How to Find Off-Market RV Parks for Sale
Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Most good RV park deals never show up on a listing site. By the time a park hits LoopNet or Crexi, a dozen buyers have already seen it and the price has adjusted upward. Here's where the off-market deals actually come from.
Why bother chasing off-market deals at all?
Less competition means more room to negotiate on price and terms. An off-market park might trade at a cap rate 1 to 2 points higher than a comparable listed park, simply because there's no bidding war. That spread is the whole reason to do the extra legwork.
Where do most off-market RV park deals actually come from?
Three sources dominate: direct outreach to owners, relationships with brokers who deal in outdoor hospitality specifically, and public records research. Almost none come from cold browsing commercial real estate sites.
How do you find the owner's contact information?
Start with the county assessor's office. Every parcel has an owner of record and a mailing address. If the owner is an LLC, run it through the secretary of state's business search to find the registered agent, which often leads to a name and phone number. This takes maybe 15 to 30 minutes per property once you know the process.
What role do brokers play if you're trying to skip the public listing?
A small number of brokers specialize in RV parks and campgrounds. Getting on their radar as a serious, funded buyer means they'll call you before a property ever gets marketed publicly, sometimes called a pocket listing. This only works if you've shown up before, meaning you've closed a deal or at least made credible offers in the past. Brokers don't waste pocket listings on unknown buyers.
Are industry associations worth the time?
Yes, more than most people expect. ARVC's national and state conventions put owners, brokers, and operators in the same room. Owners nearing retirement age often mention in casual conversation that they're thinking about selling long before they call a broker. Showing up consistently, not just once, is what makes this work.
Does driving to the park and looking around actually help?
It does, especially for smaller mom-and-pop parks that will never hire a broker. Signs of an owner who might sell include visible deferred maintenance, a mix of long-term and short-term sites that suggests declining marketing effort, or a manager who mentions the owner is older and "thinking about it." A polite conversation with whoever is at the office, followed by a short letter or call to the owner later, costs nothing but time.
Still stuck?
If you've tried a few of these and aren't finding anything, the fastest fix is usually narrowing your search geography and going deeper rather than wider. Pick one region, learn every park in it, and build relationships with the two or three brokers who work that area. Invest With Zac talks through sourcing strategy with investors regularly. If you want a second set of eyes on your approach, that's a good place to start the conversation.
Curious about RV park investing?
Learn how the asset class works before you put a dollar into it.
Learn more