There is an interesting statistic that shows Millennials are the current largest group of new RV purchasers. Have you heard of GLAMPING? After letting that sink in for a bit, it makes a lot of sense for several reasons. Let’s get into it!
Housing Costs
As of the end of 2021, housing prices are very high. Each new listing generally receives multiple offers making it almost impossible for someone to purchase a home. This has possibly caused some people to think of other living arrangements. And due to the scare of Covid-19 and it’s multiple variants, people are also reluctant to live in a crowded apartment building.
Remote Work
One of the possible benefits of Covid is that it created a surge in the possibility of working remotely. If you don’t have to show up in-person to an office, then you can pretty much live where you want, as long as you have a good internet connection. As for myself, I have been working remotely since 2014.
Van Life
For the reasons noted above, priced out of housing and the ability to work from wherever, there has been a new movement referred to as “Van Life”. You will see many sharing on social media sites about their adventures and travels to new and exciting locations. This circles back to the beginning where we mentioned that Millennials are the largest group of purchasers of new RVs. With RV, we are referring to actual motorized vehicles and also camper trailers, and of course, decked-out vans.
RV owners, and in this case specifically the remote working group of millennials, are using the possibility to work from wherever they want and travel the country. They get to wake up and “live” in a new location as often as they please. Maybe weekly, monthly, whatever! This gives them the freedom to explore the country and in the long-run, find a place they like best to eventually settle down. But for now, they can choose where they want to be, if they don’t like it, they can just move on to the next place. And earn travel rewards along the way by using travel reward cards!
Here are a couple of links to outside sources to support this claim:
Business Insider – Millennials are buying RVs
Pensacola Voice – 5 Reasons Millennials are turning to Van Life
RV Campgrounds
Where do people take their RVs? Generally when you travel in this fashion, you are not parking at a house or a parking lot, other than to stop on your way to a destination. There are RV campgrounds specifically designed for that purpose. Some are just overnight campgrounds, a place to park while there to do something else. Think of this like a Motel 6, or some budget hotel where you only stop to sleep and nothing else. These may just be a camping spot off the road.
Then there are Destination Campgrounds, where either the campground itself is where you want to go or it is very close to a major tourist attraction. These may be outside of places like Yellowstone Park, Zion Park, the Grand Canyon, etc. These will offer some amenities like showers and bathrooms and some other activities and convenience stores. Comparing to hotels these would be more like the Hilton or other higher-end hotels where you pay extra for those amenities and cleanliness.
A step above that is a Campground Resort. These are ones where the location is the place you are going to. There will be fun activities like a water park or concerts, restaurants, everything you will want. These would be more compared to the major Las Vegas hotels that have everything you need within its walls. You go there specifically to be there.
Invest Where You Play
Think about this for a moment. If you are an RV owner, or have ever been to one of these campgrounds, did you enjoy the experience? Do you get use out of your RV? What if you were an owner in one of these Campgrounds? Would you go to it more often and invite your friends to go with you?
You have seen on this blog site many mentions of investing in Real Estate. I firmly believe that it is absolutely the best option to reach financial independence and build wealth. And commercial real estate is my preferred type of it. RV Campgrounds are one form of commercial real estate. And YOU can invest in them!
Now imagine, going on a trip with your family and friends, or again, just working remotely from a location, and being able to say to yourself or to your friends, “I am an owner of this place!” Wouldn’t that be cool? Well, I am here to let you know that you can!
Camping Syndication
This unique niche of real estate is available to invest in. I myself am invested in it. Right now, as mentioned at the beginning, housing prices are higher than ever. This goes for commercial housing as well. There is fierce competition and that makes it hard to find a great, cash-flowing property. Campgrounds and Resorts are currently overlooked as an option. They won’t be for long though. Just like a few years ago mobile home parks were ignored and now they are also a hot commodity. RV Campgrounds only have a few big players at the moment. And for that reason they can still be purchased at bargain prices to provide exceptional returns.
They can be purchased through a syndication. We covered what a syndication is in an earlier post. But to put it simply, a group of investors who pool their money together to make a large purchase. These campgrounds still cost millions to purchase. But the value-add is almost limitless. You can always look for ways to add new amenities and features to raise lot rents or charge for additional services, like the water parks and restaurants. For current syndication offerings I have looked at over the past couple of years, the RV Campgrounds are generally producing double the returns of apartment syndications.
What I love about it also is the fact that you can actually enjoy it! If you own an apartment building, that is cool and all, but unless you plan to live there, there isn’t much joy it can bring you, other than the cash flows. But even then, there is constant turnover, cleaning, changing floors, etc. Let’s not forget eviction moratoriums! That eats away at the cash flows even if you yourself are not managing the building.
You don’t have to worry about any of that with Campgrounds. This is truly a PASSIVE income stream providing amazing returns. Without giving any specifics, I will mention a recent offering for one that provided about an 18% cash on cash return and 30%+ IRR. You may not know what that means, but basically for every $100k invested, you would get about $18k in annual cash flow and if held for 5 years where the property is later sold, you would be getting a total return of around $230k, plus the initial $100k invested. So you pretty much get paid back your initial investment just from the cash flow over 5 years, then also more than double your money invested from the return from the equity. Pretty amazing, right? I told a friend of mine who wants to buy a Porche, he could invest in a deal like this, use the cash flow to pay for the car, and then get an additional bonus at the end to use to go buy another if he wants. As also mentioned in an earlier post, BUY CASH FLOWING ASSETS to purchase and pay for your liabilities.
How Can I Invest?
As mentioned, there are not a lot of operators of RV Campground syndications. A known name in the space is Heather Blankenship. She seems to mostly these days promote her mastermind classes where she teaches people about how to do it.
Another option is to go directly to those already buying and syndicating them. If you don’t have the time or want to take a class, you just want to be a passive investor and live off the cash flows, then go to www.HappyCamperCapital.com and register as an investor on their site. There you will have access to any open offerings and receive notice of new ones as they come available. One caveat with that, there is a difference between a 506c and a 506b syndication. 506c is open to anyone who is accredited. If you don’t know if you are, you probably are not. You have to make at least $200k/year or $300k/year as a couple, for the last two years, or have over $1 Million net worth, excluding your primary residence. For a 506b, the only restriction is that you must know one of the partners in the syndication.
When you register on the site as an investor, it will ask you who referred you. There will be a drop down of names. If you don’t know you can put that you don’t know. Then someone will call you to ask you how you learned about the site. My good friend is listed there as one of them, Don Spafford. If you choose him as your sponsor, both he and I will be extremely grateful. Either way, what happens next is before you can invest in a 506b deal, you will need to arrange a phone call and possibly some additional follow-up calls or other communication to establish a relationship. That means that you will not be able to invest in one that is currently open at that time, but you will be eligible for the next one. Either way, the sooner you establish that relationship, the better.
It Just Takes One!
Getting started is the hard part. But once you do, and you start seeing the results, you will be hooked and you will want to do more and invest more so you can start living the life you want. Even if you only ever invest in one. How much of a difference will that make in your life? You are creating a money-making machine that you can constantly add more to make more!
Now go out there and Make It Happen! Happy Camping!
