How to value an RV park: from the site mix to NOI, value per site, and loan size

Why an RV park is valued by site type

An RV park rents the same kind of space three different ways. Equity LifeStyle Properties, a public owner of RV resorts, describes the split in its annual report: annual sites leased for a year, seasonal sites leased generally for one to six months, and transient sites rented short-term to travelers. Each stream has its own rate, its own occupancy, and its own costs, so averaging them hides most of what matters.

The mix also drives risk. The same report calls the transient revenue stream its most volatile. In 2025, its core annual RV and marina base rental income rose 4.1% while seasonal revenue fell 9.9% and transient revenue fell 8.5%. A park that leans on nightly guests can earn more per site in a good year and lose more of it in a bad one.

Step 1: gross potential and real occupancy

Gross potential is every site rented for every month, season, or night the park is open. For a monthly site it is the monthly rate times the months open. For a seasonal site it is one season rate. For a nightly site it is the nightly rate times the nights open.

Occupancy is where most RV park numbers go wrong. Monthly occupancy counts sites rented. Nightly occupancy counts site-nights sold out of site-nights available, across the whole year, including the slow months. A park that is full every summer weekend can still sell well under half of its nightly site-nights for the year.

Example

Illustrative example. These are example inputs so the math is visible, not a real park, a market average, or a benchmark. The park has 84 sites: 30 monthly full-hookup sites, 15 seasonal sites, 25 nightly back-in sites, 10 nightly pull-through sites, and 4 cabins rented by the night.

Monthly sites at $650 a month, 90% rented, earn $210,600 of $234,000 potential. Seasonal sites at $3,000 a season, 80% sold, earn $36,000 of $45,000. Back-in sites at $50 a night and 45% occupancy earn $205,312.50 of $456,250. Pull-through sites at $65 and 55% earn $130,487.50 of $237,250. Cabins at $120 and 50% earn $87,600 of $175,200.

Gross potential is $1,147,700 and site revenue is $670,000, so $477,700 of potential goes unsold and the park earns 58.4% of potential. Nightly sites are $423,400, or 63.2%, of site revenue, monthly sites 31.4%, and seasonal sites 5.4%.

A 4% booking fee on nightly revenue is $16,936 and 2% discounts and credit loss are $13,400, leaving net site revenue of $639,664. Utility bill-backs of $18,000, the store at $12,000, and $8,000 of other income add $38,000, so EGI is $677,664.

Expenses: property tax $32,000, insurance $24,000, payroll $120,000, utilities $85,000, repairs $30,000, marketing and software $18,000, and other $12,000, for $321,000. The 5% management fee on EGI is $33,883.20 and the reserve at $250 a site is $21,000. NOI is $301,780.80, a 44.5% margin on EGI.

Step 2: value, value per site, and the cap rate

At a 9% cap rate, $301,780.80 of NOI points to a value of $3,353,120, about $39,918 a site. At a $3,300,000 price, about $39,286 a site, the going-in cap is 9.1%.

The cap rate moves the answer a lot. At 8% the same NOI is worth $3,772,260, and at 10% it is worth $3,017,808, a spread of more than $750,000 on one input. There is no single right cap rate for RV parks. Use recent sales of similar parks, with similar site mixes, and ask whether the quoted cap rate was on NOI before or after a management fee and reserve.

Price per site is a useful cross-check, not a valuation method. A park of mostly monthly sites and a park of mostly nightly sites can sell at the same price per site with very different NOI. Compare price per site only after you compare how the NOI was built.

Step 3: break-even occupancy and the loan

Break-even occupancy scales every site type's occupancy up or down together. In the example NOI reaches zero at 29.4% of gross potential, and NOI just covers the loan payment at 48.6%. The park earns 58.4% today, so it has about 10 points of cushion before cash flow turns negative.

The lender sizes the loan three ways. At 70% loan-to-value on the lower of price and value, the loan is $2,310,000. At a 1.30 minimum DSCR, 7.25% interest, and 25-year amortization, NOI supports about $2,676,361. At a 10% minimum debt yield, it supports about $3,017,808. The LTV test is lowest, so the loan is $2,310,000.

That loan costs $16,696.84 a month, or $200,362.06 a year. The DSCR is 1.51 and the debt yield, NOI divided by the loan, is 13.1%. Equity is the price plus 2% closing costs and $75,000 of day-one capital, $3,441,000, minus the loan: $1,131,000. Year-one cash flow after debt service is $101,418.74, a 9.0% cash-on-cash return.

Step 4: the hold, the exit, and the IRR

In the calculator's example, rates and expenses grow 3% a year and occupancy holds steady. The park sells after five years at a 9.5% cap on year-six NOI of $349,846.66, a sale price of about $3,682,596.

After 3% selling costs and a loan payoff of about $2,112,518, the equity gets back about $1,459,600. Put the five years of cash flow and the sale together and the example shows a 14.7% levered IRR, a 9.9% unlevered IRR, and a 1.82x equity multiple. Those are outputs of example inputs, not a forecast.

Common pitfalls

Length-of-stay rules. Zoning, campground licenses, and local codes often limit how long a guest can stay. Monthly sites that are not allowed are not income. Confirm the rules before you count them.

Utilities and infrastructure. Septic systems, wells, water lines, and electrical service built for smaller rigs can turn into large capital bills, and utility bill-backs and resale are regulated in some states. Inspect the systems and set the reserve and day-one capital to match.

Seller statements. Owner-operated parks often leave out a management fee, pay family members off the books, or run personal expenses through the park. Rebuild the expense side yourself, and keep the property tax you expect after the sale.

Weather and travel demand. Nightly revenue moves with seasons, fuel prices, and travel. Stress the nightly occupancy and see how close it gets to the debt break-even.

Run your own numbers

The RV park calculator loads with this exact example. Replace the site mix and inputs with the park's own numbers and it rebuilds the income, the P&L, the value and value per site, break-even occupancy, the loan, the projection, and the IRR, then prints the whole thing. For a quick check on one piece, the cap rate calculator turns NOI into value and the DSCR calculator checks coverage.

These pages run the math on the numbers you type. They do not supply market data, and nothing here is an appraisal, a loan offer, or financial or investment advice. Have a lender, an appraiser, and your own advisors review any park before you buy.

Sources

Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc., Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025 (filed February 18, 2026; accessed November 2, 2026), https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/895417/000162828026008722/els-20251231.htm. Describes annual, seasonal (generally one to six months), and transient RV sites, calls transient revenue its most volatile stream, and reports 2025 core RV and marina rental income growth of 4.1% for annual, a 9.9% decline for seasonal, and an 8.5% decline for transient.

Steps

1. Get a year of reservation reports and the trailing twelve months

   Ask for site-nights sold by month and site type, the monthly and seasonal rent roll, and twelve months of operating statements. One busy month tells you little about the year.

2. Price each site type by how it rents

   Monthly sites earn the monthly rate for each month rented, seasonal sites earn one season rate, and nightly sites earn the nightly rate for each night sold. Every site full for every open night or month is gross potential.

3. Take off booking fees and discounts

   Reservation-platform and card fees come off nightly revenue. Discounts, refunds, and credit loss come off all site revenue. What remains is net site revenue.

4. Add other income to reach EGI

   Metered electric and other utility bill-backs, the store and propane net of cost, and fees such as storage and laundry. Count only what the park keeps.

5. Subtract expenses, the management fee, and a reserve to reach NOI

   Property tax at the post-sale assessment, insurance, payroll, the utilities the park pays, repairs, marketing and reservation software, a management fee on EGI, and a capital reserve per site.

6. Value it, check it per site, and size the loan

   Value = NOI ÷ cap rate. Divide by the site count for value per site. The lender tests LTV, DSCR, and often debt yield, and lends the smallest result.

7. Find break-even occupancy and stress the nightly sites

   Scale occupancy down until NOI, then cash flow after debt service, hits zero. If today's occupancy is close to the second number, a weak season can put the park underwater.

Questions