RV parks in California where you can Buy your Lot???

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unsinkable777

Member
Joined
Nov 9, 2011
Posts
20
Location
Chilliwack, British Columbia
After our maiden voyage last winter we have decided to sell our home and go fulltime into the RV life. We are very excited. The only park we know of where we can actually buy a lot is in Palm Springs  -  "Outdoor Resorts Palm Springs".  It seems like a good investment, since we can rent it to other RVers while we are on the road elsewhere. We are wondering if this park is our only or best alternative. Are there parks where you can buy closer to the coast? Does anyone have any advice, wisdom, experience to share regarding Outdoor Resorts, or owning a lot? Thanks :)
Karen
 
The Palms RVResort in Yuma, AZ sells individual lots.   http://www.yumapalmsrvresort.com/ 

Outdoor Resorts has a lovely Park  in Aguanga, CA.  There are likely lots more own your own lot parks. 

The thing about owning your own lot is that one becomes tied to that as a location and it might curtail your travels.  Seeing as how you are just getting started you may consider not  making a commitment just yet and doing some traveling to  "figure out" just where you like most to go.
 
We rented a lot from an owner at Outdoor Resorts Indio recently. It's a great park. It's so beautiful there with all the flowers, etc., but if you rent, you don't have the privileges that owners do, which is kind of a drag for the people who rent from you.

But why would you want to own? While there, we saw so many lots for sale. People come across hardships in their lives and have a difficult time selling their lots and their rigs.

There's so much to see out there. If you're fulltimers, why would you tie yourself to one particular place when you have the whole country to explore? This is just my humble opinion, but in this economy it makes more sense to me to leave yourself plenty of options and enjoy what you can while you can.

-Roni

 
If you get a copy of the FMCA magazine, in the classified ads section, you'll find 100's of ads for RV lots that are for sale all across the country.  An internet search would probably find 1000's more.  There is no shortage of motivated sellers right now.
 
Roni and Betty are right on. The whole appeal of full timing for me is not being tied down to anything and being free to travel when and where I want.
 
We've stayed at the Motorcoach Country Club in Indio, linked in ShastaLake's message, on several occasions. It's a beautiful place, and we've looked at the possibility of buying there a couple of times. Figure on living in this area only during the winter months - the a/c in an RV would have a tough time keeping things cool in the summer. It doesn't currently fit our combination of summer/winter plans or with having grandkids in northen CA. Maybe one of these days. Oh, and we're also waiting for our lottery numbers to come up.
 
Thanks for all the great replies guys :) Yes, we would like to just be gypsies, different location every week, but that is very expensive :( and just doesn't fit our limited budget. We thought we could spend a lot of the winter at this lovely park in Palm Springs (Outdoorresorts), do day trips, or overnights to our kids in Venice, Ca and Henderson, NV, then take off for other sunny spots while renting out our lot. Is it difficult to find renters for a nice RV lot? We would of course make our lot very desirable with landscaping, a fountain, lots of brickwork and lighting, etc. We would hope to spend most of the summers in Canada, visiting our kids in 4 different provinces, and avoid the summer heat in CA. I suppose it's tough to rent out your lot in the summer heat of Cali?? We haven't totally decided whether we should sell our home in BC and invest in an RV Park lot, or just rent out our home and use the income to travel - it won't be that much though. Can you live and travel a lot on $1,400.00/mo CD??? We really need some help making these decisions and appreciate you all sharing your experience and wisdom with us. Thanks and GOD BLESS!!  karen
 
In the Palm Springs area the are several RV resorts were you own your lot.

Outdoor Resorts, Cathedral City (I believe the 1st in the area)

Outdoor Resorts, Indio

Motorcoach Country Club (originally an Outdoor resorts, sold to Monaco who went bankrupt and then sold out of bankruptcy)

Desert Shores Resort, Indio (Started by Bob Lee of Country Coach)

Two Springs Rv Resort. An older park being converted to Lot ownership. Desert Hot Springs

Vineyards Luxury Motor Coach Resort, Coachella (with small home and RV parking)

Indio Country Club has a section of Homes with RV Garages


 
I'm thinking you'd definitely have a problem renting out your lot in the summer. My parents are snowbirds who own a condo in the area. No one rents from them in the summer even though it's a lot easier to keep a condo cool in the 100 degree temps than an RV sitting in the hot sun.

So you can pretty much bet the amount you're paying for your site in the summer is a waste. There are many places in the country you can stay for anywere from $350 up to $2000 and more. But you're not going to find anything cheap in the Indio area. I think we paid $1700 at Outdoor Resorts Indio for 1 month. We'd ordinarily never pay that much, but my husband got a bonus just at the right time, allowing us to be very near my parents.

With the economy the way it is people aren't traveling the way they use to. Just something to think about. Not meaning to burst your bubble or anything, just concerned because we saw a lot of lots for sale there that just weren't moving.

-Roni
 
unsinkable777 said:
Thanks for all the great replies guys :) Yes, we would like to just be gypsies, different location every week, but that is very expensive :( and just doesn't fit our limited budget. We thought we could spend a lot of the winter at this lovely park in Palm Springs (Outdoorresorts), do day trips, or overnights to our kids in Venice, Ca and Henderson, NV, then take off for other sunny spots while renting out our lot. Is it difficult to find renters for a nice RV lot? We would of course make our lot very desirable with landscaping, a fountain, lots of brickwork and lighting, etc. We would hope to spend most of the summers in Canada, visiting our kids in 4 different provinces, and avoid the summer heat in CA. I suppose it's tough to rent out your lot in the summer heat of Cali?? We haven't totally decided whether we should sell our home in BC and invest in an RV Park lot, or just rent out our home and use the income to travel - it won't be that much though. Can you live and travel a lot on $1,400.00/mo CD??? We really need some help making these decisions and appreciate you all sharing your experience and wisdom with us. Thanks and GOD BLESS!!  karen

That's about $45/day.  It's possible but difficult.  Between food, fuel, activities and nightly fees, it's more like $100/day.  Long term rentals can reduce that and fuel goes way down if you are stationary but long term rentals usually meter the electricity... $3-4/day or higher with a/c running a lot.  I don't know about RV expenses, insurance, or health care... that's even more to consider.
 
If money is an issue, the Palm Springs-Indio area probably isn't your best choice. You might be better off buying a mobile home somewhere cheaper and traveling in the RV when you're able to.

Wendy
 
Karen,

You don't just buy into one of these places.  The Outdoor Resorts-types have monthly assessments in addition to the purchase price and some are in the $200-300 per month range.  These assessments tend to increase on a regular basis just like any other community that has common property, in this case guards, landscaping & gardeners, pools, laundries, office staff, etc.  And, just like any other condo-type property, you have a board that can get to be very political.  I know of one case where a board member looked at the exhorbitant cost of having all the pools kept warm all winter and wanted to close the smaller satellite pools during the winter and just keep the main pool heated.  Things got very political and the last I heard they were still paying to heat all the pools all winter in an area where gas is very expensive.

There are tons of ads out there for every conceivable type of motorhome resort ownership.  Personally, I wouldn't waste my money unless there was a very good reason (like family) to be in that specific vicinity for long periods of time.  They can be difficult to sell if you change your mind.  And, I agree, summer rentals in the desert southwest are a whole different ballgame from winter rentals.

ArdraF
 
We are currently parked (3 nites free) at the Desert Shores RV Resort. Lovely place, lots of green and water. Basically you buy a 1200 sq' home and an RV pad facing a canal comes with it. No transient RV facilities other than a couple of "buddy" lots (we're in 1). Homes start at around $400,000 :'( . I would expect the monthly maintenance is quite high. Don't know what they rent for in season, but very few people here now.
 
Bernie, we visited Desert Shores and looked at various properties while we were staying at Motorcoach Country Club a few months ago. Very nice, but I came away thinking that, if I bought a home in the area, why would I be taking my RV there?
 
Tom said:
Bernie, we visited Desert Shores and looked at various properties while we were staying at Motorcoach Country Club a few months ago. Very nice, but I came away thinking that, if I bought a home in the area, why would I be taking my RV there?

Because you need the extra bathroom and 2nd bedroom ;D ;D
 
We made the decision to purchase a lot and we bought in Outdoor Resorts in Indio.  We were fulltiming and saw an opportunity (price was right) and we took it.  I looked forward to having a permanent spot I could "nest" in.  We also were able to be close to family.  The monthly HOA is $385.00 and includes water, trash pickup (twice day at your site, upkeep and/or maintenance on common grounds, flowers, roads, buildings, pools, cafe and an 18 hole executive golf course  (there is no additional charge to play golf). You, as a owner, are responsible for any upkeep for landscaping on your lot.  As an owner, you can rent your lot on your own or you can place it in the rental pool through the resale office.  A renter does have access to everything except the owners' lounge which is where the pool tables and library is located.  Movie nights on the big screen are in the owners' lounge and renters are included.  Pools, health club, spas, all activities, golf course, tennis, pickle ball, etc are open to renters.  Needless to say, summer doesn't bring renters, but there are a few brave souls occasionally.  We pulled in Sept 28 last year and there were few coaches there.  We pretty much had the place to ourselves.  More showed up late October and kept on coming.  By May 1 it was practically a ghost town again.  Outdoor Resorts Indio is for motorhomes only as is Desert Shores and Motorcoach.  Outdoor Resorts in Cathedral City doesn't have this restriction - can be either a motorhome or 5th wheel.  Tim has hung up the keys to the motorhome and it is for sale.  He figures his depth perception and reflexes isn't what it used to be and since he's managed to drive for 8 years without hitting anything or anyone or them hitting us...it was a good time to quit.  So, our reasons for selling our lot at Outdoor Resorts is different from why we purchased.  There are many lots for sale.  Some are wayyyyy over priced while others are great buys.  Should you buy a lot - anywhere - buy it to resale it.  If it's been on the market for eons...chances are it will be on the market for eons when you go to sell it.  You might consider renting for a month (or more) in a park you may be considering buying into.  This way you can get a feel of the community and get to know people.  Many of the sales last season in Outdoor Resorts Indio were renters.  Our neighbor had rented for 5 years and bought in November.  Good luck.
 
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