas for a nearly-free trailer sounds like a good tradeoff.
They are usually good about one-way reservations, not so good about short day rentals. They’ve always had a truck for me, for example. Unfortunately, it was rarely the clean, shiny, A/Ced, comfort-glide automatic they promise. I usually got some beat-to-shit thing with a roaring engine, a howling 3-speed with a granny gear, and seats that looked and smelled like they came from the bum terminal at the bus station. Oh, and doors that went KA-LANNGGGG shut on the third try.
We’re actually moving back to Sanibel. My dad is moving off the island and we’re going to live in the house until it sells, but he won’t be putting it on the market for a while. Have a great trip and feel free to send me a PM with any questions!
Speaking of my dad, he’s offered to go in on a trailer with me, since he thinks it will come in handy for the next few months at least after we get down there. So I’m looking for new and used trailers now.
Update, in case anyone’s wondering (they aren’t): I bought a new 5’ x 8’ trailer for $2,000 including tax. Sold it today for $1,500 cash. My dad went in on half of it with me, and after we got down here he used it several times for local moves, so we both ended up spending $250. Not too shabby.
Actually I WAS wondering. Yes, sounds like a good deal all around, kudos. Enjoy Florida, maybe someday soon I’ll join ya there. And thanks for the update.