Hello everyone, my name is Brandon and I’m 35 years old. My wife and I have been full time RVers for 2 years. It has been a lifelong dream for me to get into real estate. As of the last couple of years my wife and I have talked a lot about building an RV park. I have found a great location. I’ve talked to a realtor in the area and a lender about some vacant land we’re interested in. It was a bit of a surprise to me to find out a land loans require 25% down. I can come up with the money but it would mean wiping out all of our capital. I am torn. On one side I have the feeling that I should take action and jump in then grind, solve problems as they come, stumble through it and hope for the best. On the other side, I know I’m out of my depth as I’ve never done anything like this before. I’ve posted questions on forums and Reddit which is somewhat helpful but I get a lot of conflicting information and I end up more confused than when I started. All the books I’ve read and YouTube videos I’ve watched over the years about business, real estate, and rv park investing have one thing in common: Find someone that has done it before. I’m looking for someone that has experience building a RV park to bounce my idea off of and maybe point me in the right direction or give me some ideas of what steps to take next. Or tell me I’m a fool all together. I know everyone lives busy lives but if you can spare an hour of your time to talk to me on the phone or exchange some emails it would mean the world to me. I am currently a registered nurse. In my 10 years as a RN I have heard a lot of senior nurses, especially as they near retirement, express frustration that they have all this knowledge they want to pass down but the younger generation doesn’t want to listen. Well, I’m here and I want to listen. I wish I had more to offer in return but for right now I don’t. If this speaks to anyone please start a conversation with me in RV Life so we can exchange contact info. Thank you all for your time.
I think there is one or two other users here that have owned and/or worked at RV parks, and they should have some good advice for you. some suggesrions: 1) look through the older posts here, there have been several other threads about buying and building RV parks that will have some great advice. 2) also look at negative reviews on this site to show you what is bothering other RVers, and use this as a tool to determine what is important to others and use this info to help guide the building of the Park. good luck, chris
If the down payment on the land will wipe out your financial reserves you can't undertake such a project. Building a park is extremely capital intensive. Obtaining financing for construction is likely to be impossible for someone with no track record. Even just buying the land and hoping to develop it in the future is a financial black hole. You will have the monthly payment, taxes, insurance and likely some maintenance. If you truly want to own and operate an RV park, buy an existing one. That purchase can be financed and you will have some cash flow immediately. Over time you can improve and remake it into your vision. Be aware that even going that route will require a substantial down payment and you will need to have funds in reserve to meet the he challenges that will inevitably arise. Good luck. I've owned, operated, renovated and built parks in my career. Now retired and in no way missing dealing with the public. Read into that whatever you want.
