Camp to attract full timers in south dakota

[Johnny5dime]

I'm purchasing a campground and adding 30 sites to it mainly for full timer rvers.

I'm worried about the demand for it in rapid city, sd through the winter.

Does anyone have thoughts on this idea or a way to attract full timers?

 

[ChasA]

Move it to Arizona.

 

[NY_Dutch]

How are you defining "fulltimers"? We're fulltime RV'ers, but we don't stay in any one place for more than a couple of weeks most of the time.

 

[Johnny5dime]

Long term renters for 30+ days. Hoping for 6 months or longer

 

[Johnny5dime]

What do they call people that live in their rvs at one site for long term?

 

[DonTom]

Move it to Arizona.

Which part? Here where it's above 100F every summer day or Flagstaff where it often below freezing in the winter?

-Don- OPCNM, AZ

 

[Oldgator73]

Rapid City, SD in the winter? I don’t think you will get too many folks to take you up on that.

 

[NY_Dutch]

What do they call people that live in their rvs at one site for long term?

Monthlies, seasonals, year rounders, permanents...

"Fulltimers" are folks like us that live in our RV year round, but may or may not move from time to time. Some fulltimers are also seasonals or permanents in parks, but many are also transients. Many part-time RV'ers are also monthlies, seasonals, etc. We pretty much follow the weather, wintering in the south and summering in the north, moving from mostly state/national parks to other state/national park with our two private sites mixed in. We do stay in the north to spend the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays with family though, not heading south until shortly after the first of the year.

 

[DonTom]

Does full-timer usually mean one does not own a house without wheels (renting out doesn't count)?

IOW, does full-timer mean they have nowhere else to live besides their RV?

And if that's the case, then the RV is not an RV. It's then a home. And that means they do NOT camp in their RV regardless of location.

-Don- OPCNM, AZ

 

[UTTransplant]

Do you have a lot of construction workers or oil field workers in your area? They are usually the best bet for long-term renters. It will be people who have jobs, not retirees.

 

[Skookum]

I think you are correct in estimating demand will be low in the winter. Most parks up that way aren't even open until April or so, and they may/may not have the water turned on by then, it's just too cold.

For people with true 4-season RV's you'll need heated water lines servicing their sites, 50a electrical service. Some people will go through a boatload of propane and will need supplemental (large) tanks so having space for those, and permitting to do so, would be good. You'll also need to do snow removal when you have storms....

For those without 4-season RV's they'll have to stay winterized. Maybe a big common restroom/shower facility along with a common clubhouse with kitchen facilities would attract people.

Curious to hear how this works out for you!

 

[DonTom]

For those without 4-season RV's

How do "4-season" RVs differ from those that are not for 4 seasons?

-Don- OPCNM, AZ

 

[Skookum]

How do "4-season" RVs differ from those that are not for 4 seasons?

-Don- OPCNM, AZ

Are being serious? They have better insulation, heated (and sometimes insulated) holding tanks, water lines run interior and usually along the path of furnace ducting nearby to keep them from freezing, if they're not also insulated. Sometimes the underbelly is enclosed AND insulated on 4-season travel trailers. Windows are usually double-paned, not that it helps a whole lot for insulation, but it does with condensation. They're designed to keep warm in cold winters (or cooler in the summer) and still be able to have them hooked up to water..

Not that I'd want to be in an RV below freezing, period, but some people have to be for work or other reasons.

 

[NY_Dutch]

Does full-timer usually mean one does not own a house without wheels (renting out doesn't count)?

IOW, does full-timer mean they have nowhere else to live besides their RV?

And if that's the case, then the RV is not an RV. It's then a home. And that means they do NOT camp in their RV regardless of location.

-Don- OPCNM, AZ

Full timing means you consider your RV as your home, even if you own a house. For instance we have a small family cottage in upstate NY that's been a family vacation home for years, but even when we're there we continue to live in our RV while parked on our full hookup site next to the cottage. Most years we sleep in our motorhome 365 nights a year, but in past years we have slept in the cottage sometimes for a day or three when we were either deep cleaning or updating/repairing something that made staying in the RV difficult. If you have a non-RV home or homes you stay in for extended periods though, then you're either a part time or a long time RV'er rather than a full timer. Of course there's nothing wrong with being either one, it's just a little different lifestyle than fulltiming.

 

[DonTom]

They have better insulation, heated (and sometimes insulated) holding tanks, water lines run interior and usually along the path of furnace ducting nearby to keep them from freezing, if they're not also insulated.

What I meant is how to you tell which is which without tearing the thing apart to find out if they have "better insulation" and such?

-Don- OPCNM, AZ

 

[DonTom]

Full timing means you consider your RV as your home, even if you own a house.

I think that is a great definition of a full-timer.

I wonder if that means a person feels like they are camping when they are in their house . . .

-Don- OPCNM, AZ

 

[Oldgator73]

I think that is a great definition of a full-timer.

I wonder if that means a person feels like they are camping when they are in their house . . .

-Don- OPCNM, AZ

We were fulltimers and I was doing research with the US Forest Service. We were parked at an Oregon DOT compound. Sometimes the research would require a few nights stay over the mountains. Not wanting to take a 37’ 5th wheel over the mountains on logging roads my wife and I would pack a tent, sleeping bags and food (maybe a bit of wine too) and tent camp. So we were fulltime RVers that would sometimes tent camp.

 

[DonTom]

5th wheel over the mountains on logging roads my wife and I would pack a tent, sleeping bags and food (maybe a bit of wine too) and tent camp.

Sounds like fun. Do you miss doing that or did it seem like work?

-Don- OPCNM, AZ

 

[Rob&Deryl]

What I meant is how to you tell which is which without tearing the thing apart to find out if they have "better insulation" and such?

-Don- OPCNM, AZ

Research. Thorough questioning of knowledgeable people both from dealers, manufacturers & here, for example. Studying all published material. Having a list of required capabilities.

 

[DonTom]

Research. Thorough questioning of knowledgeable people both from dealers, manufacturers & here, for example. Studying all published material. Having a list of required capabilities.

That must mean most RV buyers have no idea which they are buying--just like me.

-Don- OPCNM, AZ