Sounds like a great plan to me! I don't know your budget but there are a lot of older coaches out there that have been treated very well. You are in a great part of the country for this as well. You have the premier Prevost service center in Goodlettsville, East Tennessee Luxury Coach and many others for support, education and sales.

It sounds like you like working on things so you might look at one of the converters that place more emphasis on ease of maintenance rather than on how much bling and technology they can squeeze into 45 feet.

You already know what you need to live on the road so you know what you are looking for. Learn about the different converters, look at several and have a great time.

As George said, a good pre-purchase inspection will save you a ton of money and heart ache. Even after a good inspection, I would hold back $20k or so for things that will just show up randomly. After that budget $10 to $12k per year and you should be good if you are doing the small to medium things yourself.

As you learn about the different converters and start to have questions, put them here and this amazing group of people will be more than happy to help you.