Considering Purchasing A Campground Options

[coacbcps]

What a great topic. The replies were all very informative. Pogoil, good luck with your park. Nice to hear things are going well.

My thoughts exactly! kcmoedoe you are an extremely good teacher. I have absolutely NO business background but was able to understand everything you said. Putting technical stuff into plain English is a gift. You must have been a very savvy bank executive!

[campinngal]

Pogoil,
Thanks for your insights. Am curious if your park is situated near any big attractions or is it a destination on its own. Also, would you recommend a small park or a spendy, big, established one in a tourist area?

[pogoil]

Pogoil,
Thanks for your insights. Am curious if your park is situated near any big attractions or is it a destination on its own. Also, would you recommend a small park or a spendy, big, established one in a tourist area?

Well had we been able to afford it when we started to look we probally could have ended up in any location with an over night type park. We wanted to be along the coast some where because we have as a family always gravitated toward the coast. But we did not have unlimited funds. So we found a small older park in a small town on the coast. The park caters to nightly, weekly and monthly folks. We have a mix of long term as well. They are all wonderful people many retired full time RV people. When we bought the park we were not aware of how many people enjoy the full time RV lifestyle. We are like a small community. Some return year after year for the summer months and most are retired. We are active with potlucks, ice cream socials and coffee and social hour daily and some side trips as planned activities.
In my opinion the Oregon coast is a destination in it self. It is beautiful and the climate is mild all year long. But many of my guests follow the sun. There are no big attractions here but all the natural beauty one can stand. Hiking, biking, kayaking, fishing, crabbing, storm watching and so on.
In my opinion, situate your choice in the right location, large resort or small mom and pop and you should do well if the price of fuel stays reasonable.
Good luck in your choice.

[Lindsay Richards]

Keep in mind that if you live on the property, many of your normal expenses will be taken care of by the campground. Much of this is supposed to be prorated for tax purposes, but for folks like me who have actually been in a similar business, many, many people do take advantage of these savings and they should be considered when evaluating the pros and cons.

[wantacampground]

I would like to revive this topic as I am currently looking to purchase a campground and there was a lot of good information being written. I am also looking for insight on best places to find campgrounds currently for sale. If you are an owner and are looking to possibly sell in the Southeast...NC, North GA. please feel free to send me a message directly.

I am also looking for buyer resources. Items I should be looking at when visiting a potential campground.

Thank you all for any and all wisdom you can provide.

[kcmoedoe]

I would like to revive this topic as I am currently looking to purchase a campground and there was a lot of good information being written. I am also looking for insight on best places to find campgrounds currently for sale. If you are an owner and are looking to possibly sell in the Southeast...NC, North GA. please feel free to send me a message directly.

I am also looking for buyer resources. Items I should be looking at when visiting a potential campground.

Thank you all for any and all wisdom you can provide.

Best place to start is www.rvparkstore.com Many individuals and brokers post their listings on that site.

[wantacampground]

Best place to start is www.rvparkstore.com Many individuals and brokers post their listings on that site.

Kcmoedoe - thank you for your reply. I have read a lot of your posts and appreciate the knowledge that you have. I have been on the rvparkstore and others. I am trying to find some of the parks out there that might not tied to a broker or agent....not that there is anything wrong with this....but I am trying to find that hidden gem.

[Lindsay Richards]

You might consider scheduling an appointment with a psychologist first. I say this having retired from 10 years in the lodging business. It is truly a 24/7/365 business.

[wantacampground]

You might consider scheduling an appointment with a psychologist first. I say this having retired from 10 years in the lodging business. It is truly a 24/7/365 business.

Lindsay,

I will book the appointment right away!

Would you say being in the business was good to you?

Thank you for your comments.

[kcmoedoe]

Kcmoedoe - thank you for your reply. I have read a lot of your posts and appreciate the knowledge that you have. I have been on the rvparkstore and others. I am trying to find some of the parks out there that might not tied to a broker or agent....not that there is anything wrong with this....but I am trying to find that hidden gem.

I am not sure you will unearth a lot of hidden gems. Most owners who are looking to sell are going to be advertising their businesses. If a park is not for sale, the owner will likely only be interested in a price that would make it attractive for them. As the saying goes, everything is for sale at the right price.
Brokers will offer you some advantages. First, RV park brokerages are a very speciality business. They survive on their reputation. They will not knowingly sell a park with undisclosed problems, a park where the numbers are falsified, or even a park where the price is assuring that the enterprise will fail. The brokers I have known will turn away overpriced listings, they don't want to waste their time or the sellers.
Another source for parks for sale is Loopnet. They will require a subscription fee, but it is considered the top source for commerical real estate. Good luck.

[wantacampground]

I am not sure you will unearth a lot of hidden gems. Most owners who are looking to sell are going to be advertising their businesses. If a park is not for sale, the owner will likely only be interested in a price that would make it attractive for them. As the saying goes, everything is for sale at the right price.
Brokers will offer you some advantages. First, RV park brokerages are a very speciality business. They survive on their reputation. They will not knowingly sell a park with undisclosed problems, a park where the numbers are falsified, or even a park where the price is assuring that the enterprise will fail. The brokers I have known will turn away overpriced listings, they don't want to waste their time or the sellers.
Another source for parks for sale is Loopnet. They will require a subscription fee, but it is considered the top source for commerical real estate. Good luck.

Once again, thank you for the great information. I have to say the brokers that I have been working with thus far are as you have stated...very upfront about what they think of the parks that I am looking at.

[Lindsay Richards]

Would you say being in the business was good to you?

We bought an old house in the down town of a resort town in Florida and spent 5 months converting it to a B and B. We ran it for 10 years living onsite. We enjoyed it very much because of our personalities, but I might add that innkeepers have a high divorce rate. It is a 24/7/365 business. You mind is there even if your body is not.The business supplied all of our needs such as food, shelter, electricity, insurance, gas, utilities, ETC and we were able to put away money for retirement. Our real financial success came when we sold as we had taken not much and made it into a money generating business. I think you make you money by buying right. It is very hard to sell a property for more than it is worth (banks and professionals are involved), but it is easy to buy a property for less than it is worth. (or can be worth). The fun of a business is growing it, not maintaining it. Start with the idea of expanding in the future. That's where you can make your money. There are also factors that you have no control over. My wife grew up in a motel business in Florida. They were right on US 41 which used to be the main route in Florida. A new bridge was built which bypassed them by 1/4 mile. Really hurt their business. Dealing with people can be bad with that 5% or so who can be jerks. People who cancel reservations at the last minute when you have turned away others can drive you silly.

[kcmoedoe]

If you are willing to wade through a bunch of dead ends, unreasonable prices and false leads, you might want to post your inquiry on www.rv.net in their forums. It gets many more views than these forums. But you never know, something that would work for you might pop up.

[SASMITH]

wantacampground, Thanks for reviving this thread, it has some very good info for me as we just purchased a piece of property in middle ga for another purpose, but found that it was once a campground (2 acres, 52 spaces in pecan orchard with I-75 frontage). Though the property was originally bought for another purpose it has such great potential as an RV park I decided to look into putting it back into operation. We considered reselling it, but was told by CG brokers that fixer up parks don't sell. Any one have any ideas on this? Thanks, SASmith

[Lindsay Richards]

We go by there on most trips as it is about 4 or 5 hours from our home. Not a lot of campgrounds as I remember. How far from an exit? That is a big concern for folks. That area is very pretty and I remember years ago (pre I-75) that there were pecan groves through out. Good Luck on your new venture. You can start with a smaller number of sites and finish the rest as you go.