When most people think of investing in real estate, they always think of single-family homes. Since most of us own a house, we feel like we have a pretty good handle on evaluating them and spotting a winner from a loser. But the problem is that everyone thinks that! As a result, you have so many people chasing houses that there is no profit in any of them.
A different avenue to consider is buying an RV park. It's such an exotic niche that few people ever learn or think about it.
A complete business in a box
Buying an RV park is like buying a business. As a result, the revenue and income allows you to consider making it your career. Unlike a single-family home, which is traditionally a hobby, an RV park requires a skill set that often leads it to become a day job - or at least a lucrative part-time job.
Each RV lot in an RV park has about the same revenue as a $50,000 single family rent house. So a 100 space RV park is like owning 100 single-family houses at one time. It would take most home investors at least a decade to amass such a portfolio, and a mountain of time and expense. But you can do that in one RV park transaction. And with the greater scale comes greater cash flow.
And a lot of fun
To many people, owning an RV park is utopia. They love the lifestyle of owning an RV park. Indeed, it is for many of us, as close as we'll ever be to being a forest ranger. We get to work in the out of doors, as well as spend out day chatting with our customers and dispensing travel ideas. And it is very much of a win/win business. The RV customer is naturally pretty affable, and doesn't ask much other than decent roads and pretty basic maintenance.
After a lifetime of regular 9 to 5 jobs in an office, owning an RV park can be an incredible quality of life upgrade.
And easier to find than a decent single family home deal
With the advent of the internet, there are hundreds of RV parks for sale that you can look at online, in the comfort of your home, on such sites as loopnet.com and rvparkstore.com. Unlike single-family homes on MLS, these parks all offer higher cap rates and better financing terms.
In addition, these sellers are often moms and pops who are very straightforward and easy to work with. And since they normally own the RV park free and clear, they can also offer financing at a below-market interest rate.
Conclusion
You can always run with the pack and pick up the debris and leftovers of other investors. Or you can forge your own trail and find a more fertile valley to cultivate. And you won't find many niches as unique and untouched as RV park investing.