Buying a caravan private and renting it out? Worth it?

fivesooos

I am not looking to make a profit just want to make back money I make from the purchase and site fees and just enough aside so if it needs replaced in a few years I can pay that out of any "profit"

Its more I want somewhere I can go off season when no one wants to rent for a family holiday (I am single but I can invite parents)

Is this doable?

And if I decide to buy private what do I need to look out for i.e scams and would it be possible for the park to do that scheme where they rent it to the public for a fee and maintain it.

Any advice will be great.

dragonsoup

I run a holiday let - don't be fooled it's not easy money. If you employ an agency to market the place for you they'll want 20% or so of the rental income ( +VAT!).

You'll have to arrange for it to be cleaned to a high standard between lettings, get the bedding washed etc etc. Then there's the liability insurance you'll need, the cost of repairing and replacing fixtures and fittings - don't underestimate this, holiday lets can take a real hammering.

If you want some hard figures - mine is let this week for £240. Once the agency takes its slice I'll get £170 of that. As it's full occupancy ( 5 guests) It will cost me close on £100 to get the place "turned" for the next set of guests. That leaves me £70 out of which I'm paying heating costs, TV licence, wifi, business rates, insurance etc etc. I'll make about £40 profit before tax! If I have to absorb any loss or damage then I'll be losing money.

If you can dispense with the agent ( which I now have ) and can do the changeovers yourself then you get to keep more of the rental income - however as another thread here shows, some people won't rent direct because they are afraid of being "scammed". To give my guests confidence I'm now listed with Visit England - of course I have to pay for that and I'm also having to pay for a website and spend time marketing and handling the bookings myself.

[Deleted User]

Sorry Dragonsoup.

dragonsoup

deannatrois wrote: »

Sorry Dragonsoup.

For what? For pointing out the economic realities of holiday home ownership? Over the winter months it is hardly worth letting my place out but it does just about cover the running costs.

It's sensible to take care not to be scammed but by not booking direct with the owners you are probably paying 15-20% more for your holiday than you really need to.

Certainly my guests this week would have paid less for their holiday if they had booked via my website as I wouldn't have had to pay a heavy agents fee and they'd have got a better price and I'd have made a little more profit. Win:win for both sides I'd have said.

Charityworker

I've owned my caravan on a park resorts site for almost 7 years now. I let mine out for all of the school holidays i.e. half terms, easter and summer and the odd week or weekend in between and just about cover the costs of running it. Dont be fooled though it is hard work. I only live 11 miles away from my caravan but every saturday during the summer we have been going up there to clean it which can be a pain. It takes anything up to 2 hours to clean it and sometimes the carpets need shampooing and windows cleaning etc. Most people leave it in an ok condition but you get the odd family of pigs. Last year I had a family stay in mine for october half term who wrecked the place. They broke the door off the fridge, ripped shower unit off the wall in bathroom, broke the dining table, left dog muck on the floor in the kitchen and bathroom, there was mud EVERYWHERE and tiny bits of broken glass all over the sofas. Needless to say they have now been blacklisted by me and other owners I know. They tried to book a privately owned caravan on Camber Sands this year but due to me keeping up with the facebook groups I managed to warn the owner before it was too late. Its took us all winter and a lot of money and elbow grease to get it back up to standard. Then theres all the paperwork to keep track of and payments. This year I am employing a cleaner to do most of the cleans as I;m in the process of opening a shop which will have to be open on a saturday. I'm paying the cleaner £20 each time.

So the outgoings are basically annual site fees which on our site are £3600 per year, insurance which ours is £199, gas bottles which are £64 each on our site and we used 4 last year, electric which was £200 last year, gas and electrical tests which were £150, council tax which was £400 last year. Its not cheap but you can cover most of the costs by renting.

greenface

Depends how much your paying .w.hat the site fees are . cleaner . agent or site booking fee. Insurance .council tax (as mine is ) and what your charging and occupancy rate . I make about £1,500 per year .not hard selling no agency's . cost 15k annual fees 3k Easter to bonny night and all summer weeks and some weekend's out of season

masterlumps

We looked into this a few years ago at the same time as freinds. They went ahead and we didn't. Mthe van they bought was let through haven, they had nothing but problems with things being broken, stolen or ruined. They barely broke even on it, and they had to give it up all the time to let for the prime money. Basically it was a waste of time for them, it made them no money, caused list of stress and they couldn't even holiday in it when they wanted!!

They kept the van for 5 years before finally admitting defeat, now they just pay the £500 or whatever for a week at haven without the hassle

dragonsoup

Interesting article on holiday home buy to let from the Telegraph.

Note how they say "income" not profit all the way through. I'd love to see the actual profits the case studies make once they've paid all the expenses!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/borrowing/mortgages/11979388/Why-holiday-homes-will-be-the-next-buy-to-let-boom.html

mel48rose

I used to own a couple of holiday chalets. Believe me it's more trouble than it's worth. I had some real grubby people rent it and damage was done many times. It was really disheartening and I ended up selling them both. I made nothing when all the bills, repairs and replacements were done. Remember things like advertising costs, cleaning between lets. Good luck.

Charityworker

My advice at the end of the day is if your going to buy a caravan anyway letting it out could help you with some of the costs. Even if you only let a few dates out. But if your thinking of running it as a business to make money that will be a lot more difficult.

13Kent

Lots of advice on buying a caravan to rent out here http://www.havenownersforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=138&t=19883