Rent continues to climb for community apartments in Rexburg. It’s common to pay $900 to $1,100 dollars per month for a one or two bedroom apartment.
Many married BYU-Idaho students have turned to alternative housing to have more freedom and lower rent.
Chad Lester and Melissa Mason-Lester are one of these couples. They live in a 2006 Class A Winnebago Adventurer.
“If we accidentally break something it’s on us,” Chad Lester said. “We can have free reign with all that.”
The Lesters live at Snake River Hideout in Rexburg. They pay $500 per month for their spot and they cover electricity and gas. The monthly payment for the RV is $460 per month.
“It’s close to what we were paying at an apartment, but half of the money is something we own,” said Mason-Lester.
“And it’s not gonna go up on us everytime we renew a lease,” said Lester.
Winter takes up about half the year in Rexburg, so the Lesters had to be sure they could keep their home warm. Last winter, they bought propane once or twice a week at about $70 per fill up. They also added insulation skirting under the RV.
“We both regretted it a few times,” Mason-Lester said.
“Especially once the snow started to melt and we didn’t have to get propane stuff, it’s fun,” Lester said. “I’ve loved it. It was cool to take it out to Yellowstone for two weeks.”
Teresa Hamberlin manages another RV park, Wind Willows. Hamberlin says most of the residents of the park are older, but the younger non-students have caused issues.
“I’d rather have the college kids here than random people off the street,” Hamberlin said. “They’re more considerate and they keep their places cleaner and less crime.”
“We were in a spot next to some people that kept getting busted and the cops were always there,” said Leah Kelsey, a BYU-Idaho student living at Wind Willows. “We ended up moving spots to the back and then they left or got kicked out. It was always an adventure. There was always something going on, but I never felt unsafe.”
Kelsey and her husband, Andrew, live in her parents’ 2008 Keystone Challenger 5th Wheel. They decided to move into an RV after struggling to find an apartment that would let them rent for only one semester.
Although some neighbors haven’t been the best, most of them are friends with the Kelseys, despite the age gap.
“We hang out with them more than with people our own age,” Leah Kelsey said.
Wind Willows even hosts a barbecue when new students move in to meet everyone.
The Lesters and the Kelseys urge anyone interested in moving into an RV to research beforehand and be willing to sacrifice temporarily to save money.
“If anyone wants to get into it, talk to people who do it beforehand,” said Lester. “And start during the spring or fall. Not winter or summer.”
“We went into it with the mindset that we’re doing this to save money to get ahead,” Andrew Kelsey said.