All Forum Posts by: Blaine Alger

Great to hear your opinions on it from a consumer point of view. Sounds like you used it before they had the app and still were not as developed as they are now. I am sure the consumer experience has improved drastically.

I think the demand for something like this will continue to grow. Especially with the current situation we find ourselves in, I feel people will only want to get outside even more.

Oh how times have changed! Now camping is going techno.

The camping vs. RV crowd is a interesting argument to to look at. I am not sure how much RV sites are rented vs. camping spots on Hipcamp but I would have to guess that camping spots account for most of the bookings. I think where Hipcamp has the edge in the RV world is that they are not necessarily marketing bookings that are located in RV parks but spots that are more secluded and immersed in nature. 

Originally posted by @Matt R.:

Interesting concept. I wonder how much it could bring in if anyone has done this before. I only have one parcel that might work but I could get some others. I think ther are 3 mil full time RVers maybe they can use too. Idk if it is worth the hassle still. Here is 2 acres ready for RV (legal)

I know Hipcamp offers RV sites but I am not sure how much of their business that accounts for. I am gonna try to reach out to them this week to get some more information from them regarding things of this sort.

From the pictures it looks like you have a beautiful lot, Im sure people would love to get out of the crowded RV parks and actually get out into nature. Where is this lot at?

If yall try it out be sure to keep us in the loop. I am very curious to see what the demand would be and how the numbers would look from a real estate investors prospective. 

Best of luck to ya!

@Sean McDonnell

Oh yeah, Hipcamp is extra crunchy. I bet yalls treehouse would do great on their site.

Do yall live on some land or just a residential neighborhood? 

It seems to me that the users tend to want to be more off the beaten path. So lets say a property that would not do to well on Airbnb because it is too far from the city, would do great on Hipcamp because their users are looking to get away from the city. 

@John Underwood

Were the camper listings located out in the country offer people an escape from the city or was it more of just a cheap housing option for people visiting the city?

@Jay Hinrichs

I have not looked into the zoning aspect of it but I would not think it would be too big of a problem.

A typical Hipcamp site would be out of the city center where zoning would be a little more relaxed and for the most part, people are not developing 50+ camping sites on their land. They might just have a handful of sites.

I stumbled across this company the other day and it really got me thinking of the possibilities. Hipcamp is a platform that helps campers discover and book unique camping experiences on public and private land across all 50 states. They have been dubbed the Airbnb of camping but it is not so much for your typical vacation rental. It is geared towards camping, glamping and hook ups for RVs. As of now Hipcamp has 3 million users and over 300,000 camping sites throughout the country. They also completed a 25 million series B funding in summer of 2019 that values the company at 127 million, which is a good signal for expansion.

What appeals to me about this model, is you can go buy a couple acres of land ( Hipcamp suggest a 2 acre minimum), make some minor infrastructure upgrades and then build a couple A-frame tiny cabins, some yurts or simply just a clearing that would allow for someone to pitch a tent. This would be a low capital investment and would not be as management intensive.

I’m curious to see if anyone else has had any thoughts about using Hipcamp for investment purposes?

P.S.- Here is a link to the website: https://www.hipcamp.com

It first came on to the scene back in 2014 but it’s popularity really started to pick up in May of 2018 once it released its mobile app. Its  user interface is great and very easy to use.

That jungle lot sounds exactly what someone using the app would be looking for. Hipcamp does suggest having a little larger lot ( 2 acres) but if it has access to hiking trails or something similar, that would be a plus. I would suggest trying to find some land that is close to a nati or state park. That way you could provide some overflow capacity and there would already be an attraction in the area for campers.

You and me both Joe! I think this could be a really cool niche of real estate investing.

One of the best parts is that throughout the craziness we have been experiencing lately, Hipcamp has announced that they haven't seen a drastic drop in bookings and for the most part have been operating as normal.