The Pros And Cons Of Buying A Private RV Lot
Snowbirds and seasonal RV travelers might find themselves returning to the same regions as time goes on. Some people prefer the sandy beaches and sunny weather of the coast, while others might enjoy beautiful wooded areas where they can get some peace and quiet. Wherever you like to go, you want to make sure there’s a good RV lot available.
Popular campgrounds and RV parks fill up fast, especially during heavy travel seasons. When your favorite park fills up, you might have to compromise and find a new area. If you don’t want to deal with the hassle of reserving a campsite, you may want to think about buying a private lot. These lots are available for sale in many RV parks, and they give owners a greater deal of control and stability.
However, they are also fairly expensive. You’re buying land in a popular area after all, so it doesn’t come too cheap. To make sure you make the best choice, you should really weigh the pros and cons before you spend any money on a site.
The benefits of a private RV lot
Choose your favorite spot
Most people buy private RV lots because they love the area and want to set up a more permanent base. Although private lots aren’t available in every park and campsite, you should be able to find one that’s within a reasonable distance of your favorite travel spots.
No storage hassle
One of the biggest pains of owning an RV is the storage. These vehicles are huge, bulky, and expensive to store. If you don’t use it year-round, you’ll need to pay for storage and maintenance, which is a pain in the neck.
But if you own a lot, you can just park the RV and set it up for a long time. As long as you have access to hookups, power, and water, you can transform it into a perfect mobile vacation home.
Year-round access to amenities
Almost every RV park comes with some on-site amenities. This could include things like swimming pools, game rooms, local restaurants, clubhouses, golf courses, etc. These are certainly fun to enjoy when you’re taking a quick trip, but you can enjoy them for a long time when you have a permanent private lot.
You don’t have to feel rushed to enjoy it, either! Just relax and enjoy everything the park has to offer.
Room for customization
Private lots are owned by those who buy them. While you still have to follow certain park and community rules, you’ll have a lot more freedom when it comes to customizing and designing your RV lot. You might want to add things like outdoor pet areas, small gardens, carports, hammocks, etc. You have the chance to stretch out and enjoy the space.
Renting is sometimes available
If you get tired of your lot from time to time, some parks allow you to rent the space out to others when you’re away. This depends on the park regulations, so make sure you know the rules before you do this. However, if it is an option, you can get a break from your usual spot and earn a bit of extra money too!
Save money over time
Although this purchase can be a bit expensive up-front, it’s actually fairly cheap to buy an RV lot when you look at the money you save. You will spend less on gas and storage. It’s also cheaper to buy and lot instead of rent it for months on end. If you use it enough, it will pay for itself in time.
Drawbacks of a private RV lot
Private lots may not be available in your area
In some cases, you may not be able to find a private lot in your favorite park or campground. Many places don’t offer this as an option (except for camp hosts). You also may not be able to afford a private lot if you’re looking at areas that are very popular.
Year-round park regulations and HOAs
Every campsite and RV park needs to have some rules. This keeps everything orderly, neat, and safe. However, some parks are stricter than others, and the rules might get pretty annoying after a while.
Some private RV lot communities also have HOAS, which are another issue altogether. These usually have much stricter rules as well as recurring membership fees. You might end up giving more than you get when it comes to fees, rules, and regulations.
Make sure you explore the community and the potential drawbacks before you buy!
Taxes
Taxes are another issue that could come back to bite you. If you own property, even if it’s just a small RV lot, you’ll usually need to pay taxes for it. If you own a lot in a particularly high-priced area, you might end up paying more than you would in your home state. When land is at a premium, it qualifies for premium property taxes.
If you buy a lot in an area that doesn’t have income tax though, it may be cheaper to declare residency there. Weigh the pros and cons of taxation in the area you pick.
Stuck in one spot
Once you buy a lot, it’s yours. To get the full value for your money, you’ll have to spend a lot of time in that one area. This can be a good thing, but it can also be a drawback if you find a spot you like better. Private lots can be sold or passed on to others, but you don’t want to sell it for less than you bought it.
There’s always a risk that you could lose your investment, so most people will just stay in one spot and tough it out when they get tired of it.
Constantly changing community
Finally, RV parks aren’t usually permanent communities. You’ll have neighbors coming and going with the seasons, and you’ll have to deal with swarms of campers and tourists during busy seasons. When you live in a vacation destination, there’s going to be a lot of change.
This aspect might make things difficult for campers who enjoy making long-term friends and forming relationships with their neighbors.
One of the best parts about RVing is engaging with the community of traveling enthusiasts. iRV2 forums allow folks to chat with other RVers online, and get other perspectives on everything RVing, including products, destinations, RV mods, and much more.
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How interesting that each RV park will have different rules and some will be more strict. We have an old RV that we would love to take out this summer. I will find an excellent place for RV parts in the area for this. s
I’ve owned this lot for one year and now they come up with they want a background check is that right are they allowed to do that after selling me the lot a year later wanting a back ground check
My wife and I have been back-and-forth on buying a permanent Camper lot in NW direction on higher elevation. Where do we start? Many factors. We appreciate input on all pros and cons.
Thanks
Call me, I’m selling a few at Tahoe Timber Trails n Truckee, Ca. 530-362-0020. Read thei website first to see if you are interested. I live here full time.
Concept is interesting, but I always try to determine how easy it will be to sell if our situation changes for any reason. Buying what amounts to real estate can sometimes be considered as a “throw-away” expense, considering that when time comes to sell, there may be few or no buyers, and the seller may end up paying for a piece of property even though he/she doesn’t plan for further use……but if the initial purchase price is low enough, it may be worth forfeiting the original amount it took to buy the property.
We have recently been considering a RV lot, however, wondering if there is a problem with mustiness of the camper especially when there is a shelter built above the RV with multiple trees surrounding. The reason for the question is we went to a Deed owned RV park in West Virginia and all 6 were horribly musty and felt ill for few hours after the visit. The initial draw was the lake and pool area with the ability of bringing grandchildren. Also, the way the RVs were positioned and covered, everything would need to be torn out in order to place a newer RV creating added expense. Empty lots were not available. We are now hesitant to consider this option any further. Is anyone else finding this as a Con.
You can get rid of mold, mildew, and smell by putting in a dehumidifier and getting humidity down to 40% or less.
We recently purchased a property in Florida, we are thrilled to have a place all our own, and still be able to enjoy our Class A Motorhome. We have simple amenities and the HOA rules and fees are very tolerable.
You have to have rules or it becomes chaos in these communities.
While ours limits to 36′ Class A and larger, no 5th Wheels, campers, vans, C’s, etc. there are many that allow all types of coaches 10 years and younger.
Taxes and HOA fees are manageable.
Where are you. My husband and I need a base. Thank you
One of the BEST decisions my wife and I have made Buying a r/v lot. In fact it worked out so well we purchased a second one about 5 miles from the first one .Both have maintenance fees.(hoas)that are under 200.00 a month. I am not retired yet so we can only go there for a month out of the year . So why is this a good deal. Turns out having property for rent neat Okeechobee Lake fl. is not so hard to rent out .we have been doing very well at that. My advice make sure you can rent it and just DO IT.
I went on line to find land to put an RV on and found land that is suppose to be RV ready in NC. Need to check it out and hope it is for real. I have seen great pics and then see it and go WTF? I want a permanent site but not sure where to really look in NC. So this forum is where I guess I need to be.
As full timers one of the best pros for us owning our own RV land has been knowing that we always have a place to go that we like and that has all of the amenities we need to live and work. Not having to stress about finding campsite availability takes a lot of pressure off of being on the road full time. If you’re curious about what kinds of properties are available for sale or rent, take a look at the website we started http://www.landdocker.com/property.
We found a great compromise deal in Pahrump, NV at Preferred RV Resort. Initial buy-in was $1600 (from an owner). $350/yr gives us 30 days of free stay and they’ll always make room for you with short notice. After that, it’s $12.50 per night. Plus they have cabins you can rent with your “days”. 3 days = 1 night cabin, so friends & family can visit & stay for free! Gate with a guard shack manned 24/7 makes it super secure. If anyone knows of a similar deal elsewhere, we’d love to hear about it.
If you don’t mind living in Illinois there’s windhaven lakes and sublet Illinois.
Thank you for this review. As my wife and I wait out the covid-threat, we prepare as best we can for full time RVing. She retires in February and we haven’t quite decided on what to purchase as we continue to downsize our belongings in western North Carolina, Asheville. We have owned pop-ups, C class 1978 Coachman Leprechaun, B class Roadtrek 1992, and who knows what next? I have driven an A class 33′ and know that is more than what I want to take on. I am up for suggestions and the appeal of owning a lot
is high on my list.
Since you live in Asheville, I highly recommend that you go see Miles RV center in Fletcher. They helped us immensely and we did not feel at all pressured. We saved thousands over what Camping world Asheville offered us.
I live in Central West Florida and RV in a 17′ Coachman Clipper.
We would like to get out of the Florida summer heat for a few months every year, but didn’t want to drive for days to get to a cooler campsite. We found a spot at 2500 feet in the mountains of Tennessee. This campsite is 10 hours from our home and offered reasonably priced on site storage when not in residence. This is a good option, because you don’t have to pull the camper back and forth. Just have dates reserved at the campground, so when you get there you just pull the camper from storage to your reserved site.
A little bit of humor: Be sure to check out the weather conditions in your getaway campground! Turns out that, although the temperature is 10 degrees less then Florida, the Humidity is almost always 100% and the Mosquitoes are bad!
Our answer is to have bought into an Escapees Membership Co-op in Southern California. Our buy-in was minimal, and we will get that back when we are ready to give up the membership. We do have to pay a modest monthly maintence fee and electricity, but I understand most deeded lots do too. We have a specif lot, but since we do not actually own it, we pay no taxes. We have a nice storage building on the lot, and have landscaped it. We can trade lots with another member. The park amenities are wonderful and so is the community. (I don’t know if I can mention it’s name, but, the park is called Jojoba Hills. Outside visitors can boondock for $10 or rent a lot for 28 days if one is available.
35 years of rving an love it started with tent trailer worked up to 40 ft diesel. .your free to stop to eat .take a nap.. hit most casinos stay free. .we’ve meet terrific people in are ventures. We polka dance an travel to different states dancing.
I looked at a few lots in the past. Some of the rules were crazy. May look again.
As to parking, mine is in the driveway when not being used. (w/30A power) No HOA here. The advantage of living in the country. Would never buy anywhere that had one. House or RV lot.
THANK YOU! GREAT CONTRASTS! BUYING DOESN’T APPEAR TO BE A GOOD OPTION FOR US RIGHT NOW. V/R, DR DAN & FRAU GERDA
I wrote a book about this subject. There are very few cons for owning a lot and 100’s of pros. My book is called.
Living the Hybrid RV Lifestyle – by J Bentley Radcliff on Amazon
It is a step by step guide on how to buy and the benefits of the lifestyle.