Renting out your RV

[RJL]

Hey all.

My rig sits. ALOT. Anyone rent their rig out?

I've read about this and it sounds almost too good to be true.

Any real world experience in here?

Insites?

Suggestions?

Thanks

Bob

[map40]

The big player in the industry is Cruise America. They custom build their coaches to bear minimun. No TV, no backup camera, no steps, no transfer switch, all high strenght upholstery, cloth blinds, fuel tank access hatch, automatic tow mode activation and many more. Why? Because things break. I had a fleet and very rearly did we have somebody who mistreated the RVs, but lack of knowledge was always a problem.
I learned that an RV to rent is like a propperty to rent. It is equipped and set up for rent. Not for you to live in in. If it breaks you have no personal attachment, it is an asset.
Can you make money? Yes. Just make sure that you make enough money yo "pay off" the entire RV in 5 years. The worst mistake is to buy an RV on a 20 year loan and end in 5 years with an RV heavily used with 100k miles and still 15 years left on the loan.

[gbopp]

When I see the question, on the forum, about renting your RV I think of a response from several years ago.

Q: What is the difference between an all terrain vehicle and a rental RV?

A: The rental RV can go xanywhere.

[valhalla360]

RJL wrote:
Thank you for the input all. Truth be told, I'm thinking of selling our MH and would just about break even. This rental thing has me thinking though. Maybe make a bit of money with it.

RV's are depreciating assets...if you can sell and break even you are doing far better than average. Take the money and run.

[Lwiddis]

The reason I have an RV is avoid hotels as much as possible. Not make money.

[way2roll]

RJL wrote:
Thank you for the input all. Truth be told, I'm thinking of selling our MH and would just about break even. This rental thing has me thinking though. Maybe make a bit of money with it.

You'll make money but at what cost? Overhead plus depreciation will eclipse any profit you would make selling it outright.

Ex, your rig is over 10 years old. If you make a few grand renting it but it depreciates (wear and tear, damage) beyond what you can now sell it for, plus the cost of doing business and repairs, why bother?

Unless you don't care about it and are ok with renting it til the wheels fall off and then sell it for pennies. But you won't make more net cash on the rental than what you would sell it for now. You'd have to rent it non stop for a year and a 10 year old RV won't survive that.

Rental companies buy stripped down RV's, rent them for a few years and sell them at wholesale prices. Built into that model is all the overhead I mentioned before. That business model doesn't really align with leveraging an older, production, consumer owned, RV.

On edit: you also have to consider whether people will want to rent your RV. It's 12 years old. No offense but there are a lot more newer RV's out there for rent so I think to make it attractive you'll have to rent for less than what your competitors are. That will invite a clientele you don't want.

[atsrmf]

RJL wrote:
Thank you for the input all. Truth be told, I'm thinking of selling our MH and would just about break even. This rental thing has me thinking though. Maybe make a bit of money with it.

Don't do it! Quit while you are even, invest in the Vanguard 500 or a good mutual fund to make a little money.

[RJL]

Thank you for the input all. Truth be told, I'm thinking of selling our MH and would just about break even. This rental thing has me thinking though. Maybe make a bit of money with it.

[valhalla360]

If you want to buy cheap used RVs and do most of the work yourself (keeping them operational not necessarily pretty), you can make money but it's a business and it is work.

Our personal rig...not a chance.

[erniee]

Never

[routeforty]

When I bought our motorhome and called for insurance, the first thing the agent said to me was that if I rented it that I was not covered. If I had plans to rent it I would need to find another company.

[rgatijnet1]

We travel a lot out West and was amazed at the rental RV's that we saw stuck in places that are off limits to RV's. We saw one RV halfway up the Moki Dugway and another one stranded on the trail through the Valley of the Gods in Utah. In both places there were signs warning about RV's using the dirt roads but they were ignored by the renters. I am sure that these are the exceptions but in these cases I can't imagine what the towing bill was to retrieve these class C's.

[way2roll]

We owned an RV rental business for several years. It's a business, not a good way to make passive income on your personal rig. If you want to open an RV rental company, do that, with units you aren't personally or financially invested in but keep your personal RV out of it. If you can't afford your RV to the point you need to supplement it's ownership, sell it. You'll be better off. You've heard from 2 people who owned an RV rental business who say don't do it. People do not care about rentals and it will get trashed.

As another poster mentioned you will need insurance. At the time MBA was the only commercial RV rental insurance company. Carrying $1MM in liability insurance is not cheap. Then there is contracts, bookings, detail/cleaning expense (every time) detailed walkthroughs (as required by the insurance), repairs (there will be plenty), accelerated maintenance, the late night phone calls when the TV doesn't work, breakdown coverage, etc etc.

It's a business.

[atsrmf]

The only way I would rent my motorhome is with a $25K deposit. That way they bought it if they damage it.

[Bruce_Brown]

A few years back I rebuilt a TT that I ended up renting a bunch. I kept my list of renters pretty tight and it worked well - I never had a bad experience.

That said, it was a $5k TT, not our motorhome.

I had many opportunities to rent our MH in those days too - NOT A CHANCE!!!

So it's up to you, how much do you value your property? Are you comfortable with the risk/reward? Your call.