I write about buying, improving, & operating campgrounds & outdoor hospitality. 12 years of commercial real estate experience. 7 campgrounds & counting.
I've launched a (free!) newsletter called Outdoor Hospitality Weekly where I share:
1. My frameworks & lessons learned from buying, improving, & operating campgrounds.
2. News & updates from around the outdoor hospitality industry.
Please sign up at the link in the next tweet!
Leased a 2020 Toyota Tacoma for 36 mos at $258 per month, no money down at the beginning of COVID through Ally Bank.
Ally just quoted me an $1100 payment at 10.74% interest to purchase the same vehicle.
🤮
@sweatystartup
“Hey everybody! I would’ve been 10 minutes early but I just shit my pants on the way here and had to take care of that. How’s everybody doing? Let’s get down to brass tacks!”.
🧵 RV Park 101
Due Diligence - Infrastructure
(1/14) A large learning curve for me when I opted to buy an RV park was familiarizing myself with the unique facilities and infrastructure at an RV park.
This thread will cover enviro, water/sewer/septic, electrical, and facilities
🧵 RV Park 101
Due Diligence - Financials
(1/15) Much like other real estate asset types with heavy mom and pop concentration, RV park books are often a mess.
First, let's dive into auditing income using an RV park deal I recently acquired.
These books were definitely a mess!
🧵 RV Park 101:
(1/8) Let’s talk about financing RV parks. This is one of the great inefficiencies in the industry that stops a ton of investors in their tracks, but also creates a lot of opportunity.
There are a few obscure national banks out there who will lend on RV parks…
Does the average person just not have the means/knowledge/desire to take care of their home?
It feels like every house I look at has major neglect to glaring issues and $100k in deferred maintenance.
And these aren’t big/fancy houses. Trying to buy 3-4 bedrooms for under $400k.
There are ~11,500 marinas in the US.
Safe Harbor Marinas (owned by Sun Communities) is the largest private owner w/ 131 (~1.1% market share).
The next largest is Suntex (recapped by Centerbridge Partners in 2021) w/ 60 (~0.5% market share).
Talk about FRAGMENTED. 🤯
(1/4)
2 yrs since my incredible wife followed me into the ⛰️ with unwavering support of my plan to start buying campgrounds, while living in the tiny 🏠 below.
Recently, she gave up a career as VP w/ a global advertising firm to run ops and grow the portfolio. Can’t let her down now!
I recently submitted the largest offer of my career ($10MM) and heard back today that it was accepted.
It's been 3 years since I bought my first campground for $850k.
Here are 3 lessons I've learned since then:
1/4
Who didn’t get invited to
@realEstateTrent
’s event in NYC but would still love to get together with like-minded real estate pros in NYC sometime soon?
Will be putting together an event for
#rejects
only. Comment below if interested!
@jdmiser
I think I’m most excited about the equipment that comes with the campground I just put under contract. Especially after renting some of this stuff at my current place to get a few larger projects done. Thinking about starting an excavation/land development business!
I'm looking at spending 𝙒𝘼𝙔 𝙏𝙊𝙊 𝙈𝙐𝘾𝙃 on gravel in the short-term.
Dust is my issue.
I was turned onto this stuff called Perma-Zyme that seals up dirt roads and makes them like concrete. Designed for unpaved road construction.
Anyone have any first-hand experience?
When my wife asks to discuss our expenses, I say “no, no, you’re mistaken, the key is to spend our time & energy on generating more income & acquiring cash flowing assets. I read it on Twitter. But not from those wealth coach hacks. From the real big dogs on RETwit & SMBTwit!”
My 23 primitive tent sites in the Catskill Mountains are closing the year at:
$51,873.91 total revenue
$79.68 average daily rate (for dirt next to a creek!)
15.38% occupancy on my 6-month season
So much upside by moving that occupancy % up!
Do people that buy commercial real estate and close in 30 days or less not do any due diligence?
I’ve been waiting for title to come back for 6 weeks & my surveyor tells me he can’t get started on an ALTA survey until I get the title report back & that his turnaround is 8 weeks.
I JUST closed a $3MM loan to buy a property that requires a fleet of heavy equipment to run it, but I can’t finance $90k for an excavator because I’ve never worked for a construction company before. Never mind the fact that I employ a dozen people who can run the equipment. Or
Cold calling this morning with a sleeping baby in one arm:
31 dials
5 conversations
3 “call me in a year”’s
1 “my new grandbabies will be inheriting this property one day - but keep in touch!”
1 NDA sent to an interested seller
LFG
🧵 Adding value to an RV park/campground
(1/7)
Read on for some fun projects I have been working on as I turn around my current RV park/seasonal campground project.
1. Junk removal
I have invested close to $20k in dumpster rentals and haul away. This feels like a lot...
#NewProfilePic
, new name, new handle!
@ibuyrvparks
had a good run, but…
Excited to announce I’ve joined a team of rockstars
@YaleAdvisors
as Regional Director, New England, where I will be facilitating real estate investment sales in the manufactured housing and RV park niches!
𝗥𝗩 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝟭𝟬𝟭
𝘋𝘶𝘦 𝘋𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦
𝘐𝘯𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦
There is a steep learning curve for most when evaluating the infrastructure of an RV park or campground.
This thread will cover environmental, water/sewer/septic, electrical, and facilities.
1/14
GLAMPING BIZ BREAKDOWN MEGA THREAD:
You all seem to love these biz breakdowns, so I'm giving it a shot.
This is a long one, so buckle up for a breakdown of a ~$280MM glamping enterprise.
Please tell me what you think & punch holes in my numbers & assumptions.
(1/17)
🧵 Prospecting for RV park/campground deals
(1/12)
I have spent a lot of time prospecting for off-market apartment, mobile home park, and RV park/campground deals.
RV parks are a very unique asset type, and prospecting for them is just as unique.
Read on for my findings!
🧵 Seasonal RV Park/Campground Operations - Lessons Learned
(1/12)
I've learned many lessons after my 1st season at my RV park/campground.
Some of these may be obvious to you
#SMBTwit
guys and gals but I am just a simple RE guy trying to run a seasonal campground.
Here goes:
🧵 My first experience in RV parks and why I’m not looking back
(1/x) The thread below provides a little more context but I had “accidentally” scheduled my first tour of an RV park.
Got on the road and headed out to meet the potential seller of a resort-style 200+ site RV park
🧵 How did I start investing in RV parks/campgrounds? Kind of by accident. Had bought a few apartment buildings and was looking for something with higher yield. Naturally, looked to mobile home parks. So I built a database through and Reonomy and…
A moment that shaped my career early on:
At the ripe age of 22, was working in acquisitions for an investment firm that bought and operated hundreds of small multifamily properties in a major metro in the northeast.
A 5-unit building in Boston came on the MLS with a list price
One of my favorite unexpected things about getting into the RV park space:
I find myself getting excited over pretty simple purchases, projects and upgrades.
Shoutout to
@Lowes
for a great deal on picnic tables, assembled and delivered!
Wanted to try to do something to give back to this community.
Mentor/mentee relationships can be incredibly rewarding for both sides, so I wanted to provide a platform to connect those searching for mentorship to those interested in being a mentor.
No strings attached, no
My high school English teacher predicted (in front of the whole class) that future me was going to be working at a gas station.
Joke’s on her! I work at a trailer park.
@collin_ruth89
Just rent bro. You’ve already got a successful business so I’m sure you can afford renting an awesome place. Wait til you can find a smoking deal.
@loganzuber17
This is wild lol
My immediate thought was:
Any normal person would reach out and inquire or try to get to the bottom of it before pulling out over this.
But now it’s:
These 3 guys are LOSERS. Who the hell cares if you took a photo in a FERRARI let alone a whatever Camaro?!
Welcoming a few new followers!
I’m a RE investor, started with small apt buildings a few years back before jumping into the niche of seasonal campgrounds/RV parks.
Before I started investing, I spent 10 years in CRE finance and investments as a W-2.
Thanks for following!
𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙙 𝙖 𝙘𝙖𝙢𝙥𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙/𝙍𝙑 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙠?
Let's use a hypothetical park of excellent quality and 200 campsites w/ sites measuring roughly 75' x 75'.
1/4
This one is going to be fun! Time to get to work!
Honored to have the opportunity to work with a smart, no-nonsense pro like
@jdmiser
.
Next steps:
Take over ops, get the staff installed, spruce the place up with some fresh signage, and open up for the 2023 season in May! 🏕️ 🚀
@ibuyrvparks
and I are scheduled to close on a campground in the Catskills on Tuesday.
The story behind how this partnership came together is an ode to the power of ReTwit. /
🧵 (1/14)
I just put a 180-site seasonal RV park/campground property under contract.
It is over a year in the making and comes from a cold call to the campground office.
A perfect example that shows off-market acquisitions is all in the follow up.
Keep reading to learn why!
My attorney advised me against closing on a 🏠 due to a significant title issue. I took that advice.
Seller is trying to keep our $.
Attorney is now advising we split deposit with the seller to avoid spending more on a lawsuit. I say “f#%! that, sue them”.
Am I a bad person?
@privatebankass
I think the bigger story is that he realized his mistake and thought “wow I need to share this with the world” and not “wow I need to take this to my grave”
I’m all for creative deal-making and regularly tell people they can get into real estate investing with $0 or very little $.
That being said, this 💩 is expensive!
I’m working on a campground deal that is heading towards a Phase II ESA and I just got a $42k survey quote. Woof!
Feeling good about our start!
5 stays, 5x 5⭐️ reviews.
$282 ADR & $4k bookings since opening up for guests 3 weeks ago.
It ain’t much, but it’s honest work.
I want to add a communal fire pit at our campground as we renovate the amenities/common areas.
Thinking a higher end stone product w/ propane insert + timer.
Want the fire start/stop each night w/ sundown/quiet time.
AMBIENCE!
Cost - ~$5k.
What do you think?
First night at home with baby Charlie… changed his diaper just now and forgot about the peepee teepee. Rookie mistake. Dad will do better next time.
This is why we invested in the top of the line wall paint when we repainted our house. Wipes right off!
I bought my first campground 3 years ago today.
It feels like we're FINALLY turning the corner on executing our business plan and making all the work worthwhile.
This is a story about a deal that is too small and hairy for an investor to take on (according to conventional
Just put a deposit on this bad boy so my campground manager has a more practical way to tow the honey wagon around the park. Possibly regretting it after reading that it goes up to 67 mph.