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hoosiermark's avatar
hoosiermark
Explorer
Jun 08, 2015

flipping RVs

Went to look at a used B+ today. The guy told me where he lived and to look for the house with 2 rvs. I figured he was selling his old one. It turns out he is a retired engineer who buys used (apoparently B+ mainly) and checks them out and repairs/upgrades as needed then puts them back on the market. He commented he had been retired for about 15 years, loved camping and rvs and figured he needed something to occupy his time in retirement. The one I looked at he owned for 1.5 years and the other one he had just gotten back from a 1600 mile trip in. Either one was for sale, he said as his wife could not decide which she liked better. I thought it was a nifty way to try different models and have a money making hobby at the same time.
Class C
  • coolmom42's avatar
    coolmom42
    Explorer II
    Jun 08, 2015
    Good hobby, if you have the DIY skills and know how to buy one right.
  • valhalla360's avatar
    valhalla360
    Navigator
    Jun 08, 2015
    Good hobby if you like messing around with RVs.

    I wouldn't count on it being a money maker.
  • hotbyte's avatar
    hotbyte
    Explorer
    Jun 08, 2015
    Guy here in town did something similar with pop-up campers. He always had 2 or 3 up for sale. I think he had a deal with a nearby dealer to buy their older trade-ins that needed a little work at a good price.
  • Mich_F's avatar
    Mich_F
    Explorer
    Jun 08, 2015
    A year ago I bought a MH to flip. It needed a total cabover rebuild, otherwise it was in great condition. My son who has been an RV tech for over 20 years, planned on this being a 3 weekend project. Here we are a couple of days over a year, into this 3 weekend project and it's still not finished. The cabover has been totally rebuilt, a new entertainment center (in the cabover), has been installed, with a new large flat screen TV and a new surround sound DVD player.
    I don't believe the outside of the cabover is "completely" sealed yet. The front clearance lights are wired and sitting up there but I don't believe they're secured yet. The generator wasn't running properly so he removed it to work on it. After a new carburetor, spark plug, air and fuel filters, it is now running fine, but unless he did it over the weekend it's not back in yet. The frig was not cooling, but with a new circuit board and whatever else he had to replace, that's running fine now.
    It has definitely been a long process and my fault for not pushing him more. I lost track of how many other cabovers and all kinds of other repairs and rebuilds he has done in his "spare time" after working at his regular RV repair job, over the past year. I can't seem to get through to him that he stands to make a lot more money when this RV is finished and sold than he has made, or will make, on his other jobs. :h
  • johnnyrv's avatar
    johnnyrv
    Explorer
    Jun 08, 2015
    A very rewarding hobby and brings affordable camping to others
  • Dakzuki's avatar
    Dakzuki
    Explorer
    Jun 10, 2015
    valhalla360 wrote:
    Good hobby if you like messing around with RVs.

    I wouldn't count on it being a money maker.


    His hourly earnings probably suck but if it's keeping him busy and he enjoys it, more power to him.

    It may well be keeping a few RVs from the scrapped prematurely too.

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