All Forum Posts by: Kevin Deiber

On a separate note, if you are reading this thread and already have a long-term RV Park I'm working on a hardware/software to automate billing campers for electricity.  My limited experience as an RV Park owner has shown me that electricity is the biggest variable expense you will have.  I have campers that spend $20 and others that spend $200 in the same month.  I think the trend should be towards more sub-metering and billing so the campers pay for that variability.  It makes valuation and cash flow difficult if you don't know what you as the owner are going to spend on electricity.  I know some park owners, myself included, get worried that by not including electricity in the monthly pad fee we're going to lose business.  I think that's the wrong mentality, and even if you think you still want to give the perception of having a flat rate with everything (water, electric, sewer) included you should do something to start influencing behavior so that you can smooth out cash flow.  Start providing a monthly notice to campers that shows their electric usage relative to the average, or have a flat rate that includes up to XXX kWh (even though that's the same as sub-metering it might give the perception that it's still a flat rate).   If you can put the variability of electricity back on the campers it helps the cash flow a lot, both in volume and consistency. 

I just purchased a park that had been out of operation for 10 years and I'm trying to fill it right now (2022).  I'm struggling with all the things people are talking about in this thread.  I bought the park because 1. it was priced right, 2. it was in a decent MSA (Shreveport is pretty gross and has some red-ish flags in terms of unemployment, household incomes, avg property prices) but I'm in a nicer little town on the outskirts, 3. there is year round demand for RV Parks in the area, 4. I feel good about the industry. 

I had a mentor and while I had no RV Park deals under my belt I thought I had done my homework, but it's been very hard. Local politics and personalities apear to be more involved than I would have guessed.  I liked the long post by @Jack Martin and agree with the big decision of focusing on short or long term campers.  In theory I like the idea of having a short-term park that is convertable into long term living if the economy tanks.  Long-term RV Parks, if managed well, can avoid some of the riff raff of mobile home parks, yet still provide one of the most affordable housing options.  Right now I have mostly long-term infrastructure but since I can't fill the pads and now I'm trying to decide when I should consider finding the money to put in enough stuff (pool, better pads, clubhouse, etc.) to get vacationers.  So my two cents is don't underestimate the work it will take to fill an empty park.

I purchased an existing RV Park in the greater Shreveport metro in early 2021 that had been out of business (empty) for at least 10 years. I spent 6+ months doing upgrades, hiring a manager, and getting it ready for guests.  I was planning to focus on long-term campers as the park lacks the ammenities, specifically a pool, to pull in a lot of destination or short term campers.  Now a year later I'm really struggling to fill spaces.  I have a 10% occupancy.  Parks in my area are 80% or more full.  I'm currently living at the park, working on grass roots marketing (flyers, signs, joing chamber, etc.), I've done some Facebook and Google stuff with really so/so results.  My online advertising never seemed to bring in enough business to cover the cost of the ads let alone other expenses.  I've had some major setbacks (fired manager, had someone break in and steal from some cars, tornado that knocked down big trees and caused fires) but I still believe in the industry, and in the metro.   My location is not as convenient as my competitors (they are 2-3 miles closer to the freeway) but I have a quieter, prettier location (not a parking lot next to a busy road) and there is a state park campground even further away from the freeway than my park that gets plenty of traffic (they often drive right by my park to get there).   My website is better than my competitors.  I have nicer amenities than my competitors. There are enough people and RV's, there is enough demand, but I'm really strugling to fill pads.  I'm willing to hire a marketing person or group, but I fear there isn't a good fit.  Marketers you find google searching are focusing on better websites and more traffic, local people have not impressed me as having a secret sauce to get over this hump.  Any advice is welcome, I'm pretty desperate and willing to try about anything.