Author Topic: Building a portfolio of campers more profitable than renting homes?  (Read 2940 times)

Kaplin261

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I had a Facebook add pop up about renting my camper and earn $3,000 a month. This sparked my curiosity and I had to check it out. It seems the $3,000 is geared towards the high end campers that are $100,000. However pop up trailers supposedly net on average $1,200 a month (according to there site).

Used pop up trailers can be found cheaper than what I could possibly rent out for one month. And even with a brand new I could make my investment back in 1 year.

 Would also be some perks with as I could rent the trailer or camper in area I may want to visit or vacation at. This just seems like a cheaper way to get into something like Airbnb. What could be some pitfalls to something like this?

use2betrix

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Re: Building a portfolio of campers more profitable than renting homes?
« Reply #1 on: October 16, 2017, 08:01:56 AM »
Do the people rent the campers and tow them, or do you have them hooked up somewhere and they just come, use it, and leave?

If you have to park them at an RV park - expect $500/mo for the spot and another $50-$150 for electric.

Also - campers break a lot and stuff is expensive to fix, especially if you’re not super handy.

I’ve lived in a 5th wheel for the last 4 years - so I’m pretty experienced if you have any more specific questions.

hankscorpio84

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Re: Building a portfolio of campers more profitable than renting homes?
« Reply #2 on: October 16, 2017, 02:28:40 PM »
I don't think the numbers you posted are impossible to achieve, but comparing camper rentals to home rentals may be a mistake.  The camper rental business will be way more labor intensive even without repairs.  Whether you are renting them long term or short term you will have to deal with higher turnover than home rentals.  Even if the campers are kept in good condition, their value will depreciate at a faster rate than a home, with zero chance at market appreciation. 

I won't wade into the different tax implications, but they should be considered.


That being said, if you are in the right area and flexible enough to find a niche (example: snowbirds, tourism, following natural disasters, and/or large construction projects) it could be a good cash flow business. 

chasesfish

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Re: Building a portfolio of campers more profitable than renting homes?
« Reply #3 on: October 16, 2017, 07:18:02 PM »
I'd be attracted to the idea if you have space to store them and can figure out how to do the "hand off" effectively.   I'm thinking if I owned a commercial building with a lot, that'd be a great side hustle.

I've looked before and its amazing to me how difficult it was to rent a camper yet how many just sit idle all the time.  The risk I see is how many sit idle, if someone figures this out right, I think it just supplements the cost of ownership for most and only provides a nice return for a few.

Try it and let us know!

Bicycle_B

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Re: Building a portfolio of campers more profitable than renting homes?
« Reply #4 on: October 16, 2017, 07:43:11 PM »
I've looked before and its amazing to me how difficult it was to rent a camper yet how many just sit idle all the time.  The risk I see is how many sit idle, if someone figures this out right, I think it just supplements the cost of ownership for most and only provides a nice return for a few.

Try it and let us know!

Sounds ripe for someone to create the "Airbnb of campers." 

Kaplin261

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Re: Building a portfolio of campers more profitable than renting homes?
« Reply #5 on: October 17, 2017, 05:06:34 AM »
I'd be attracted to the idea if you have space to store them and can figure out how to do the "hand off" effectively.   I'm thinking if I owned a commercial building with a lot, that'd be a great side hustle.

I've looked before and its amazing to me how difficult it was to rent a camper yet how many just sit idle all the time.  The risk I see is how many sit idle, if someone figures this out right, I think it just supplements the cost of ownership for most and only provides a nice return for a few.

Try it and let us know!

I had the same experience. I had a tent camping trip scheduled for Father’s Day weekend this year. The weather prediction turned out to be lots of rain during the night. Fear of being soaked while sleeping and ruining the weekend I started looking for a small camper to rent that weekend, it turned out to be as expensive as staying at the ritz Carlton. We didn’t rent a camper , and it did rain and the cheap amazon tent held up. But I bagan to ponder the idea of renting out a camper like Airbnb myself.

I checked with a local storage unit company that has a fenced in lot that has spaces for RV parking. For $60 a month I can park an RV and retrieve when needed. I get a code that I could then pass on to the renter of the RV.

chasesfish

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Re: Building a portfolio of campers more profitable than renting homes?
« Reply #6 on: October 17, 2017, 06:54:24 AM »
I had a multi-day road trip I needed to take and due to a medical issue, my wife needed to be able to lay flat for most of the trip.  I thought renting an RV would be the way to go, but it was also priced like a Ritz Carlton.   This just shocked me based on how many sit idle.

The RV parking site may work.  I hope you buy 1-2 off craigslist and let us know how this goes

Roe

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Re: Building a portfolio of campers more profitable than renting homes?
« Reply #7 on: October 17, 2017, 07:17:08 AM »
Interesting! I would love to do some rv-ing in retirement. Having it as a sidehustle would help in getting used to repairs etc.

bognish

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Re: Building a portfolio of campers more profitable than renting homes?
« Reply #8 on: October 17, 2017, 09:50:21 AM »
I would also think insurance costs would be really high and chances of someone who doesn't know how to pull a trailer or with a low weight rated car blowing up would be high. I live in UT. Getting the red sand out after a desert trip would be a lot of time cleaning. In places with lots of camping tourists you see a lot of Cruise America and similar rigs driving around. Rates seem similar to hotel rooms for those. The local SLC newspaper classified and Craigslist also have a lot for rent through private parties.