Building an RV park for overnighters?

[jkwilson]

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?

[camp-n-family]

Roads, gravel pads, hydro and water service and a septic bed for a dump station are not exactly a small investment. Those are costly items that would take a long time to recover the investment.

[midnightsadie]

sounds ok to me ,go for it.

[imgoin4it]

The idea sounds like the overnight RV park just north of liberal Kansas on high way 54. Forgot the name, but it was built on ranch land by the ranch owner and is operated by the ranchers wife who opens the office to collect from parked customers every evening at 5:00pm. When traveling through we usually stay there. Looks like for a relatively small investment and low operating cost they do a very good business. They have long time customers along the side and overnighters in the centrr. Nothing fancy, but clean spacious and quiet.

[westernrvparkow]

time2roll wrote:
I would compact some area and throw up a sign and maybe a website.
Has to be better than Walmart even with NO amenities or utilities.
Add amenities and utilities as money comes in. Don't spend a bucket of money unless you get permits or at least discuss with the County office.

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.

[BB_TX]

To me, 3 miles and 9 miles is not easy off/easy on. If there are other RV parks along side the interstates within a reasonable distance (15-25 miles) I think it would be difficult to compete. And a simple no frills park that is not near a popular attraction of some sort is also going to mean a simple no frills nightly rate. Take a lot of time calculating outlay and expenses vs possible income. And don't count income based on a full park.

[time2roll]

I would compact some area and throw up a sign and maybe a website.
Has to be better than Walmart even with NO amenities or utilities.
Add amenities and utilities as money comes in. Don't spend a bucket of money unless you get permits or at least discuss with the County office.

[Bipeflier]

Interesting, not one reply from anyone in the Midwest where we typically don't have as much government regulation, as say California or the East Coast.

Obviously one would have to check into all of the requirements. I talked with a park owner in Arkansas last year that purchased an existing park and was doing some expansion putting in additional sites. I was told that the additional sites were costing approximately $10k per site for the grading, gravel, electric, .no sewer. That doesn't take into account the cost of land or taxes and the campground already has restrooms and showers.

Might be more or less in your location but it will take quite a while to get a return on that investment at say $20 per night.

Having said all of that, I agree, we need more overnight stops. Kansas and Nebraska seem to have a lot of city park campgrounds available in the $10 to $20 per night range. We use them whenever we can.

[westernrvparkow]

DrewE wrote:
I would think that a mobile home park may be more lucrative than an RV park. You have year-round use, more predictable income, and less manpower to keep it running. There's no dump station needed, no showerhouse, perhaps even no office needed. There might be some affordable housing state aid programs available to help develop it in some cases.

At least here in Vermont, the design and permitting for a sewage system for a campground would start to approach an extensive investment in itself, to mention nothing of its installation. It would likely be simpler if municipal sewer is available and had sufficient capacity.

Yep, I bet the neighbors will welcome a mobile home park next door. Also, once you have a mobile home park, most jurisdictions (and the renters) make it nearly impossible close up shop and move on to those higher uses the OP is hoping to capture in the future. The laws of many states are written to prevent easy mobile home park closures, for a good reason. Closing a mobile home park impacts the residents greatly. Not only do they have to move their belongings, like they would if you no longer decided to rent out your house or apartment building, they have to move their mobile home, which is pretty much mobile in name only.
As for "tiny homes", I am still waiting for someone to post links to actual tiny home communities. A few RV parks and mobile home parks have changed their names to try and capture that supposed market, but I haven't seen one yet that is actually a community of those homes. Until proven otherwise, I will continue to believe "tiny homes" as a movement exists only on Television. Yes, there probably is a movement away from McMansions to more reasonable sized homes, but that is a switch from 3000 - 5000 sq ft to 1000-2000 sq ft. Smaller, yes. But hardly meeting the definition of a tiny home.

[DrewE]

I would think that a mobile home park may be more lucrative than an RV park. You have year-round use, more predictable income, and less manpower to keep it running. There's no dump station needed, no showerhouse, perhaps even no office needed. There might be some affordable housing state aid programs available to help develop it in some cases.

At least here in Vermont, the design and permitting for a sewage system for a campground would start to approach an extensive investment in itself, to mention nothing of its installation. It would likely be simpler if municipal sewer is available and had sufficient capacity.

[the_bear_II]

With the tiny house movement being so popular along with many folks choosing to fulltime RV lifestyle as a way to saving on housing costs, an RV Park aimed at overnighters plus long term stays for RVs and Tiny Houses might be a good investment for the near future... not sure how long this trend will last.

[Lwiddis]

Thom, that would be part of a good business evaluation but this is a guess I believe.

[ThomBoles]

Agricultural land is taxed at a different rate than commercial land (in most areas) so you'd want to find out the added cost in taxes if the land is converted from hay.

[NanciL]

I would be all for it, but I first would check on how the county would tax me

secondly I would check to see what the income would do to my income tax situation.

third, I would check on what kind of liability I would take on.

jack L

[jplante4]

A lot of time we spend an overnight in a seasonal park going to and from a destination. We pay for things we normally don't need, but it's the best solution (other than a Walmart) in the area.

I stayed 2 nights at Carolina Crossroads in Roanoke NC and watched the comings and goings. This place is primarily an overnight stop for snowbirders escaping in cold weather. It's just enough south to let you de-winterize. They had a row right by the entrance that was electricity and water and late arrivals. Every night the row filled up and by 10 am the next day it was empty.

They had a pool, a jacuzzi and a pool table in a open-air building but for the most part it was people just coming and going. There is a Walmart 1 exit north off I-95 that allowed overnight parking, but Crossroads' overnight spots were always full.

If the BIL's land is far enough south, there is a market. It would be better if it was on a popular N-S interstate just below the freeze line.

[d3500ram]

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?