RV PARK BUYERS GUIDE

 

 

MISSION STATEMENT:

I have been coming to this area for over a dozen years and have stayed at many of the RV parks that dot this beautiful section of the Central Oregon Coast…I have even lived in some of them for extended periods!  As a semi-retired investigative journalist I can’t help observing with a critical eye.  And one of the things I have observed over the years is the “cycle of the buyer”, in which RV park buyers—much like the small sea turtles you see on television—make their way to the sea.  After not doing their homework (and often making an emotional decision swayed by the surrounding natural beauty) the new owners make many mistakes, eventually learn the lay of the land, digest their losses (or small gains) and sell to a new crop of baby sea turtles.  It’s sad to see some of these people go because, in learning about the parks and local reality, they become a part of the community and character of the area.  My goal with this guide is to educate prospective new buyers of RV parks to make informed and rational decisions up front that will make them want to stay in the community.

 

Destination Resorts?

A wise old annual visitor of one park told me, having heard the park was to be converted to a “destination resort,” that the park always has been and always will be a “fishing camp”.  In fact, much of this park’s summer business is from fisherman in the Eugene-Springfield, Roseburg and Medford areas (with some Portlanders and Californians thrown into the mix) and its winter business is from lower-income workers who are year-round residents.  Buyers need to recognize that people mainly come to the area for fishing and dune-buggy and quad riding on the dunes, and that they need year-round tenants (and not just vacationers).

 

“The Matrix”

Still others buy an RV park and try to convert it to the geriatric equivalent of the imaginary world in the movie “The Matrix”—where people are kept in tanks and programmed with an imaginary world they think they are living in.  I’m a grandfather, but monoculture of this type makes me uncomfortable.  Who wants to live in tightly-packed paved uniform rows of oldsters with 40’ RVs and a mini-dog who watch TV and peek out occasionally for some chore?  Plus, as one park manager recently told me, such high-density parks are potential fire hazards and that she has had to correct problems pointed out by the fire marshal. 

 

DISCLAIMER

The preceding is for general informational purposes only and should not be construed as referring to all parks in general or any particular park.