Working in the Federal prison system as I do, we have many staff who transfer to other prisons every three years or so, on promotion, or to gain wider experience to equip themselves for promotion. I guess it's a bit like military families in that respect. Anyway, what several of them have chosen to do is to buy a large travel trailer, and when they move, they use the trailer for the first two to three months while they scope out the local real estate market. They then buy something suitable, and lay up the trailer until next time (using it for holiday travel as well, of course).
One of them told me recently that by looking around, one can get a good 25-30 foot trailer for plus-or-minus $10K (used), and that with normal care, this should last for ten to twenty years. He reckons he and his family have saved a lot more than the cost of the trailer by using it as temporary housing during his moves, and by being able to shop around more carefully at his new post. He has three kids, but says that this really isn't a problem: the "master bedroom" in the trailer is separate, and his kids sleep either on the sofas, or in a tent outside the trailer, which is an adventure for them. Most trailer parks have decent bathrooms, so hygiene isn't a major problem.
Might be worth thinking about.
