If you’re looking to get a Wisconsin Mobile Home Title for your converted school bus, then this story is for you. Meghan & David Post successfully got their Skoolie, Gus The Bus, titled, registered, and insured in Wisconsin as a motorhome / RV in 2020.

The story of Gus The Bus going from an old school bus to a tiny home on wheels will hopefully inspire you and help you get your bus titled so that you can hit the road sooner!

Getting a Wisconsin mobile home title for a converted school bus is easier than most may think…

DISCLAIMER: Everyone's situation is different. Laws for titling and registering a school bus as a motorhome vary from country to country, state to state, province to province and even city to city. Also, laws, rules and regulations can change without notice. What works for someone in one place, may not be the same for someone else. Use this Skoolie Title Story as a guide to give you the language you need and to get you going. Ultimately, it is your responsibility to verify what's current in your area. This article is for entertainment purposes only and should not be substituted for legal advice. Please consult your local title and registration governmental agency for current processes & procedures.

How To Title & Register A Converted School Bus To A Motor Home In Wisconsin

To get to the bottom of it, we asked Meghan & David some questions to see what was the process in Wisconsin to switch the title from an old school bus into a motor home title. The result is their tiny home on wheels. Here’s what they had to say…

What first intrigued you about building a Skoolie?

I (Meghan) was inspired by @midwestwanderers skoolie and was lost in a rabbit hole of Pinterest and Instagram inspirations!!

When did you acquire your Skoolie?

October 2017

Where did y’all buy your school bus?

We bought our bus from Craigslist!

What components did you need to install to meet the Wisconsin mobile home title requirements to go from school bus to RV?

The only two requirements was that it was painted a different color than school bus yellow, as well as the signage and flashing lights that come on with the stop sign was removed from the outside.

Want our used school bus visual inspection form? Get It Free

Did you get your school bus titled as a motorhome/RV in Wisconsin before or after conversion?

We completed our conversion before going through the motorhome title and registration process.

So let us get this straight, you got your temporary license plate BEFORE registering as a motorhome while waiting for the metal plates to arrive?

This question has a fully loaded answer. We left Wisconsin to drive our converted bus to Illinois to further wait out COVID-19. We attempted to JUST get temporary plates in Wisconsin and register the bus in Arkansas, but the Wisconsin DMV told us we needed to pay the troll tolls 🙂

We ended up registering the bus AFTER receiving our temp plate (we drove to IL road legal with the temp). Once the WI DMV caught on to our plan, they ensured us that we were not doing things legally, and needed to fully register the bus as an RV in WI (even though we were in IL at this point).

When you bought your school bus, how did you get it from the seller’s lot to your conversion location?

Great question!! We bought insurance from Progressive to get our school bus from KY to IL. Kentucky seemed waaaayyy more lenient than IL for this request for a temporary plate. Since the previous owner blacked out the school district name on the side of the bus, we then successfully passed a DMV inspection to take our bus up north. Our Progressive insurance policy was the cheapest policy and more so gave us peace of mind while traveling up north.

What was your Wisconsin skoolie insurance process AND what kind of RV policy did you need?

To drive our bus, the previous owner did some legal work including blacking out the name of the school district on the side. We took advice from the Skoolie Nation Facebook group and went with Progressive.

Skoolie Nation has helped us so much and we are so grateful! Once our bus was converted, we went with All-State, after much research and many let downs (including failing at getting back our previous policy with Progressive). We pay ~$1,200/ year for full coverage!

Do you live in your Skoolie full-time?

Yes, I’m full-time Skoolie Life!

What’s one piece of wisdom you’d like to give people who are considering converting a school bus into a Skoolie that you wish you knew before you got started?

There are so many things to say, but fellow skoolie friends told us this and it stuck-KEEP GOING! You’re might get burnt out, let down, and frustrated, but take a breath and keep going!

What do you think your superpower is (or would be) in a Skoolie build?

I love using my creativity with design! Perhaps my superpower is reclaiming old things and turning them into useful things! 🙂

Here’s how to follow Gus The Bus:

 @gus_the_bus718

 Website in the works! 🙂

Watch Gus The Bus’s First Interview!

Read more: The School Bus Conversion Guide | Building a Tiny Home On Wheels »

Hey, we're Brian + Erin. Currently, we're workin' on our bug out bus. Lucky the proverbial $hit hadn't hit the fan yet when we picked up this 40-foot beauty in Phoenix AZ and drove it up to Canada to convert it. Hopefully, we all still have time...

Honestly, this bus conversion has been the only sane thing in this insane world lately. We can't tell you how good it feels to BE working on something that lights our souls up and has such potential for a life that is entwined with nature, love, and happiness.

Our main goal is to inspire people to get off-grid and become self-reliant. We are well on our way and are super excited to talk about solutions with others who are shooting for a similar way of living.

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