Author Topic: Anyone ever bought or started an RV park?  (Read 1509 times)

Roland of Gilead

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Anyone ever bought or started an RV park?
« on: March 05, 2017, 07:09:36 PM »
I am very curious having stayed at a few parks now and noticing that some of them seem quite lucrative on the daily and weekly rates even with vacancies.  I wonder how involved the site setup is with the local government.   I wonder if evictions are a lot easier than houses?

srob

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Re: Anyone ever bought or started an RV park?
« Reply #1 on: March 07, 2017, 10:49:35 AM »
I have no personal experience, but I know someone who bought one and then expanded it/fixed it up. They ran it for 6 years I think and it provided them a good income and helped them to build their dream home. They managed it themselves, the wife working inside--it has a gas station and little cafe/shop. The husband fixed everything outside and took care of the pool/waterslide, etc.
They sold it a few years back and were very relieved, bc it was hard to sell and it kept them very busy. They financed the sale to someone who ran it into the ground and then defaulted after 2 years, so they had to come out of retirement a few years ago to retake ownership/fix it up and they have been running it since, rather unhappily unfortunately. They had to leave their dream home vacant to live on site at the rv park. So for them it was a mixed bag I suppose. It seems to do pretty well and always has a decent number of campers staying there.

gardeningandgreen

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Re: Anyone ever bought or started an RV park?
« Reply #2 on: March 07, 2017, 11:35:51 AM »
My grandparents bought a campground in northern Minnesota 45 years ago and have been running the place since. It is a wonderful place that our entire family has been able to enjoy. I know however that it hasn't always been easy and my grandparents have been the masters of the side hustle since the campground is only open for 4 months out of the year. For some years they bought snowmobiles and rented them out and fixed up other ones on the side. They also bought an RV sales across the lake. They stayed very busy but it did give them a ton of flexibility raising 5 kids. It was always the place that all the kids hung out at when they were in high school and they always had extra help. I don't however think it is an easy job. My grandma at 77 still puts in 12+ hour days in the summer to keep the store and everything open. She does get 7 months off every year though!

Johnny Aloha

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Re: Anyone ever bought or started an RV park?
« Reply #3 on: March 07, 2017, 12:12:25 PM »
Not an RV park, but I'm pretty familiar with mobile home parks.  Some MHPs also have sites for RVs, which are generally frowned upon for a few reasons:

1) payment is typically in cash, which will incentivize your manager to steal from you
2) RVs are easy to move in and out, so the income is not as reliable as other RE investments

If you have a great location (outside Yosemite for example) and can automate through online reservations/payment/utility metering, it could be a great business.

simonebrunozzi

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Re: Anyone ever bought or started an RV park?
« Reply #4 on: March 07, 2017, 12:29:29 PM »
Hi Johnny,
can you tell us more about your experience with mobile parks?

Did you get any direct experience related to managing / buying / handling them?

$200k

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Re: Anyone ever bought or started an RV park?
« Reply #5 on: March 07, 2017, 06:57:12 PM »
I have no personal experience, but I know someone who bought one and then expanded it/fixed it up. They ran it for 6 years I think and it provided them a good income and helped them to build their dream home. They managed it themselves, the wife working inside--it has a gas station and little cafe/shop. The husband fixed everything outside and took care of the pool/waterslide, etc.
They sold it a few years back and were very relieved, bc it was hard to sell and it kept them very busy. They financed the sale to someone who ran it into the ground and then defaulted after 2 years, so they had to come out of retirement a few years ago to retake ownership/fix it up and they have been running it since, rather unhappily unfortunately. They had to leave their dream home vacant to live on site at the rv park. So for them it was a mixed bag I suppose. It seems to do pretty well and always has a decent number of campers staying there.

Are they looking for a buyer?  PM me?