Renting out an RV for profit?

There is a reason why Cruise America charges outrageous rental fees and extra add on fees out of this world. It's to cover the cost of all the abuse.

.....and I'll add to the already correct and prudent advice from the posters above....

Don't do it.

back in the early 1970s I tried this worked great till a guy left my rv in another state . with a blown engine.never again.

I know someone locally who rents out RVs. He is an attorney and does this on the side. He sells them after a set amount of time. He doesn't make a living at it, but he does make a profit.

A travel trailer comes with a whole different set of issues as you have to worry about what renters are going to use as a tow vehicle and are they competent to tow.

Lot of better ways to make a few bucks out there.

I have seen towables on craigslist that are towed to various campgrounds that the renter chooses. I just wondered who is cleaning all the urine splatter in the bathroom. While I was working and building a vacation home a co worker was poo pooing it and said just go to motels hotels on vacation and pee all over to get your money worth and let someone else clean it up.

A guy at work tried " renting" his motorhome out to help with the payments and stuff. He said People did more damage and wore out the motorhome than the renting fees were coming in. He did not recommend it. if you had a really new coach and it was not paid for.

People are disgusting. Not all but a large percentage are today. Just the kind that would rent an RV because they cannot get a loan to buy one. No one sleeps in our's but us and no one 'pees' on the floor either.

Would you rent out your wife?

Desert Captain wrote:
Wow.... never heard the words "RV" and "profit" used in the same sentence.

Me no understand. :h

:B

Good one...glad to know I chose another financially sound hobby

Here's my long winded story of first hand experience.
In the '90s we rented PUPs for about 4 years from a local guy that owned the units he rented. He was a one man show with 5 or 6 identical units. One day I called and the phone was disconnected so I drove by his lot to find it empty.

I found a company that rented hard sides of different brands and sizes so we started renting from him. After doing business with him for a few years we returned with a Rockwood and commented what a nice unit it was. He replied that it's the lot favorite and the owner is going to make a good profit on it. I thought he owned them so I asked how his business worked. Within a few weeks of him explaining his business model we had a 2000 Sportsman on his lot.

The model was we own the unit and pay the loan, insurance, tires and battery. Insurance was $100/mo paid to him. He rented, cleaned, stored and maintained the unit. His maintenance was caulk and bearings as needed. We split the rental proceeds 50/50. I received $150 for a weekend and $400 for a week rental, paid to me monthly. He held the renters credit card # to cover any damages, and there were damages but it was all repaired by him paid by the renter.

The profit comes in the back end. We used every penny of rental proceeds to pay our expenses, targeting paying off the loan in 4 years. At that time we could sell the unit for about $5k or keep renting it. That would be our profit. We decided to keep the camper at our property for another 4 years before we sold it for $4K.

So, in the end we owned and used a camper for 8 years that cost us nothing but paperwork and made $4k on it.

After 4 years of rental the dinette seat cushions and mattress were worn out. The flooring, panels and acrylic sinks had some scuffing. A kid marked a wall with a red crayon. But other than that it was still in usable, sell-able condition. The exterior still looked new.

Would I do it again? No. It's not worth the gamble to me. I worried for 4 years if I would ever see a penny out of this venture. The depreciation on the unit makes it an even higher risk. Too many things can go wrong that would deem your unit unsellable. Furthermore, that company moved to CO for a better business location and change of lifestyle for his family so I would have to find a similar business I would trust. I liked and trusted this guy. Too many stars would have to line up before I would consider doing it again.