Owning a caravan park

I’ve managed 3 van parks, now a motel owner, so I might be able to help. The management positions used to be advertised in the situations vacant column of Sydney Morning Herald, especially Wed & Sat, as well as under ‘Managers’ and under ‘Caravan Park Managers’. Some used one big ad and made the other ads little pointer ads to catch the eye of those who looked in the other places.
Also contact the CCIA – Caravan & Camping Industry Asscn located at Rosehill Racecourse in Sydney, they used to keep a list of managers seeking employment.
Some of the Van Park Brokers selling Van Parks also keep lists of managers.
Please be careful as van parks are not smooth sailing.
Can you describe the deal ?
cheers
thecrest

Take some time to formulate a comparison spreadsheet on van parks, ROI, watch land tax ( Van parks are land gobblers).
Van parks have variations – some have permanent residents who own their own mobiles & pay rent for the land under them. Some are just holiday units like motels and van sites & camp kitchens. Some have owner holiday-occupied mobiles. The quality of the accommodation will decide the type of guests you will have to deal with.
Note which part of the market each van park addresses – permanent residents (dramas), travellers in vans, tourists in cars, boaties, water skiers, greenies, surfers, wine lovers, in other words, what’s the guest mix or focus in that particular geographical area. ABS can provide visitation numbers by market segment in most areas e.g. grey nomads, pampadours etc. Different groups have different requirements like some are big on camp kitchens, some not, amenities blocks are not always a pleasure to clean daily. Repairs & maintenance is a big issue and one of the owners should be pretty handy in this area.
Large acreage van parks require many hours on the whipper snipper & ride-on mower. A shop or kiosk is a pain, sometimes a necessity, takes many hours. Are sites wired for TV, phone, water & elec ? The list goes on.
Best van parks I’ve seen return enough income to support 2 couples as partners, and have 2 homes on them, although you can always add another one yourself. 2 men is always better security, and easier with some R & M jobs. But the big plus is that in quiet times, one couple can easily run the place while the other goes on hols, BIG plus.
Plenty of cash income. Research very very carefully, slowly, until you understand which types of van parks make the most income for the least amount of drama.
cheers
thecrest