Building a park from scratch, opinions welcomed!!!

[Packbacker]

My family and I are in the process of building a park from scratch. We are farmers and are looking for diversification. Over the last two years we have noticed just how packed the parks are within an hour and a half from us and had a neighbor mention that we have a perfect location.

We are located in the southeast, midway for snowbirds, off a major interstate and the exit we are off of is a heavily traveled highway. While we wouldn’t be a destination park, we do have a major military base that is a 15 minute straight shot from us, a mid major city with some attractions and great restaurants 12 minutes away, nice medical facility 10 minutes away, and lots of good golf nearby.

The interstate is heavy with RVs all the time. We were hoping for a good bit of overnighters and hoping for good business from the military base via family visitors, contractors, and soldiers who are living in RVs due to moving around so much. The land we are looking at is 38 acres that we feel like could hold around 200 spots. We are looking at starting with about 100 spots, an office/store, bathhouse and laundry, a pool and playground, and a couple dog parks. We also have 10 acres we were planning on having walking and biking trails on. We hoped to build up to the 200 spots and add some cabins in the future.

The other parks we’ve been observing along the interstate have had anywhere from 75 to 140 RVs in them at any given time, even now during December and January. We feel our location is superior to these other parks we’ve observed and while knowing anything is subject to fail, we feel very good about the potential. We are looking at about a 2.5-3 million dollar budget to get started with 100 spots and possibly have money leftover to build more.

Would love to hear some feedback from those with more experience.

[westernrvparkow]

Veebyes wrote:
"That's partly true, but many folks have their own hotspot because parks won't invest a lot in wifi. In the same vein you could say don't invest a lot in showers/bath houses because most people have their own showers/toilets"

Had an interesting discussion with a CG owner once over this one. We have a shower. We have a toilet onboard we use both. We don't use CG bathrooms & showers.

Tenters don't have toilets or showers. They NEED CG facilities. Facilities that the owner must pay somebody to clean. How come tenters get a cheaper rate? The only thing the self contained RVer uses more of is electricity.

We just consider them all about equal. We actually don't allow tenting, too much hassle keeping everything alive in the sites, plus they are generally the loudest guests (tents don't insulate sound well and tenters are the last to go into their accommodations since they don't have televisions, sofas, recliners etc.). As for the rigs that use more electricity etc. than others, say big class A, versus a truck camper, what we spend on electricity for the big rig is offset in labor and bathroom expenses on the little ones. Drives me nuts when I see parks trying to charge an extra couple of bucks for 50 amp electrical or putting coin operated controls on the showers. That's stepping over dollar bills to corral a couple of pennies.

[DrewE]

Veebyes wrote:

Tenters don't have toilets or showers. They NEED CG facilities. Facilities that the owner must pay somebody to clean. How come tenters get a cheaper rate? The only thing the self contained RVer uses more of is electricity.

Tenters also don't require the installation and upkeep of sewer lines to each site, and water lines to each site, and electrical infrastructure to supply 12 kW to each site, and a large pad to park on, and maybe pull-through access. That infrastructure all costs money to install and maintain.

[Veebyes]

"That's partly true, but many folks have their own hotspot because parks won't invest a lot in wifi. In the same vein you could say don't invest a lot in showers/bath houses because most people have their own showers/toilets"

Had an interesting discussion with a CG owner once over this one. We have a shower. We have a toilet onboard we use both. We don't use CG bathrooms & showers.

Tenters don't have toilets or showers. They NEED CG facilities. Facilities that the owner must pay somebody to clean. How come tenters get a cheaper rate? The only thing the self contained RVer uses more of is electricity.

[Cloud_Dancer]

No matter what you do, and how you do it, you are going to get a lot of complaints. So, make sure you take care of yourself first, like if you don't have thick skin,...buy a suit of armor...:B

[fj12ryder]

pyoung47 wrote:
Don't invest a lot in wifi. Most folks have their own hotspots.

That's partly true, but many folks have their own hotspot because parks won't invest a lot in wifi. In the same vein you could say don't invest a lot in showers/bath houses because most people have their own showers/toilets.

We have a hotspot but only use it when the wifi is all but useless.

[pyoung47]

Don't invest a lot in wifi. Most folks have their own hotspots.

[qtla9111]

Not everything has to be done on a grand scale out the front door. Mom and pop rv parks abound and they are great places. Start out with a good plan where you can grow and add on. Don't go whole hog with employees, human resources, call center, etc. In the U.S. everything doesn't always have to be big and expensive. Think practical

I wish you the best of luck and don't get discouraged by some of the naysayers.

Big isn't always better and you can do without all the frills. Offer some primitive spots too for us boondockers.

[Geobiker]

While convenient for 2 or more RVs traveling together, we DO NOT LIKE SHARED SITES. That being said, if you are located so your customers might be traveling through and only staying one night rather than a week or so, these sites could work. I definitely would not mix them in with the longer stay customers. Good luck.

[BadgerMcAdams]

valhalla360 wrote:
...Snipped... Too many so called lawyers running around with a knowledge of ADA, and a tape and a level, who go weaseling around checking things. Then they have a list of disabled people to use in the lawsuit they file against the business, contractor, code official, municipality etc, and its off to the bank. Usually ends up as a nice cushy settlement that is kept as quiet as possible and amounts to legalized extortion. More of that happens than most people realize. I've sat in the dispositions. ...Snipped...

Here in Phoenix we just recently had a spat of ADA laywers doing just that. Would go to local businesses, look for ADA signs. Measure them, then if they were incorrect, would then sue said business for anywhere from $7,500 to $10,000 for being out of compliance. If the business balked or corrected the problem and asked to be rechecked, said lawyers would increase the amount of the suit. The Attorney General of AZ finally stepped in and stopped them in their tracks. The AG said that it amounted to legalized extortion with no way for the affected businesses to resolve the issue other than paying the money. The company behind it has moved to other cities attempting to do the same thing.

I understand the reasoning for the ADA laws...But when shady people use said laws strictly to line their pockets...I kind of agree with Shakespeare saying, "Let's kill all the lawyers" from his play 'Henry VI'.

Back to your regularly scheduled programming...

[ppine]

Some people cut down the trees in their yard because they are "messy." I am a retired forester and I love trees. The more the better to a point.

If I am going to be on vacation or traveling for fun the last thing I want is an RV park with tiny spaces and no trees. I would rather just go camp in the desert.

[winnietrey]

delete

[westernrvparkow]

Mr.Mark wrote:

ppine wrote:
People really appreciate level pull through RV spots. I would go for a park with larger camp sites and plenty of trees. You can charge more for those. Then you get a better clientele and bring something other parks don't have.

Trees are OK if they are not over the motorhome. Ideally, when the sun is setting, it would be nice for the trees to be on the west side of the park.

I hate it when 'stuff' falls on the slides. We don't have slide toppers and I have to be aware of what falls on the coach. 99% of the time, we are OK. I have been under trees dropping acorns and small sticks; I have to get the ladder out to clean the top of the slides. It doesn't take long but I sure wouldn't want to do it in the rain (lucky, haven't had to yet).

So, I like a 'tree free' site.

MM.

It has been my experience that everyone wants to camp in the forest, but no one wants to be near any trees.

As far as big sites, treed landscaping and the like, that only adds financial value to long term repeat visitors. Overnighters and other short stay guests just won't pay $10 a night more for that added ambiance. And it is very hard for advertising to convey those types of benefits. Hence the value comes in only to those guests familiar with the park.

[Mr_Mark1]

ppine wrote:
People really appreciate level pull through RV spots. I would go for a park with larger camp sites and plenty of trees. You can charge more for those. Then you get a better clientele and bring something other parks don't have.

Trees are OK if they are not over the motorhome. Ideally, when the sun is setting, it would be nice for the trees to be on the west side of the park.

I hate it when 'stuff' falls on the slides. We don't have slide toppers and I have to be aware of what falls on the coach. 99% of the time, we are OK. I have been under trees dropping acorns and small sticks; I have to get the ladder out to clean the top of the slides. It doesn't take long but I sure wouldn't want to do it in the rain (lucky, haven't had to yet).

So, I like a 'tree free' site.

MM.

[ppine]

People really appreciate level pull through RV spots. I would go for a park with larger camp sites and plenty of trees. You can charge more for those. Then you get a better clientele and bring something other parks don't have.