Is buying an RV lot a good investment?

[NWRV]

Hi

My wife and I just took a month long trip through California and Arizona. We are planning to spend next winter down there. We have looked at a few resorts with lots for sale. Could anybody help us with some feedback on the pros and cons about buying a lot? Is it a good investment? Anybody know about resale? We understand the financial decisions and costs of owning vs leasing as it is much like a house but it would be really great to get some feedback. Thank you!

[RVER]

Leasing a lot out in AZ can be Very cheap so I would look into leasing and can get an all year round lease, storage building on the property on your site etc.

[hardtobe]

thgoodman wrote:

hardtobe wrote:

msmith1199 wrote:

Bumpyroad wrote:

rockhillmanor wrote:

99 year lease from $175,000 to $265,000, rent $350/month, taxes $74 to $94/ month, insurance, $30/month and the utilities are metered separately.

Yikes. You can buy 2 homes one in the south and one in the north for those prices and it would be a REAL investment.

Are those prices for an 'empty' lot? Besides the monthly costs what type of up front down payment is needed?

my thoughts exactly. one could buy a "home base" house in the North and one in the South and travel between them and elsewhere.
bumpy

Those lots are directly on the coast. If you want ocean front you'll have to pay for it. Personally, I don't care that much about ocean front to pay those kind of prices.

and the weather is only good there for the 3 summer months
U can buy a awesome lot in Beautifull outdoor resorts of Indio
which is a simply outstanding place for 37K.HOA is 390PM and includes
water,sewer,cable tv and garbage

Yes, but it's in California. Would you really want to open yourself up to that kind of regulatory and tax situation?

what regulatory and tax system? I have owned for 7 years and not experienced what your aluding to? I have run into ZERO problems owning my lot?I had the taxes reduced under prop 8 about 3 years ago and other than that its fine.Land tax went from 1500 to 730$

[mena661]

thgoodman wrote:

Yes, but it's in California. Would you really want to open yourself up to that kind of regulatory and tax situation?

Other than initial cost, home ownership isn't bad at all in CA. One of the few things that aren't.

[thgoodman]

hardtobe wrote:

msmith1199 wrote:

Bumpyroad wrote:

rockhillmanor wrote:

99 year lease from $175,000 to $265,000, rent $350/month, taxes $74 to $94/ month, insurance, $30/month and the utilities are metered separately.

Yikes. You can buy 2 homes one in the south and one in the north for those prices and it would be a REAL investment.

Are those prices for an 'empty' lot? Besides the monthly costs what type of up front down payment is needed?

my thoughts exactly. one could buy a "home base" house in the North and one in the South and travel between them and elsewhere.
bumpy

Those lots are directly on the coast. If you want ocean front you'll have to pay for it. Personally, I don't care that much about ocean front to pay those kind of prices.

and the weather is only good there for the 3 summer months
U can buy a awesome lot in Beautifull outdoor resorts of Indio
which is a simply outstanding place for 37K.HOA is 390PM and includes
water,sewer,cable tv and garbage

Yes, but it's in California. Would you really want to open yourself up to that kind of regulatory and tax situation?

[hardtobe]

msmith1199 wrote:

Bumpyroad wrote:

rockhillmanor wrote:

99 year lease from $175,000 to $265,000, rent $350/month, taxes $74 to $94/ month, insurance, $30/month and the utilities are metered separately.

Yikes. You can buy 2 homes one in the south and one in the north for those prices and it would be a REAL investment.

Are those prices for an 'empty' lot? Besides the monthly costs what type of up front down payment is needed?

my thoughts exactly. one could buy a "home base" house in the North and one in the South and travel between them and elsewhere.
bumpy

Those lots are directly on the coast. If you want ocean front you'll have to pay for it. Personally, I don't care that much about ocean front to pay those kind of prices.

and the weather is only good there for the 3 summer months
U can buy a awesome lot in Beautifull outdoor resorts of Indio
which is a simply outstanding place for 37K.HOA is 390PM and includes
water,sewer,cable tv and garbage

[msmith1199]

Bumpyroad wrote:

rockhillmanor wrote:

99 year lease from $175,000 to $265,000, rent $350/month, taxes $74 to $94/ month, insurance, $30/month and the utilities are metered separately.

Yikes. You can buy 2 homes one in the south and one in the north for those prices and it would be a REAL investment.

Are those prices for an 'empty' lot? Besides the monthly costs what type of up front down payment is needed?

my thoughts exactly. one could buy a "home base" house in the North and one in the South and travel between them and elsewhere.
bumpy

Those lots are directly on the coast. If you want ocean front you'll have to pay for it. Personally, I don't care that much about ocean front to pay those kind of prices.

[John_Joey]

paulcardoza wrote:
While the web site photos seem to show more width than that, it is a typical Ocean Front setup, with sites squeezed in pretty tightly. Not for me with that high a price tag.

John&Joey wrote:

...snip....from 52 X 22 to 60 X 22.

22 feet wide :S. Lets see a rig is 9 feet wide, add a 2 foot slide on each side, that comes out to 13 feet, leaving 4.5 feet on each side to the lot line. To me that's simply crazy talk for that type of money.

Well I guess the good news is if you need to borrow a cup of sugar you can ask your neighbor without ever leaving the kitchen of your rig. :B

[stripit]

I purchased a rv lot just outside of Casa Grande about 7 years ago. My intent was to be able to trade the lot to someone who owned a lot in some other state during the winter months,I pay the electric bill on their lot and they pay for what they use on mine.No other costs involved, this way we get to see other areas and so do they. Could never find a single person who wanted to switch, they said it sounds great but we have friends in the rv park they own the lot in and would miss their friends. I know since the economy dropped home prices it also dropped rv lot prices. I don't think I could recoup my original purchase price even with the improvements I've done. I now rent the lot out and it covers all costs, but I don't see me ever buying another one, I would rent and move on.

[Don_Shar]

khogle2 wrote:

Don/Shar wrote:
Wife and I have been wintering in Yuma for 8 years. We would rent a lot every year so we decided to buy one in the Foothills. It has a brick fence all around and 2 drive lock gate in the front. We have
4 full hook-up and rent it out when not there. For us buying was no question.

That's a nice looking spot. How close to a restaurant or walmart? Noise, etc.

I considered one in that area to make trips easier to So.. Cal to visit family.

Very quiet, not to close to restaurants and shopping but with the roads its not all that far. We could get to the new big Fry's in about
10 minutes with traffic, Wal-Mart about 15 minutes. There are fast food close, Pizza, KFC, couple restaurants, the Boy's Pizza (very Good) all in all I would say we have it pretty well. More building.
You can get on I-8 and go to the mall, Sam's club and lots of shopping in about 20 minutes or less.

[paulcardoza]

While the web site photos seem to show more width than that, it is a typical Ocean Front setup, with sites squeezed in pretty tightly. Not for me with that high a price tag.

John&Joey wrote:

...snip....from 52 X 22 to 60 X 22.

22 feet wide :S. Lets see a rig is 9 feet wide, add a 2 foot slide on each side, that comes out to 13 feet, leaving 4.5 feet on each side to the lot line. To me that's simply crazy talk for that type of money.

[John_Joey]

...snip....from 52 X 22 to 60 X 22.

22 feet wide :S. Lets see a rig is 9 feet wide, add a 2 foot slide on each side, that comes out to 13 feet, leaving 4.5 feet on each side to the lot line. To me that's simply crazy talk for that type of money.

[Bumpyroad]

rockhillmanor wrote:

99 year lease from $175,000 to $265,000, rent $350/month, taxes $74 to $94/ month, insurance, $30/month and the utilities are metered separately.

Yikes. You can buy 2 homes one in the south and one in the north for those prices and it would be a REAL investment.

Are those prices for an 'empty' lot? Besides the monthly costs what type of up front down payment is needed?

my thoughts exactly. one could buy a "home base" house in the North and one in the South and travel between them and elsewhere.
bumpy

[rockhillmanor]

99 year lease from $175,000 to $265,000, rent $350/month, taxes $74 to $94/ month, insurance, $30/month and the utilities are metered separately.

Yikes. You can buy 2 homes one in the south and one in the north for those prices and it would be a REAL investment.

Are those prices for an 'empty' lot? Besides the monthly costs what type of up front down payment is needed?

[kjburns]

J-Rooster wrote:
I will never buy a lot unless it's deeded in my name. Like other posters said location is big when it comes to price!

We have a deeded lot in an RV park. I wouldn't call it an investment, at all, but it's a place we like to go and do get a lot of use out of. It's not far (230 miles) and convenient when we just want to get away. The purchase price was only about $30,000 so there wasn't a HUGE investment.

Our house has increased in value 10% in 30 months or so. The RV lot is worth essentially the same price we paid for it, so from a cash investment standpoint, it's a no-show. The other side of the coin is that the place is always in excellent shape, with manicured grass, and it's always clean. We'll do some improvements on the lot at some point.

I wouldn't consider it a place where my money would grow. We do own it and can sell it at any time and at least recover our purchase price. The HOA dues make it more expensive than just making reservations somewhere, but we know the people and like to spend time there. You never know who's renting the site next to you at a typical park. Some people have lived in our park for over ten years, but most are seasonal. In other parks, the new neighbor might be a new friend or someone you wish would go away...soon 🙂