There's a HUGE Supply & Demand Imbalance with RV Rentals Right Now

Chris Koerner

Spring is coming & RV travelers will be in full swing.

Here's exactly how to scale an RV rental biz to $30k/month net profit with basically no capital.

RVs are a money pit unless:

A. You own one & also rent it out

B. You only rent

Let's go with option A & profit. What type though? 

Class A - Too big & intimidating

Class B - Too niche

Pull Behind - Only for truck owners

Class C - Most in demand & drivable by anyone

Don't believe me? Go see for yourself.

Go to RVShare . com & run a search in your area for 1+ year out. Make a Google Sheet of how many of each type of RV are available. Then do the same search for 1 month out and see what % of each type are taken. Class C wins. Most in demand.

Now you need an RV.

Go to RVTrader.com & run a search for 23-30' Class C RVs that are 2-5 years old. Buy one with a warranty but has already depreciated a bunch. EVERYTHING breaks on these things.

It'll look like this. Some brands are better than others but not by a lot.

Why is this biz great?

Financing.

Banks will lend on these all day long on 7-20 year terms. It's also a house, remember? Rates aren't bad, either

Do I recommend 20 years? lol nope.

Many banks will lend 100%. RBFCU is one (personal experience), if it's priced right. I won't go into negotiation tips. Use @GuyDealership for that. Same principles apply.

Just be sure to get a 3rd party RV inspector. It's worth the money!

Use the results to negotiate a better price. There's always something wrong.

Then take delivery!

Here comes the fun part:

I hope you have a place to put it.

RV storage sites are everywhere if your HOA won't allow it. $50-$250/month. Get a covered spot.

Now you need to LEARN!

How to drive it safely.

How to use everything on it.

Best way to do this? Go camping!

Play around with everything.

Have a friend film 1-3 instructional videos once you learn it. This will pay dividends. Upload them to YouTube.

Go to Thumbtack.com & hire a professional photog.

Should cost a few hundred. Make sure he has RV experience and can make it look bright & spacious.

Don't go cheap!

Now start listing it everywhere, in this order:

RVShare

Outdoorsy

AirBnB

FB Marketplace

Your own site (eventually)

@markjenney made a fortune on RVShare & they are the biggest & best. That site alone will keep you booked.

Make your description catchy & fun.

TONS of pics!

Copy competing listings with the most reviews for tips.

Price it aggressively to get your first bookings.

Tell family & friends.

Those first 5 star reviews are GOLD. Do whatever you can to get them.

2 night minimum. Be hyper responsive to inquires. Juice the algorithm.

Here are the unit economics:

$40k RV

$500/month note

$200/night rental rate

At 10% occupancy your note is covered.

50-90% is common once you have reviews, especially in warmer states.

Link to your instructional YouTube videos to save time.

How do I know this? I'VE DONE IT!

As you RV starts to stay booked, start shopping for another.

1st one sleeps 8? Find one that sleeps 6 & is a little smaller.

Or vice versa. 

You still want Class Cs for this biz model. Just don't make them all the same.

Don't go cheap or you'll pay in repairs & gray hairs.

The hardest part about this biz are managing small things that go wrong.

Systemize your processes. Once you have 3-4 RVs you can hire someone to manage everything for you.

Park them all on the same lot.

Banks will keep lending on them as you scale. You need virtually no capital.

As you expand offer delivery (for a fee) to widen your geography

You can make a TON on charging for extra mileage.

I've owned 2 Class C RVs & saw all 50 states in 60 days w/ my family of 6 (will do a thread one day).

I know them well. This biz works & is low risk

Us in Oregon:

BUT, it can be a headache until you hit scale.

At 10 RVs you can be netting $20-30k/month & have  basically everything managed for you.

In fact, dare I say, DON'T do this biz if you only plan to have 1 RV.

It isn't worth it. ONLY do it to scale. You'll hate your life.

Don't forget insurance. MBA Insurance out of Scottsdale caters to RV owners that rent it out. I used them.

I'll say it again: The sooner you outsource the less you'll hate you'll life.

If you're laser focused on $30k/month & don't mind some pain, do this biz. It works.

AFTER you buy your first RV & plan to scale, DM me for advice.

Everything else you need is in this thread.

Also, here's some DFW market research I did years ago that you can use

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