Why we shifted focus to RV parks and why you should too!

As two seasoned real estate investors and brokers, my partner Justin and I had a swath of experience from residential and commercial brokerage, personal investments, and management. We were doing quite well for ourselves and our Colorado market was treating us to nice returns in both cash flow and appreciation. Why then did we all of a sudden change everything.

You could say it was the perfect storm that brought us together. Justin and I met in the sky. Seriously! We are paraglider pilots and our weekend activity of choice has us flying at cloud base under beautifully crafted nylon aircraft. Our hobby and our mutual passion for real estate drew us together as friends. Then our wives, both in the same field hit it off, as did our kids who were perfect matched friends (older girl, younger boy, each). We even both had German Shepherd dogs. In a weird way, we were carbon copies, at least demographically and professionally. The other things we had a passion for was getting out of town, camping, hiking, and traveling.

It was while we were on a trip together, sitting around the kitchen table of Justin's RV when he pitched the thought of investing in RV parks. He piqued my interest talking about what a great opportunity it would be and how he liked the idea of operating recreational real estate where people go to have fun. This was amidst a shakeup with tenants in his apartments who were not paying rent in the summer of 2020. We put the conversation to rest for a month and didn't talk about it for a bit.

Then it hit me, I loved real estate investing (my pass time) and was growing exhausted in real estate brokerage (my full time). I knew I too wanted a change and I knew that my "S" quadrant (shout out to Bob Kiyosaki) did not serve my long-term goal and I was ready for a change.

Justin and I both are fortunately very driven and we dove into research, analysis, and education. Our lives became RV parks! As we learned more about the industry, we saw tremendous opportunity for wealth and cash flow. These parks were pacing other commercial real estate with national trends for appreciation and were clocking in at 10-13% cap rates, consistently. Not to mention, the industry has been absolutely explosive!

2020 brought in a record-setting number of RV campers and owners. Between workers turned remote, many of whom had employers who chose to make their jobs permanently remote and those who were looking for safer more distanced travel. Demand for the purchase and rental of RVs was up over 1000%! Of those polled who RV camped for the first time in 2020, 61% said they would continue RV camping into 2021 and beyond. They weren't just retirees either... 38% of all RVs owned in the US are owned by millennials (who only account for 31% of the total population.

In an industry on the rise, catering to an increasingly younger demographic, could this be the next asset on the brink of going big?