This is a YouTube video titled "Why Investing in RV Parks is a Good Idea" created in May 2024. The content is a financial investment discussion focusing on the growing demand and opportunities in RV park investments, highlighting trends accelerated by the pandemic, features of destination RV parks, and specific examples of parks in Alabama and Branson. The excerpt appears to be a monologue or a single speaker presentation without multiple speakers or a conversation involving Jim Dahle.
We love investing in RV parks. They remind us of where self storage was in the mid-1990s. They've had a very high demand since the pandemic, which accelerated an already long term trend. They're highly fragmented. There's about 8,700 privately held RV parks in North America and over 90% are owned by small time operators. The COVID crisis really accelerated the RV boom. About five times as many RV campers started in 2020 as opposed to previous years. And a lot of people, in fact millions of people say they want to buy an RV in this decade. What's made it even better is, is there are websites that actually allow you to rent an rv, RV share, outdoorsy. Other websites like that allow people to rent an RV for a weekend or a week. They'll even set it up for you. What this means is there's a lot more pressure on the limited number of RV parks now. We've chosen to invest in in destination RV parks. These parks have water parks. I mean, these parks have water parks. They have swimming lakes, they have dog, they have facilities for pets, they have limited food service, glamping units. And Jim, they even have whippets. Do you know what whippets are, Jim? I have no idea what those are. That's the bottom here. This is a floating obstacle course. You can see that this is a part my wife and I visited in Texas, has a floating obstacle, has a beach. And they rent this for like $17 an hour to kids and adults. And they can rent these as a value add to the park for up to $1,000 an hour in the summer. So now you know what wibbits are. So the parks we invest in make these type of upgrades. They're really trying to be a destination park. I love this park. This is in Leesburg, Alabama, which most people haven't heard of. It's about an hour and a half from Chattanooga Birmin two hours from Atlanta, which is the perfect driving distance for most RV parks. This park was dramatically expanded in a couple different directions, including that forested area over on the right. They've added pools and the water park and they've added all kinds of stuff. They've got boat rental at the lake there. This park has as of now has 24 or so million dollars all in. And it's anticipated to have a value of $40 million upon stabilization. This is one in Branson. Branson is located 3 1/2 hours from Kansas City, Tulsa and Little Rock. And of course it's a destination in itself. This park's being upgraded in a similar way to the other one, and we expect similar results. The hosts of the White Coat Investor are not licensed accountants, attorneys or financial advisors. This podcast is for your entertainment and information only. It should not be considered professional or personalized financial advice. You should consult the appropriate professional for specific advice relating to your situation.
