Deeded RV lots
So the wife and I are considering purchasing an rv lot as we approach retirement. I am having a difficult time searching for them. While doing our search too many times sites that are listed as rv com...
Forum Discussion
We bought a deeded lot, in Florida, two years ago. It has been a true love and hate situation. Oddly enough, we spent time in that park, everything from a month to an entire season, for the previous five years. We had heard than, in the past, the place was fairly tumultuous,to the point of fist fights breaking out at board meetings.We learned the hard way that the reason for a decade of calm was the board president, a benign dictator who understood that there are many, mostly older male, lot owners who are power hungry, obsessed with taking control of every situation, and will cause chaos any time they are given any little position of responsibility.
Last year, a cabal of these power hungry chucklenuts took control. They did so using some extremely underhanded techniques that mirror our current political situation, in the states. Lots of lying, false claims about past performance, the use of "us VS them" clique building, etc, Since all the new members wanted to be in charge, they divided the various responsibilities of running a large park, with an HOA owned, for profit campground attached, into sub-kingdoms, and gave each new member his own territory to rule.
It's been a never-ending mess. Their cult leader (the one that guided this current "leadership" into the mess they ended up in) eventually felt that his continued presence in the park was not comfortable, or safe, so he and his wife sold out. The clowns with their mini-kingdoms don't really like to put the actual work in, so they are paying various entities to do their duties. They rang up $80K in legal bills, over their battles, divided the owners of the park, and destroyed any sense of common community. Now several of them announced that they no longer want their positions. It seems that wanting to be in charge, and strutting around like you are somebody, is a little different that being a hard working, mature adult, who has been given a lot of responsibility and a lot of unpaid work to do. Especially if you are doing it to "serve" a membership that you cleaved in half, with your behavior, and a huge portion of those members know what your game is.
At this point, we are not sure if we will be heading south this winter, and will watch how Florida fares with it's latest, "Corona, what Corona?" handling of the virus, by the governor, before we make our final decision. We will, like most owners in our park, who haven't "drunk the kool-aid" keep a watchful eye on the HOA board. If the place returns to some sense of rationality, we would be happy to stay. If it continues on the path of 24/7 stupidity,division, and destruction, we will sell.
At this point, the ONLY way we would buy another lot in an HOA controlled campground, is if the park members support an HOA that has handed over the majority of control and daily management to a management association, and has a long history of peacefully respecting the performance of the management company. And yes, at least in FL. these places do exist. Another poster here mentioned some lots that are actually sold by, and managed by ownership of a for profit park. Essentially the campground takes a portion of their property and sells individual sites off. We know several folks that bought into a beautiful newer resort that fits this model. 5-6 years after they did it, the whole resort is tanking, street lights are dead, since the owner can't afford to fix them, the cable TV is dead, and so on. At this point, IMHO, I would not take the deed to any one of our friend's resort lots for free. Those properties went from being $40-60K investments to a liability that will be tough to sell, if they sell. My guess is that the bank will foreclose on the place, and the lot owners will spend many years in limbo, until that place is stable again.
Last year, a cabal of these power hungry chucklenuts took control. They did so using some extremely underhanded techniques that mirror our current political situation, in the states. Lots of lying, false claims about past performance, the use of "us VS them" clique building, etc, Since all the new members wanted to be in charge, they divided the various responsibilities of running a large park, with an HOA owned, for profit campground attached, into sub-kingdoms, and gave each new member his own territory to rule.
It's been a never-ending mess. Their cult leader (the one that guided this current "leadership" into the mess they ended up in) eventually felt that his continued presence in the park was not comfortable, or safe, so he and his wife sold out. The clowns with their mini-kingdoms don't really like to put the actual work in, so they are paying various entities to do their duties. They rang up $80K in legal bills, over their battles, divided the owners of the park, and destroyed any sense of common community. Now several of them announced that they no longer want their positions. It seems that wanting to be in charge, and strutting around like you are somebody, is a little different that being a hard working, mature adult, who has been given a lot of responsibility and a lot of unpaid work to do. Especially if you are doing it to "serve" a membership that you cleaved in half, with your behavior, and a huge portion of those members know what your game is.
At this point, we are not sure if we will be heading south this winter, and will watch how Florida fares with it's latest, "Corona, what Corona?" handling of the virus, by the governor, before we make our final decision. We will, like most owners in our park, who haven't "drunk the kool-aid" keep a watchful eye on the HOA board. If the place returns to some sense of rationality, we would be happy to stay. If it continues on the path of 24/7 stupidity,division, and destruction, we will sell.
At this point, the ONLY way we would buy another lot in an HOA controlled campground, is if the park members support an HOA that has handed over the majority of control and daily management to a management association, and has a long history of peacefully respecting the performance of the management company. And yes, at least in FL. these places do exist. Another poster here mentioned some lots that are actually sold by, and managed by ownership of a for profit park. Essentially the campground takes a portion of their property and sells individual sites off. We know several folks that bought into a beautiful newer resort that fits this model. 5-6 years after they did it, the whole resort is tanking, street lights are dead, since the owner can't afford to fix them, the cable TV is dead, and so on. At this point, IMHO, I would not take the deed to any one of our friend's resort lots for free. Those properties went from being $40-60K investments to a liability that will be tough to sell, if they sell. My guess is that the bank will foreclose on the place, and the lot owners will spend many years in limbo, until that place is stable again.
