Was talking to my brother-in-law over the weekend and he asked me about ideas for a piece of investment real estate he owns. 120 acres with a 10 year option to purchase more in the future. Location is three miles off a major EW Interstate and about 9 miles from its junction with a major NS Interstate. Property is on a state highway that connects a rapidly growing mid-size city (with a major university) with a town that is becoming a major bedroom community for the bigger city.Hopes are that about 20 years out, this property will be in high demand for commercial or residential development. It is fairly flat and is currently in hay production.I mentioned that a no-frills RV park intended for overnighting or people visiting family might be a way to increase the income from the land without extensive investments. Gravel pull-throughs with electrical service and water. Dump station would probably be a cheap perk to offer. Could start small and add sites as wanted or needed without requiring a massive investment up front.The exit off the interstate has a few fueling places including a truck stop/travel center.Is it foolish to consider? Advice?

Wild guess that it’s a good business investment or careful study? City or county government on board? Zoning ok? Water, sanitation and power companies okayed? Architect experienced in RV parks found? Asked the neighbors?

I wish there were more easy access overnight parks like the RV Express 66 in Marshfield, Missouri. I stayed there a year ago. It was great. Check out their website: RV Express 66It was everything I needed in an overnight stay: easy access, close to food and gas, and secure.

Here is a recent thread https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/29458114.cfm and there has been more. The way to make a small fortune in RV Parks is to start with a large fortune.

jkwilson wrote:Was talking to my brother-in-law over the weekend and he asked me about ideas for a piece of investment real estate he owns. 120 acres with a 10 year option to purchase more in the future. Location is three miles off a major EW Interstate and about 9 miles from its junction with a major NS Interstate. Property is on a state highway that connects a rapidly growing mid-size city (with a major university) with a town that is becoming a major bedroom community for the bigger city.Hopes are that about 20 years out, this property will be in high demand for commercial or residential development. It is fairly flat and is currently in hay production.I mentioned that a no-frills RV park intended for overnighting or people visiting family might be a way to increase the income from the land without extensive investments. Gravel pull-throughs with electrical service and water. Dump station would probably be a cheap perk to offer. Could start small and add sites as wanted or needed without requiring a massive investment up front.The exit off the interstate has a few fueling places including a truck stop/travel center.Is it foolish to consider? Advice?At what price would you offer the sites? Who is your competition? If the competition is parking for free at Walmart or the truck stop, how do you intend to beat free? How are you going to attract people to go three to nine miles off the interstate? How much is it going to cost to man the operation? Will your state's licensing requirements allow a simple dump station? Is the water and sewer a municipal supply or will you have to have a well and sewage treatment system? If it is a well, you will have certain requirements to meet since you will become a public water facility. Most states don't care your personal well water has too much lead, arsenic, biologicals etc, but they do care if you are supplying that water to others. Ultimately, it will come down to costs versus income. Will the rate of the return be good enough to justify the costs of building and running the park. The most important thing I can tell you is if you build 25 sites don't base your income off of 25 guests per night, because that isn't likely to happen. Most businesses fail because the business owner is way too optimistic on revenues and way to low on their estimated expenses.

My first reaction is all the governmental restrictions and regulations that WRVPO mentioned above.Perhaps the land with no amenities provided be offered for overnight RV parking for free with donations accepted? Not sure f that would get you out of all regulations but perhaps a majority of them?

Building an RV park for overnighters? | Good Sam Community

Ralph_Cramden
Explorer II
Oct 25, 2017
westernrvparkowner wrote:
Tried your link. Have no idea what the heck it is about. Whenever a video begins with a bunch of jibberjabber about Willy Wonka and his magic wand I tune out real quick.

Meet your host at Willy's last chance RV fantasy park.....LOL. Tiny homes welcome.
tatest
Explorer II
Oct 26, 2017
The most successful overnight parks are usually much closer to the exit of an Interstate highway, or out here where we don't have so many Interstates, alongside a major trunk highway. Close to a junction is good.

I'll go well off the highway for a destination park, but if I'm driving three miles or more on rural back roads (recognizing that not all state highways in your area are back roads, some are trunks) I'll be looking for more park amenities for an overnight (like small store, food services, LPG sales) or wanting to see these nearby. When traveling I tend to be running long driving days and will usually not be in a camp cooking mode.
2012Coleman
Explorer II
Oct 27, 2017
westernrvparkowner wrote:
A few years back there was a survey on this forum that asked how much someone would pay for a secure parking area without hookups or amenities. The overwhelming answer was $0.00. About 90% of the respondents stated they wouldn't even pay $5.00. Walmart, Cracker Barrel, rest areas, truck stops and stealth camping have the cheap, no hookup market pretty much cornered. As I have often said, you cannot compete with free.
On a slightly different note, such a facility would not be permitted in Montana. Any commercial RV park must either have a restroom facility or have a sewage disposal system of some kind. If it has no restrooms, it must require all the RVs to be self contained ( no tenting or RVs without toilets) even with the sewage disposal system.
Wow - a survey on this site represents the entire RVing community in the US? Posted opinions on this site represent less than one percent of the total community. The dumb thing to do would be to base any kind of decision solely on the responses received here.
westernrvparkow
Explorer
Oct 27, 2017
2012Coleman wrote:
westernrvparkowner wrote:
A few years back there was a survey on this forum that asked how much someone would pay for a secure parking area without hookups or amenities. The overwhelming answer was $0.00. About 90% of the respondents stated they wouldn't even pay $5.00. Walmart, Cracker Barrel, rest areas, truck stops and stealth camping have the cheap, no hookup market pretty much cornered. As I have often said, you cannot compete with free.
On a slightly different note, such a facility would not be permitted in Montana. Any commercial RV park must either have a restroom facility or have a sewage disposal system of some kind. If it has no restrooms, it must require all the RVs to be self contained ( no tenting or RVs without toilets) even with the sewage disposal system.
Wow - a survey on this site represents the entire RVing community in the US? Posted opinions on this site represent less than one percent of the total community. The dumb thing to do would be to base any kind of decision solely on the responses received here.
You can also use the fact that such facilities do not exist in a free market as further proof that they would not work. But hey, free country, go out and build a chain of $5.00 parking lots up and down the interstate system. Maybe it would be a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door.
BTW, when do you ever see surveys that survey more than one percent of a population? To actually survey one percent of the RVing population, you would need to contact and get responses from approximately 89,000 RV owners. Not exactly likely to happen when considering building a $5.00 parking lot.
toolttime
Explorer
Nov 01, 2017
Me I prefer truck stops
mgirardo
Explorer
Nov 01, 2017
When we stop for a quick overnight, we look for a Walmart right off an interstate exit. We use Walmart for a few reasons, one and most importantly, it is free. We don't want to pay $30+ for a 6 - 8 hour stay. We also usually go into Walmart early in the morning to pick up supplies we need. We also like that most Walmart parking lots have security driving around throughout the night. We have stayed in probably a dozen different Walmart lots and have never had an issue.

If the choice was pay $10 for a no-frills RV park vs. a free night in a Walmart parking lot, I'd pick Walmart. If the choice was pay $10 for a no-frills RV park vs. a Truck Stop, I'd pay $10. Anything over $10 and I'd be back on the interstate looking for a Walmart. You'd need to fill a lot of spaces at $10/night to make any money.

-Michael
colliehauler
Explorer III
Nov 01, 2017
While not 5.00 there is already a cheap alternative, Passport America. If I want a quick overnight and don't want to run the generator this is a cheap alternative place to plug in and have A/C.
bob_nestor
Explorer III
Nov 01, 2017
Not trying to be a nay-sayer here, but without a dump station and garbage there would be some who would pull in and dump their tanks on the ground and toss their trash at the gate as they were leaving. And I suspect if there was money to be made by offering overnight only spots, there would be a number of commercial RV campgrounds doing this already. So far I've only found one that did and they charged my $10 to stay overnight without any hookups.

As others have said, when traveling from Point A to Point B and only needing a place to park for 6-8 hours you can't beat Walmart. And the added benefit is you're close to a store and usually gas. Also, many of us are happy with a Rest Area, Truck Stop, or some big box store parking lot too.

So as nice as it sounds, I doubt there's a real good business case here.

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