All Forum Posts by: Zach B.

I've found a prime vacant 2 acre lot at major intersection of 2 state highways, on route to the coast. An absolute goldmine of a location! I can't afford to buy the lot from the owner right now, however, they will do long term lease, maybe with option to buy after so many years. I want to install 20-30 RV spaces, some mini storage and a drive thru food / coffee stand. The drive thru and the mini storage could potentially be mobile, ie. steel shipping containers, which I could take with me should the lease ever fall apart / expire. Question for the forum is would it be recommended or not recommended to invest in this type of project, ie. infrastructure for the RV spaces (water, sewer, pavement etc), on a leased piece of dirt? I'd love to own the dirt but I am on a budget and avoiding the capx of land purchase actually sounds great. Should I offer the owner a percentage of my revenue as incentive for a low base lease amount? What, if any, are the potential risks with this scenario, or can these risks be addressed by a properly written lease agreement with a buyout option? I'm new to all this, appreciate any advice. Thanks!

Here's my dilemma.. I've found a goldmine location, 230ft frontage right at intersection of 2 high-traffic state highways. The area I want is about 2 acres in size (blue line in pic), it's vacant, zoned commercial, city services, however, it's really a 5.6 acre lot on which sits the hotel directly to the south, as seen in the pic below. I've contacted the hotel owner, they like my offer of $130K and they want to talk. I want to install 20 or so RV Spaces, 60 or so self-storage units and a drive thru food / coffee stand. City says this all sounds good but the problem is I want to start my project NOW but it will take 6+ months to divide the current 5.6 acre lot before I can officially purchase the 2 acres I'm going after. So question is, is there any safe agreement agreement I could propose to the current owner so that I could 'safely' start my project now, ie. lease or rent to own, or land contract that would allow me to start project now and then officially purchase my lot once land partition is approved 6+ months from now? Should I be asking the current owner for this anyway to free up my capital for construction? Or, is it too risky to build before owning the dirt?

I do have an alternative site (below)... it's 3.8 acres Commercial zone for $110K, 1/2 mile away from the other property, no land partition required, ready to buy, ready to build, it too is on a state highway but it's 1/2 mile from that goldmine intersection, it needs trees cleared and I'd have to extend the city water & sewer a couple hundred feet. So, just thinking out loud here... can I build on the 2 acres prior to purchase? Which prop is a better deal? Do I really need the high visibility for RV Park / Mini Storage? Should I just buy the 3.82 acres that's ready to go? Or is the high visibility of the 2 acres worth waiting for?? Needless to say, I'm new to this. Any advice is appreciated.

I'm thinking of buying a .66 acre commercial lot for $60K and building 6000 to 7000 sq ft of storage. Automated overlocks, no onsite manager. I figure I could get 30 or so 200 sq ft units out of this. I've never done storage before.

Does this sound feasible, profitable? Or is it too small? I don't mind small if it runs itself.

Does anyone know what to budget per sq ft for a cement block storage unit?

Does anyone here know how much additional cost I am looking at by adding a climate control system to this project, and is climate control really necessary? By climate control I mean structure would be insulated and foundation would include heating coils to eliminate the moisture.

Thanks

Thanks, guys, for the input. Matt, Yes, I'm figuring I would charge $300/mo for a space and the guest pays their own water, sewer and electric on top of that. In addition to the 50 or so RV sites, I'd have room on the 4 acres for 10,000 sq ft or so of mini storage, hence the 15-20K /mo figure.

Aaron, Yes, sounds like my plan is very similar to your buddy in LA. An acre or so of asphalt in the right area, with city services and 20 or so permanent 'guests' is just simply a cash cow! This is the model I am going after.

Yes, we're just south of the Dalles here in Bend. And yes, Bend is on fire right now! Problem is, the dirt here is sooo expensive. Even just 1 commercial acre in town is upwards of $1Million. So, yes, I live in Bend, and if I could afford it I would love to develop something here, but due to the cost I'm looking to build RV Parks southwest of here in the Grants Pass / Cave Junction areas where the dirt is much, much cheaper but where there is at the same time a huge demand for low cost living spaces. Perfect storm!

Hi, I've never built/owned/operated an RV Park before, but I've done lots of research, have paid hundreds of dollars to the city for a 1 hour discussion on requirements, etc. Sounds very doable, city is on board. I would be buying a 4 acre commercial piece for ~$100 in the southwest part of Oregon, extending the city services a few hundred fee up the state hwy at a cost of about $70K and starting with ~20 or so full hookup, gravel-finished pads with room for up to ~50 sites down the road. This is a depressed area but in a big way it has recently become a boomtown from the marijuana growing industry (kind of a perfect storm), and many folks are buying RVs and trying to find somewhere to park them permanently paying monthly rent. City says this is no problem to them. I figure I can buy the land and get 18-20 sites going for around $300K. This piece fully developed with 50 or so sites would have a $15K-$20K monthly gross potential. This revenue may seem small to some of you high rollers but this would be huge, life-changing in a good way, for me and my family.

I had previously been pursuing a 2 acre piece in the county where I  would have had to install my own septic and well. At some point I decided against that and that wherever I do a park I will make 100% sure to be on City water and sewer.

I have a friend in the same area who has a 40 space RV Park, nothing fancy, gravel pads, but he's FULL of permanent renters and turning people away! He says it's the best thing he's ever done and should have done it much sooner in his life. He travels the world now and laughs all the way to the bank. While I've decided to go with city services, this guy refuses to touch the city due to their fees. I told him that to me having the city services is worth every penny of their fees so I never have to worry about a septic or well going bad.

Separate from the 4 acre project I describe above, I also have the opportunity to buy a 1 acre commercial piece in the city with city services already at the curb, asking price is $123K. I figure with city services this thing would just kind of run itself and be a cash cow. Am I delusional or can 1 acre, city lots with permanent renters really be cash cows? I figure if there are permanent renters, they're all on city services, there's not much to go wrong?? Correct? Or??

Thanks for any advice!