Searches for "RV parks for sale owner financing" come from buyers who have heard a bank say no. A park that earns most of its money between Memorial Day and Labor Day is, in Janover's words, "a hard sell to most lenders," and the usual escape is a seller who agrees to be the bank (Janover, updated July 2, 2026). The term gets misread from both directions. On a listing, "seller financing available" can mean a full 30-year note with no balloon or a 10% second lien behind a bank loan. Sometimes it is only a phrase that disappears at the first offer. One Wisconsin campground on BizBuySell at $1,400,000 is "Willing to seller finance up to 10% of settled price"; a California park at $1,199,000 offers "Particial seller financing available 40% at most" (BizBuySell campground listings). Those are very different conversations wearing the same label.
If you own a park and are weighing what comes next, the same term matters from your side of the table. A buyer may ask you to carry paper, while a broker may suggest it to widen the buyer pool. The tax treatment of a carried note also changes the size of the check you write in the closing year. We buy and operate RV parks and campgrounds directly, and our first step is a conversation about the park rather than a term sheet, so the sections below cover both what a buyer is hunting for and what an owner should know before agreeing to anything.
What is seller financing for RV park purchases
Seller financing is an arrangement in which the park owner accepts a down payment at closing and carries the rest of the purchase price as a loan to the buyer, secured by the park, in place of a bank. The buyer signs a promissory note, takes title subject to the seller's lien, and makes monthly payments to the former owner, who releases the lien when the note is paid in full (Texas Horizons Law Group). The American Bar Association describes the structure as filling the gap when a buyer cannot qualify for a third-party loan covering all the funds needed, and says the agreement should state the loan amount, interest rate, duration, and default provisions (ABA chapter extract).
An owner-financed park is a different purchase from an owner-financed RV lot, and search results mix the two. LandWatch's "Owner Financing Land for Sale" view showed 12,595 listings on October 12, 2026, and the camping-activity subset showed 1,931 (LandWatch). Most of those are parcels or single sites where a seller carries a note on dirt you would park one rig on. A park is an operating business: a rent roll, guest license agreements, a health-department license, a septic permit file, and a staff. SBA rules draw the same line. Under SOP 50 10 8.1, businesses "primarily engaged in owning or purchasing real estate and leasing it" are ineligible, and "Apartment buildings and mobile home parks are not eligible," but RV parks and campgrounds qualify when more than 50% of prior-year revenue comes from guests staying 30 days or less (SOP 50 10 8.1, pp. 19–20). Whether a lender treats your park as a hospitality business or a landlord depends on who sleeps there and for how long.
How seller financing works
At closing, the buyer pays the down payment and signs a promissory note for the balance. The parties also record a deed of trust or mortgage in the seller's favor. From that point the seller collects a monthly check that includes interest and principal. Most notes run with a long amortization and a short balloon, meaning payments are calculated as if the loan lasted 20 or 30 years but the remaining balance comes due in year five or seven, when the buyer is expected to refinance with a bank (Landan Dory, North Star, August 27, 2026). The seller is now the lender, with a lender's questions. Campground Investor advises first-time buyers to "emphasize any hospitality, business management, or operational experience," and RV Park World ties the lowest down payments to buyers with strong operational experience (Campground Investor, 2026; RV Park World, March 1, 2026).
The note can also sit second. RVParked describes a common structure in which a bank first mortgage covers 50–60% of the price and the seller carries a 20–30% second note (RVParked, 2026). Lender Requity says seller-second structures are "particularly common in the campground and RV park space" because many parks have been family-owned for decades and the seller wants retirement income (Requity case study, April 9, 2026). The structure turns on negotiated economics and state-specific legal protections, including why the owner carries paper.
Typical deal terms
No dataset of closed seller-note terms exists for RV parks, so the ranges below come from brokers and advisers, and the research found no closed sale that disclosed all four terms. Treat them as the shape of the market rather than a quote:
| Term | Range across broker and adviser statements | Who says what |
|---|---|---|
| Down payment | About 5–30% | Rolfe: sellers "will often do things like five percent and 10% and 15%"; RVParked: 10–30%, with 20% "a comfortable starting point"; Campground Accounting: 20–30% |
| Interest rate | About 4–8% | Dory: "6-8%"; RVParked: "6.5% is common in the current market"; RV Park World: 4–7%, below 2026 bank rates of 7–9% |
| Amortization | 20–30 years | Dory: "20-25 year"; Rolfe: "at least a 25 or 30 year," never under 20 |
| Balloon | 5–10 years | Dory: "5-7 year balloon"; Rolfe: avoid notes under five years, fight for 10 |
Sources: North Star, RV Park Mastery podcast, October 17, 2025, RVParked, Campground Accounting, January 15, 2026, RV Park World.
Listing-stated terms run tighter than the broker ranges:
- Twin Pines MH & RV Park in Arkansas ($1,150,000, 82 sites) asks 20% down at 6.5% interest-only on a 30-year schedule with a balloon at three years (eXp Commercial). Country Lane RV Park in Washington ($1,100,000, 40 sites) wants $300,000 down at 5% over 25 years (Crexi).
- Lake O' Pines Marina & RV Park in Texas asks 35% or more down at 8% with a two-to-three-year term (RVParkStore, updated March 9, 2026). Across listings that state a figure, down payments range 20–50% and rates range 3–8.5%. Balloons run two to five years, with interest-only periods common.
Closed sales disclose less. The buyer's own podcast described a 14-site park in Grove, Oklahoma that sold for $480,000 with $100,000 down and a seller note "carried at 4% for seven years," interest-only for the first six months (The Yoked Podcast). Lone Oak RV Ranch in Gainesville, Texas was marketed with "$2.4M down, seller will carry remaining balance at 6.5% amortized over 25 years" and up to five years interest-only, though the broker page confirms only that it sold (Park Brokerage Services). Woodall's reported a $1.46M seller-financed sale of an Adirondacks park near Loon Lake with no terms (Woodall's, May 8, 2026), and Marcus & Millichap said only that "Seller financing was provided" on the 70-space Red Cloud RV Park in Silsbee, Texas (Marcus & Millichap).
How often does this happen? Campground Investor's 2026 FAQ puts seller financing in roughly 15–25% of campground transactions, usually as a 10–30% second lien (Campground Investor FAQ). Aline Capital, a broker, says "every RV park deal I've closed in 2024 and 2025 has been seller financed" (Aline Capital). Both are practitioner statements, and they describe different books of business.
Why an owner would carry the note
The tax treatment is the reason most advisers raise first. Under IRC §453 and IRS Publication 537, a sale with at least one payment after the year of sale is an installment sale, and the seller reports gain as each payment arrives rather than all at once (Pub. 537). Each payment includes interest, which is ordinary income. The rest is allocated between return of adjusted basis and gain, with the gain share set by a gross profit ratio reported on Form 6252 (Form 6252).
Two caveats matter for a park:
- Depreciation recapture under §§1245 and 1250 is recognized in the year of sale whether or not you receive a payment that year, so a seller who has depreciated pedestals, bathhouses, and roads should expect a closing-year tax bill regardless of the note (§453(i)).
- The note must charge at least the applicable federal rate or the IRS will recharacterize principal as interest. For October 2026 the annual AFRs are 4.25% short-term, 4.61% mid-term, and 5.22% long-term (Rev. Rul. 2026-19). The statute lets you use the lowest AFR from the three months ending with the contract month, and August's figures were lower in every term (Rev. Rul. 2026-13; §1274(d)). An interest charge on deferred tax applies only when outstanding installment notes exceed $5,000,000 at year-end, which puts it out of reach for most independent park sales (§453A).
Price is the second reason. Dory's point is blunt: buyers "can only pay up to what a bank can lend them unless they're using seller financing, some other creative structure, or paying cash" (Modern Campground, August 19, 2026). In Woodall's September 2025 market piece, Richard O'Brien said values on 2021–2022 purchases are down 25–35% on paper without value creation, and John Sheedy said "the sellers are either offering seller financing or an attractive entry cost" (Woodall's, September 19, 2025). Outdoor Hospitality Weekly reported that seller financing was "a factor in establishing the cap rate" on a $97M off-market RV portfolio in 2026 (OHW). In practice, an owner may use a carried note to hold a price when the bank's math won't support it.
Speed and income round it out. Avine's closed page for North Redding RV Village (71 sites, October 6, 2025) reads "Seller Financing, 30 Day Close" (Avine Real Estate). That transaction shows that seller financing can support a 30-day close. On income, Rolfe suggests that when a bank loan is at 7%, a seller might charge "7, 7.5, maybe even 8%" (RV Park Mastery), which for a retiring owner is a monthly check secured by a property they know better than any appraiser.
There is an operational consequence we'd ask an owner to sit with. If you carry the note, the park stays your collateral for five to ten years. A buyer who defers the septic pump-out or lets the regular guests drift is degrading the thing that secures your retirement. So is running the office without anyone trained on the reservation system. That makes who the buyer is, and how they plan to run the place, a lending question and not only a sentimental one.
Legal structure and risk
The document set determines who holds title, what happens on default, and whether your existing bank can call its loan. The main choices and their risks:
- Promissory note with deed of trust or mortgage: The buyer takes legal title at closing and the seller records a lien. Deeds of trust "almost always include a power-of-sale clause," which allows non-judicial foreclosure where state law permits it (Cornell LII). Florida has no non-judicial mortgage foreclosure, so a Florida seller who must foreclose goes through court (Joseph E. Foster, Losey); Michigan and Minnesota are predominantly non-judicial (Justia 50-state survey).
- Contract for deed (land contract): The seller keeps legal title until the last payment and the buyer holds equitable title and possession (Cornell LII). Contracts usually provide forfeiture on any default, letting the seller repossess and keep payments and improvements, but the CFPB notes buyer protections "vary extensively by state" and unrecorded contracts leave buyers exposed to liens they never see (CFPB, August 2024). Indiana's Supreme Court treats these contracts as mortgages and called forfeiture "often offensive to our concepts of justice" (Skendzel v. Marshall). Minnesota requires a 60-day termination notice (Minn. Stat. § 559.21); Texas's statutory cure periods apply only to a purchaser's residence (Tex. Prop. Code § 5.062), so a commercial park gets no such protection there.
- Due-on-sale clauses on your existing loan: A due-on-sale clause lets your lender declare the full balance due if you transfer the property without consent, and federal law lets lenders enforce it regardless of state law (12 U.S.C. § 1701j-3). The Garn-St Germain exemptions apply to "residential – not commercial – real estate with less than five apartments" (Miller, Miller & Canby). A park owner with a bank loan who sells on a seller-carried note without lender consent is relying on the bank's indifference, not on a legal shield.
- Wraparound notes: In a wrap, the buyer pays the seller, who keeps paying the underlying bank loan; the wrap debt includes the bank balance and the seller earns the spread (Texas Bar practice manual). The risk runs both ways: a wrap may violate the senior due-on-sale clause, and if the seller stops paying the bank, foreclosure of the senior lien wipes out the buyer even if every wrap payment was made. An Illinois attorney's guidance is a third-party servicer that pays the underlying loan first, monthly proof of payment, and a buyer right to pay the bank directly (The Chicagoland Lawyer). Title underwriter Alliant National recommends excepting the senior deed of trust and its due-on-sale clause from coverage unless the senior lender signs a wrap agreement (Alliant National, December 2025).
No source in the research compares these structures head-to-head for commercial property, and the state rules above are examples rather than a survey. A real estate attorney in your state belongs in the conversation before the first draft of a note.
Where to find RV parks for sale with owner financing
None of the six platforms a buyer would check has a verified, dedicated seller-financing filter for RV parks; the working method on every one is keyword search plus reading each listing. The table reflects what the research team could confirm on October 12, 2026, and a rendered filter panel may differ from scraped page text, so a live-browser check is worth two minutes. Buyers usually combine those marketplace searches with off-market sourcing and direct owner outreach.
| Platform | Real seller-financing filter? | Exact path or term that works | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| DealStream | Not documented | RV Parks, Caravan Parks, Campgrounds category; "Seller Financing" appears as a listing tag; separate Owner-Financed Businesses and Seller Financed Properties pages | Official search guide names Location, Business type, Price, and a "more filters" menu for "cash flow, keywords and other deal terms"; a help article says a green check in Deal Terms means the owner will finance (search guide; Deal Terms help). RV category showed 12 results. |
| BizBuySell | Official pages show "Owner Financed" landing pages, not a labeled checkbox | Campgrounds and RV Parks category then "More Filters"; state-level owner-financed pages such as Illinois | BizBuySell's FAQ says "More Filters" covers Gross Revenue, Cash Flow, and real estate, with no financing option named (FAQ). A third-party guide describes a "Seller Financing Available" checkbox under More Filters and warns "many brokers forget to check the box" (Investing Layers, March 20, 2026); not confirmed on an official page. |
| The Campground Connection | None found | Keyword search on the listings page; try "seller financing" | Marketing copy promises "Filter by total price or available down payment" and says "Most deals require at least 30% down!" but no matching control was visible. Listing 5129 reads "Sale By Owner – Seller Financing Available" (listing). |
| LandWatch | Yes, at the results-page level | Owner Financing + camping activity | Route verified by URL and page title (1,931 results), but the in-interface label was not confirmed. Results are mostly land; parks are a small share. |
| ParkVestor | None found | State and county filters plus keyword search | Listing text discloses financing in every form, including "No Seller Financing Available" (Golden Pony RV Park), so keyword hits include negatives. |
| LoopNet | Generic "Financing Available" at most; no "Seller Financing" label seen | Mobile Home & RV Parks for sale; keyword phrases in descriptions | Phrases found include "Seller Financing Available" and "OWNER CARRY CONTRACT WILL BE CONSIDERED," on listings dated 2023–2025, so terms may be stale (Cali Lake RV Resort). |
| Specialist broker networks | Not a filter; brokers post terms directly | North Star, Avine, Park Brokerage Services, Yale, Marcus & Millichap, Colliers | Avine and North Star publish seller-carry terms in LinkedIn listing posts (for example, "25% Down Payment, 75% Seller Carry, 6.00% I/O, 5-Year Term"); Yale teasers state LTV and rate (North Star Lost Alaskan post). |
| Facebook and other off-market groups | Not reviewed | Not applicable | The research did not examine these groups, so we can't describe how reliable they are. |
Marketplace filters and search terms
The phrases that surface carried paper are "seller financing," "owner financing," "owner will finance," "owner carry," "carry paper," and "note available." The DL/IIR guide recommends the first three for DealStream (DL/IIR, January 5, 2026), and Investing Layers adds "Carry Paper" and "Note Available" for BizBuySell results. Because no platform in the table indexes financing as a structured field for RV parks, a search also pulls listings that say financing is unavailable or capped, which is why reading the full description before calling the broker matters.
BizBuySell's own surveys explain the mismatch between buyer demand and listing supply. In its Q1 2025 Insight Report, 54% of surveyed buyers called seller financing "extremely" or "very important." Only 19% of surveyed sellers planned to offer it, while 39% were unsure (BizBuySell Q1 2025). Those are survey populations on one platform, not the whole market, but the gap is wide.
Off-market sourcing
Most privately owned parks are absent from major portals at any given time. RV Park World's database counts only 76 of 25,000+ privately owned parks for sale on major platforms, about 0.7% (RV Park World stats, updated March 25, 2026), and Bisnow reports that 88% of RV campground owners control a single property (Bisnow). The Grove, Oklahoma purchase above appeared in a buyer's podcast, while the $97M portfolio traded off-market. Requity's North Carolina case study involved a seller who financed the full equity portion of an 80-site park rather than list it (Requity).
That leaves two broad channels for a buyer: relationships with specialist brokers who handle carried-note transactions, and direct owner sourcing through investor networks or individual outreach. For an owner, the practical reading is that buyers use these channels to make unprompted approaches, and the quality of those letters and calls varies enormously.
Direct-to-owner outreach script
A credible approach letter names the park and states what the buyer plans to do with it. It asks for a conversation instead of a price. The installment sale angle belongs in it because it's the one concrete reason a seller might prefer paper to cash. A version a buyer might send, and an owner might measure incoming letters against:
I'm writing about [Park name]. I've stayed there, I know the bathhouse was redone and the lower loop floods in spring, and I'm not writing to make an offer. I'm an operator looking for one park to run for a long time.
If a sale is ever on your mind, I'd like to ask about structure before price. Some owners prefer to carry part of the price as a note. The IRS installment method lets a seller report gain as payments come in rather than all in the closing year, though depreciation recapture is still due at sale and the note has to carry at least the federal minimum rate, so your CPA would need to confirm what that means for you. A carried note also keeps you connected to the park and gives you a say in who runs it and how.
If you'd rather talk through your staff, your seasonal guests, and what you'd want to see continue, I'd welcome that call. No timeline on my end.
The phone version is shorter: identify yourself as an operator and say you're not asking for a price. Ask whether a conversation about the park's future would be welcome, then raise the tax question only if the owner raises a sale. The details that make a letter trustworthy are the ones only someone who has walked the property can write.
Seller financing vs SBA 7(a) and commercial bank loans
A seller note trades a bank's rigid underwriting for a counterparty who knows the park and sets terms by negotiation; the SBA 7(a) and conventional channels offer lower equity or cheaper money, respectively, in exchange for rules. The channels compared on what the research supports:
| Factor | Seller-carried note | SBA 7(a) | Conventional bank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Down payment | 5–30% by broker ranges; 20–50% on stated listings | 10% minimum equity for an initial change of ownership, which "cannot be reduced or eliminated"; lender practice is often 20–25% (Starfield & Smith; Campground Investor) | 25–35% down, 65–75% loan-to-value (Janover; Jaken Finance Group) |
| Rate | 4–8% (broker ranges); must meet AFR | Variable cap of base rate plus 3.0% over $350,000, which is 10.00% at the 7.00% prime rate effective September 17, 2026; Select Commercial quotes 7.00% as best-case (SBA 7(a) terms; WSJ; Select Commercial) | 6.5–8% per Jaken's July 2026 table; Dory cites 6.5–7.25% on refinances |
| Amortization and term | 20–30 years with a 5–10 year balloon | Up to 25 years when 51% or more of proceeds fund real estate; most loans max $5 million | 20–25 year amortization, 5–10 year fixed periods |
| Speed | Avine closed one in 30 days | Appraisal and business valuation, followed by SBA approval; upfront guaranty fee of 3.5% on the guaranteed portion up to $1,000,000 plus 3.75% above, for loans over $700,000 (FY2027 fee notice) | Lender-dependent |
| Qualification | Seller's judgment; experience and down payment matter | More than 50% of revenue from stays of 30 days or less; 1.25x debt service coverage; 100% U.S. citizen ownership since March 1, 2026 | 1.25x–1.35x coverage on trailing-12 NOI; three years of occupancy by site type |
| Flexibility | Interest-only ramps, stepped rates, no-balloon notes all appear in listings | A seller note counted as equity must be on full standby for the life of the loan (Pioneer Capital Advisory) | Balloons in years 5–7; prepayment terms not covered in research |
A buyer may choose seller financing when the park is seasonal or when revenue sits in the owner's head rather than in tax returns. It can also suit a buyer with experience but limited cash. SBA 7(a) may fit a transient-heavy park with three years of clean returns and a buyer who can put 10–20% down and absorb the fees. A conventional loan may fit a stabilized park with verified NOI and a buyer holding 30% or more, because the rate is lowest. The structures can also combine: Lone Oak paired a seller carry with an assumable SBA loan of about $463,000 at 3.75%, and Randy Isaacson of a Wisconsin community bank told Woodall's that tax returns are "kind of the Bible for the bank," which is the hurdle a seller note steps around (Woodall's).
Worked example
Take RV Park World's illustration of a 50-site park at $1,500,000 with $150,000 down and a $1,350,000 seller note at 5.5%, 20-year amortization, 7-year balloon (RV Park World). The source gives no income figures, so the following assumes net operating income (NOI, the cash left after operating expenses and before debt) of $120,000. That is an 8.0% capitalization rate, matching Newmark's Class A/B going-in rate and Yale's 2024 median (Newmark 1Q 2026 survey). Gross revenue of about $220,000 would produce that NOI at a 45% operating expense ratio, inside RVParkShop's 38–48% range. All arithmetic below is ours, not any source's:
| Structure | Down | Loan | Rate / amortization | Monthly payment | Annual debt service | Cash flow after debt | Cash-on-cash | Debt coverage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seller note (20-year) | $150,000 (10%) | $1,350,000 | 5.5% / 20 years | ≈$9,287 | ≈$111,440 | ≈$8,560 | ≈5.7% | ≈1.08x |
| Seller note (25-year, Rolfe) | $150,000 (10%) | $1,350,000 | 5.5% / 25 years | ≈$8,290 | ≈$99,480 | ≈$20,520 | ≈13.7% | ≈1.21x |
| SBA 7(a) | $375,000 (25%) | $1,125,000 | 8.5% (within Campground Investor's 7–11% fixed range) / 25 years | ≈$9,059 | ≈$108,710 | ≈$11,290 | ≈3.0% | ≈1.10x |
Our calculations produce two findings. First, the SBA structure fails its own 1.25x coverage test at this price; a lender would need the loan near $993,500, which means about $506,500 down (34%) or a lower price. That is the mechanism behind Dory's point that bank math caps what a buyer can pay. Second, the seller note at 20 years leaves the buyer with about $700 a month after debt service, leaving little room for a septic pump failure. Stretching to 25 years, as Rolfe argues, makes the note more survivable. The SBA path also carries an upfront guaranty fee of roughly $29,500 on the $843,750 guaranteed portion, and Dory's warning applies to every row: a seasonal park "needs a debt service reserve covering the dark months" (North Star).
How to evaluate an RV park before you sign
Verify revenue against bank deposits and tax returns before anything else, because a seller note doesn't change what the park earns. Campground Investor's checklist asks for three years of returns and 12 months of operating-account statements with deposits matched to claimed revenue. It also asks for three years of monthly reservation data, which "often contradicts claimed occupancy percentages" (Campground Investor). Jeff Hoffman told Modern Campground that underreported income cuts exit value because buyers and banks can't underwrite cash they can't see (Modern Campground, August 21, 2026). For an owner, that's the strongest argument for getting the books clean a year or two before any sale, even one on a carried note.
The physical checks follow the money:
- Septic, well, and water: RV Park World calls septic replacement, at $100,000–$500,000+, "the single most expensive infrastructure surprise" (RV Park World checklist). Pull the state permit file, get pumping records, and inspect at peak load rather than in the off-season. Michigan rules, for example, require wells delivering at least 30 gallons per minute and 75 gallons per site of sewage design flow (Michigan R 325.1551 to 325.1599).
- Electrical: Hire a licensed electrician; properties with 30-year-old systems often need major upgrades. The 2023 NEC requires at least 70% of powered sites to have a 30-amp receptacle and 20% of existing sites to have 50-amp, with weather-resistant 50-amp receptacles required from January 1, 2026 (Leviton, Article 551.71).
- Utility sub-metering: OHI warns that non-compliant meters make utility revenue "unreliable (and potentially illegal)," and buyers "may zero out utility revenue entirely in valuations" (OHI).
- Zoning, permits, and licenses: OHI's checklist asks for certificates of occupancy, conditional use permits, health-department licenses, and water test results (OHI due diligence checklist). A Minnesota campground lost its nonconforming-use status when it violated CUP conditions (Wapiti Park). Florida's park permit "is not transferable from one place or person to another" and a transferee must apply within 60 days (Fla. Stat. ch. 513); Wisconsin generally requires a new license before a sold campground may open (ATCP 79.05).
- Seasonal demand: OHI and Campspot's Q4 2025 Data Dig shows Sunbelt parks around 50% occupancy year-round, the Midwest peaking near 50% in July and August, and the Northeast at 17–20% in the low season (OHI Data Dig Q4 2025). That platform's sample is parks on Campspot, not the full market.
- Staff and management: Campground Investor says "The most commonly missed item is thorough staff and management assessment," and recommends a deferred-maintenance reserve of 5–10% of annual revenue. Who answers the phone at 11 p.m., and whether anyone besides the owner can run the reservation system, belongs on the same page as the septic report.
On valuation, define the terms before using them. A cap rate is NOI divided by price, so a higher cap rate means a lower price for the same income. Yale's closed-transaction report shows a 7.14% median cap rate across 40 disclosed sales in 2025 and a 7.88% figure for Q1 2026 that rests on only two disclosed sales, with a 2025 median of $33,258 per site (Yale RV Parks Pricing Trends, July 2026). Newmark's survey of its own market leaders puts RV Park Class A & B at 8.00–9.50% and Class C at 9.00–10.50%. Broker Mark Whitworth reported a 9.3% average across 21 parks his firm sold in 2024, with 8.8 months on the market (Woodall's). These come from different universes and shouldn't be averaged.
No verified national median asking price for listed parks exists. The closest figure is BizBuySell's 2025 table of 15 closed campground sales: median sale price $155,000 against a $169,000 median asking price, 3.07x cash flow, and 1.05x revenue (BizBuySell data tables). Those are very small businesses; the same site's live campground category showed asking prices from $450,000 to $9,500,000 on the day reviewed. If a buyer quotes you "the median," ask which dataset.
Where inventory is right now: state notes
Buyers search by state because SBA eligibility, seasonality, licensing, and storm risk all change at the border, and because listing supply is uneven. LoopNet's campground pages on October 12, 2026 showed 190 listings in Texas, 55 in Florida, 16 in North Carolina, 13 in Michigan, and 5 in South Carolina, though those counts include retail buildings and mobile home parks (LoopNet Texas; Florida; North Carolina; Michigan; South Carolina). RV Park World's database disagrees, showing Michigan at 1 and Florida at 13 (RV Park World 2026 report), so no count below is a census.
Florida has the deepest private-park base and a licensing wrinkle. RV Park World stats counts 4,734 privately owned parks there, 44% of its database, and the Department of Health licenses about 5,400 facilities annually through 67 county health departments (Florida DOH). The non-transferable permit means a buyer's license application is part of closing, not an afterthought. Demand held up: Woodall's reported Florida campground occupancy up 7% in 2024 while the national private-park average fell 2%, with about 40% of campers booking within a week of arrival (Woodall's). Asking prices range from $3,100,000 at an 8% cap in Homosassa to $19,900,000 at 5.03% in LaBelle.
South Carolina shows thin portal inventory and a hurricane calendar. LandWatch's owner-financing view for camping land listed 7 properties out of 207 (LandWatch SC). State park campsite occupancy ran 47% in FY2024-25 (SCPRT), and Myrtle Beach hotel occupancy, a lodging proxy, hit 76% in July (Myrtle Beach Area CVB). Twenty-eight of 48 state parks closed after Hurricane Helene, which is the storm exposure a lender will price.
North Carolina is still working through Helene. Woodall's reported 38 CARVC member parks in the Blue Ridge area were damaged, with Linville Falls reopening in April 2025 (Woodall's), and Visit NC found 36% of past travelers with post-September 27, 2024 reservations said the storm affected their plans (Visit NC, September 2025). State wastewater guidance sets design flows at 100 gallons per day per RV space (NC DHHS).
Michigan is a short-season market with a slow licensing path. EGLE requires a campground license for five or more sites, tentative local zoning approval, and a plan review that "may take several months" (Michigan EGLE). State parks draw 38 million visitors a year (Michigan DNR), and OHI's January 2025 sample showed 24.7% occupancy, which is the winter a seller note has to survive. Portal examples include Rifle River Resort at $2,100,000 and a Benzie County lodge and campground at $3,750,000.
Texas has the most listings and examples of long marketing times. A broker told RVBusiness in December 2024, "just in Texas, I counted over 200 parks for sale," and some "have been on the market for 365 to 600 days" (RVBusiness). Marcus & Millichap sold the 115-site Whistle Stop RV Resort in Abilene at about 7.75% with multiple qualified offers and called Abilene one of the few Texas markets where RV occupancy rose (Marcus & Millichap). The Texas Association of Campground Owners reported winter bookings "up approximately 10% across the board," and Winter Texans generate $1.9 billion in the Rio Grande Valley (TACO; Welcome Home RGV). Those long marketing times are one reason Texas listings may show carried terms: Lake O' Pines, Lone Oak, and Red Cloud are all Texas parks.
FAQ
How does owner financing work on an RV park? The owner takes a down payment at closing and lends the buyer the rest, secured by a lien on the park. The buyer pays monthly, usually on a 20–30 year schedule with the balance due in five to ten years, and the owner releases the lien when paid off.
What are typical terms? Broker and adviser ranges cluster at 5–30% down and 4–8% interest. Amortization commonly runs 20–30 years with a 5–10 year balloon. Listed parks tend to ask more down and shorter balloons, and interest-only periods of six months to five years show up in both listings and closed sales.
Why would an owner carry the note? Installment-sale reporting spreads capital gain over the payment years, while the note earns interest that a bank would otherwise collect. A carried note may also let an owner hold a price that bank underwriting won't support. Recapture on depreciation is still taxed in the year of sale.
Owner financing or an SBA 7(a) loan? SBA requires at least 10% equity and 1.25x debt coverage. More than half of revenue must come from stays of 30 days or less, with rates capped at prime plus 3% on larger loans. A seller note has none of those rules, and in our worked example the SBA structure couldn't reach its coverage test at this price without roughly 34% down.
How do buyers find off-market, owner-financed parks? Buyers use specialist brokers who handle carried-note sales. They also contact owners through operator networks or direct outreach. With under 1% of privately owned parks listed on major platforms at any time, portals represent a smaller channel in RV Park World's database.
What legal documents are involved? A promissory note secured by a deed of trust or mortgage gives the buyer title and the seller a lien. A contract for deed keeps title with the seller. Any existing bank loan needs a due-on-sale check, while risk controls for a wraparound can include a servicer and a wrap agreement.
How do I value a park? Start from verified NOI and apply a cap rate from a comparable dataset. Yale's 2025 closed-sale median was 7.14%, while Newmark's survey put Class A/B at 8.00–9.50%. One broker's 2024 average was 9.3%. Earnings multiples exist mainly for very small operations, such as BizBuySell's 3.07x cash flow across 15 sales.
Which states have the most inventory? On LoopNet's October 2026 snapshot, Texas led by a wide margin, followed by Florida. North Carolina, Michigan, and South Carolina were far behind. Texas also has examples of parks marketed for 365 to 600 days, which helps explain why carried terms appear there so often.
If you are beginning to think about what comes next for your park, start a conversation. You do not need to have the timing or structure figured out, and a carried note is one of several arrangements we'd be glad to talk through. If email is easier, write to George at george@dirt.ventures and tell us a little about your park.