If you love camping, you’ve probably entertained the idea of operating an RV Park. But have you ever considered that it would be a wise investment? RV parks typically have high yields, meaning that you can make large returns for the money you originally put down. At 10-20%, RV parks are among the highest-yielding of all real estate asset classes. The initial start-up costs are significantly lower, and the required amount of capital expenditures (money for maintenance and standard improvements) is quite low. Furthermore, if you live in a warm climate, you will have a steady stream of visitors all year long. This means continuous cash flow from an array of customers. As any small business-owner will tell you, a steady, diversified income stream is crucial to success.
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Of course, there are non-financial considerations that need to be considered. CNN Money reports that you can make a solid return on your RV park IF you have a certain personality type. Are you an introvert or extrovert? Do you like puzzles? How quickly do you suffer from decision fatigue? The reason potential park owners need to ask these questions is because of the following three primary duties all RV park owners trudge through daily:
1. PROVIDING A SECOND HOME:
Your customers are looking to you for guidance and support. They want to hear about things to do, things you recommend. They are your guests, and they need you to help show them where to go and how to hook up their utilities. Many just want a pleasant "how are you doing today" to re-assure them that they made the right choice in pulling into your RV park. This will be tough going for you if you’re the kind of person who would prefer a quiet night on the couch to a party.
2. FIXING THINGS ON A CONTINUAL BASIS:
If you are a hands-on RV park owner, you will be forever tinkering with everything from the swimming pool to the landscape. You will be a jack-of-all-trades who needs to enjoy working with your hands outside. Even if you have a maintenance man and just ride around on a golf cart, you are always going to be multi-tasking. If you don’t find enjoyment in problem solving, this won’t be an ideal situation
3. BEING THE BOSS:
Every problem is going to stop with you. You have to be the decision maker. You're the one who makes the call on if you can give a discount to the 10 snow-birds passing through as a group. You have to decide on the advertising. Everything is you, you, you. This amount of responsibility can be daunting.
But…if you do like these things, running an RV park can be a rewarding and financially lucrative experience. A successful RV park can be worth $1 million or more and it can be a multi-generational gift to experience bringing the outdoors to many different people.
- JACK from THE BONFIRE TEAM
