Buying a RV Lot - smart or not? - Montana Owners Club

suny07 · 04-10-2018, 01:24 PM

Hi,

I just saw that one of our most favorite sites is up for sale.
So - of cores - we started thinking about why not own it.

Can you really see this as investment or is it only emotional loaded.

In the specific Campground it would be arranged and setup that RV Lots are treated like an Condominium.
If we would not occupied it it would be rented out by the campground.

Does anyone here have experiences about that?

Whats your view point on this?

Thanks, Mike

fredetteb · 04-10-2018, 01:40 PM

My sister and her husband bought a "perma-site' at a campground near Gatlinburg TN last year and couldn't be happier. They use it often and enjoy short get-a-ways and hosting family gatherings at the park.

On the other hand my DW & I chose to go full time and work around the country moving from state to state about every 3-6 months.

It simple depends on how you plan on using your RV. Do you consider it a "vacation home" and use it like a private hotel room or do you want to travel and see different places every time you go out.

Personally I don't think a purchased or leased lot is suitable to my style of RVing. But everyone has different needs. Just be sure that the cost of the purchase and any maintenance and HOA fees can be justified or at least partially recouped by the rental agreement.

RKassl · 04-10-2018, 02:17 PM

My Montana was built with wheels, wheels that take us around this great country, we would never plant it on a lot. The wife and I talked about this in great length before we retired, we both decided that the "cabin life" was not for us.

richfaa · 04-10-2018, 02:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RKassl

My Montana was built with wheels, wheels that take us around this great country, we would never plant it on a lot. The wife and I talked about this in great length before we retired, we both decided that the "cabin life" was not for us.

Same for us.Buying a lot anywhere sort of ties you to that lot. We winter in Florida at a very Nice HOA resort but we would not buy here as we may want to winter in AZ, Texas, Next season. Maybe one day when our on the road days are done

mtlakejim · 04-10-2018, 03:05 PM

We have looked at lots in Florida since we expect to snowbird after retiring. We don’t want to stay at the crowded RV parks so we are looking at an actual private piece of property. We think that we will consistency stay there for three or four months in the winter then hit the road some. At the same time we are keeping the country estate in North Arkansas. In part, because I expect to stay there once our traveling days are over and because I intend for it to be heritage property.

Granted that is slightly different from your original question. To that I would tend to agree with others that using the same site over and over may get boring depending on why your doing it. For us I think a mix of long stay sites mixed with new locations while in “touring” mode is the right choice. I honestly don’t think we would care for true full timing particularly since we have a lot of other interests beside RVs

MidMOTraveler · 04-10-2018, 04:19 PM

Can't see RV campground lot being an investment.
We had a full size mobile home in a campground for 30 years.
The camp ground went bankrupt 2 times and changed owners 5 times.
Had 2 years while in bankruptcy that we had SBA shut the place down while sold at auction.
I understand the having the place you like the most available when you want.
But are you paying one price forever? Or is this a time share type deal and you only get so many weeks a year. If your buying in forever who, maintains, pays real estate taxes and gets the money when it's rented out?

team bradfield · 04-10-2018, 04:22 PM

We bought an RV instead of a cabin for the freedom to travel.

mlh · 04-10-2018, 06:24 PM

Investment? If this is mew l wonder what it will be like in a few years. I would be worried about that.
Lynwood

coachgrowl · 04-10-2018, 08:42 PM

I own a brick and mortar house in N california. I would never buy a lot. Too much liability for me.

CaptnJohn · 04-10-2018, 09:45 PM

As a former real estate broker ~~ I'd never buy a lot as an investment. Much better to buy a small house or condo where you want to winter. I'd never buy a lot as my 5er has wheels meant to explore different areas. Those purchases work for some but I'd not see one as an investment.

Eagleback · 04-11-2018, 04:28 AM

We own a lot in a 55 age park in Naples and full time on it in a 5th wheel. Its a condo association with mixed RV, Cottage and park models. The HOA is $195 per month and covers the cable, water, sewer, pool, lawn, activities, ETC. We bought it last year and the lot prices has gone up 15%. I like the idea if my job moves we can sell or rent it out and do not have to have a management company to watch that stick built for you and you don't have to worry about some one trashing your place or hurricanes because its only a lot. Also in southwest Florida the lots in here are all full in January. This is by far the best investment we made. We live here full time for less than $2500 dollars a year. You cant find that in any stick built condo or home anywhere around here even close to that price. If you are OK with going to the same place every year and the price of owning the lot is cheaper than renting per year its a no brainier and Go for it and don't be swayed by others because vacant land can be a way better bang for your buck.

suny07 · 04-11-2018, 05:14 AM

Thanks for sharing your opinions.

My thoughts were basically why have money sitting on the bank on low interest vs living in or better on the money and make some interest when selling in a few years.

The campground has a great reputation on being fully booked on main season.
We would prefer to utilize more in the low seasons anyway so we can rent it out properly.
entertaining costs could be covered by renting it around 100days a year.
As we still work we maybe would come up using the lot maybe 30 days a year.
Who knows, owning it we would maybe do more.

We also have the RV to travel around so it would just a close by getaway where we know lot, location and would not have an unpleasant surprises.

Investment is maybe not the absolute correct word as it involves emotions

Mike

JandC · 04-11-2018, 05:27 AM

We have considered purchasing an RV lot in a park also. I think the key is to get one at the "right" price or be prepared to hold on to it. We had some friends that had one in Florida and used it while they were full time for around 10 years in the winter months. When they built a sticknbrick and went part time they sold it. They sold it for about the same money as their original purchase price. However, they saved around $6,000 every year on their winter lot rent by having it. Rent income the rest of the year paid maintenance/HOA fees.

**DQDick** · 04-11-2018, 06:07 AM

Ok, here's the minority report. We have two. Yes I said two. We have one in NM and one in KS. The one in Kansas we own and is not part of a development. It has hookups for two RV's, should someone we know happen by. Two large sheds, an art studio for Joyce and a workshop for me. The other is in a park in NM and again we have two sheds with the same purposes. We use the one in Kansas to home base and travel the midwest and east from there and all of our grandkids and great grandkids live near there. We use the one in New Mexico to travel the west. Both places allow us to eat from real dishes and cook on a pellet grill etc and then pack them away and leave without taking the weight with us. We still put 8,000+ miles on our rig everyyear and see and do lots of other things. It's how we make the full time lifestyle work for us. We don't look at them as investments, although we bought during the recession, so alltogether we have less than $30,000 in both counting the sheds and utility improvements so I don't think our kids will loose money when we croak.

mtlakejim · 04-11-2018, 09:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DQDick

Ok, here's the minority report. We have two. Yes I said two. We have one in NM and one in KS. The one in Kansas we own and is not part of a development. It has hookups for two RV's, should someone we know happen by. Two large sheds, an art studio for Joyce and a workshop for me. The other is in a park in NM and again we have two sheds with the same purposes. We use the one in Kansas to home base and travel the midwest and east from there and all of our grandkids and great grandkids live near there. We use the one in New Mexico to travel the west. Both places allow us to eat from real dishes and cook on a pellet grill etc and then pack them away and leave without taking the weight with us. We still put 8,000+ miles on our rig everyyear and see and do lots of other things. It's how we make the full time lifestyle work for us. We don't look at them as investments, although we bought during the recession, so alltogether we have less than $30,000 in both counting the sheds and utility improvements so I don't think our kids will loose money when we croak.

This is sorta our plan too. The place we have now in Arkansas and our own private lot in Florida setup for just us and a couple friends RVs.

We don’t look at it as an investment but rather our preference to outright own the properties we will be frequently visiting. While we are fine in a crowded public campground for a week or two that wouldn’t be our cup of tea for extended stays.

richfaa · 04-11-2018, 09:53 AM

Real estate in Florida is unstable particularity RV lots in their many forms .Real estate particularity RV resorts and RV HOA's took a beating in the last economic readjustment and have not yet fully recovered. We lease here in our HOA Rv resort and will not purchase. The economy here is robust now but the local economy is almost entirely dependent on tourism of which snowbirds are a large part of.

Eagleback · 04-11-2018, 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by richfaa

Real estate in Florida is unstable particularity RV lots in their many forms .Real estate particularity RV resorts and RV HOA's took a beating in the last economic readjustment and have not yet fully recovered. We lease here in our HOA Rv resort and will not purchase. The economy here is robust now but the local economy is almost entirely dependent on tourism of which snowbirds are a large part of.

The only issue here in Naples because of the down turn is that banks will not loan on vacant land anymore. We leased for 4 years at another rv resort and now wish we had that $28000+ back because i would be able to paid off 80% of what we have right now. Renting and leasing in the same park where you are going to be year after year is a huge waste of money. Remember being here in Florida in season is a want and not a need for snow birds. We work here so its a need and we wish we did it when we first came here.

richfaa · 04-11-2018, 11:18 AM

True Eagleback. We may decide to winter in the SW as we have done before. Owning a Rv lot in Florida sort of commits you to that lot. When the economy weakens tourism and snowbirds are the first folks who do not come. We were here in 2007/2008 season and the 2008/2009 season. The area was hard hit. Unlike you we are here for the warm weather and there is warm weather in other States. Both Helen and I both worked as seasonal s at Disneyworld . The pay is not much but it more than paid for our winter stay. It is very true that in 2008/2009 RV lots were could be purchased very cheaply and we gave it much thought.

mtlakejim · 04-11-2018, 12:21 PM

We are planning on just buying property and improving it ourselves. I have the equipment and expertise for that.

We don’t want to get tied up in a rental or be in a RV space with two hundred other snowbirds immediately next door. And yes we will be researching all the ups and downs of taxes, permitting, restrictions and such. We may decide it’s not worth it or maybe Texas Coast is better choice.

Main reason Florida strikes our interest is I like to bay fish. I spent 14 years on the gulf coast of Louisiana/Texas, chasing offshore oil, so I do know a little bit about the Salt Life.

JandC · 04-12-2018, 06:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mtlakejim

We are planning on just buying property and improving it ourselves. I have the equipment and expertise for that.

We don’t want to get tied up in a rental or be in a RV space with two hundred other snowbirds immediately next door. And yes we will be researching all the ups and downs of taxes, permitting, restrictions and such. We may decide it’s not worth it or maybe Texas Coast is better choice.

Main reason Florida strikes our interest is I like to bay fish. I spent 14 years on the gulf coast of Louisiana/Texas, chasing offshore oil, so I do know a little bit about the Salt Life.

Another thing you have to consider if you are migrating to Florida every winter is recreation. If you want to be off by yourself on a piece of property in Florida it will be difficult to meet folks and have much of a social life I would guess. You could probably get by cheaper in the long run but it certainly wouldn't be much run fishing by yourself all winter.

We wintered with a bunch of great folks this last time around from all over, U.S. and Canada alike. Made some really good friends and had fun all winter.

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