@Justin Frank The management of RV parks is similar to apartments, storage, or hotels, but cannot be as easily outsourced. It’s wise to find a park with established workampers and/or a seller who is willing to stay on for a little while after closing. The learning curve includes daily operations of the park, employee management, and RV types/slides outs/amperage/hookups/size that require certain site space and utilities. Also, understanding maintenance of plumbing lines, electric lines, pedestals, roads, etc can take time. None of that is too difficult, but it’s new for most real estate investors. Again, buying a park with established employees could be all it takes to overcome most of the above.
@Melba Chambers I own RV parks and growing. Pros: 1) Inefficient markets; 2) less competition from investors; 3) higher cap rates; 4) less maintenance than apartments and hotels, similar to storage; 5) great flexibility to boost gross income; 6) RV sales around 500k per year and only an estimated 8,000 RV parks nationwide; 7) many sellers are willing or required to carry a note; 8) there are enough tech tools to run the business remotely (with employees on site). Cons: 1) there is a learning curve that takes time; 2) employees required; 3) difficult debt markets (could be a pro for the creative investor); 4) limited market data and comp sets to aid in property review.
@Justin Frank The management of RV parks is similar to apartments, storage, or hotels, but cannot be as easily outsourced. It’s wise to find a park with established workampers and/or a seller who is willing to stay on for a little while after closing. The learning curve includes daily operations of the park, employee management, and RV types/slides outs/amperage/hookups/size that require certain site space and utilities. Also, understanding maintenance of plumbing lines, electric lines, pedestals, roads, etc can take time. None of that is too difficult, but it’s new for most real estate investors. Again, buying a park with established employees could be all it takes to overcome most of the above.
If you’re on Twitter, find me @rvparkguy and you’ll see a lot of analysis and tips for how to approach RV parks. I think you’ll find what you’re looking for there.