Renting out your RV

[velcrostrip]

MBAinsurance.net provides insurance and RentMyBudgetRV.com has a great site for renting it out.

http://LuckyRV.com is the best place to rent your RV out. Cheaper, safer and more secure.

 

[sandy1970c]

My experience with renting out my RV summer 2017.  I used RVshare to rent it out.  I have one RV, my personal one that I use for travel.  I was very optimistic about it, but it is very risky.  My renters were very affluent, educated and upstanding, but there are still issues.  It's not that people are trying to break things, they just are ignorant about how to use an RV properly.  I put a book with step by step instructions for EVERYTHING.  However, they don't read it, or they don't follow it.

• Prep - Washing and cleaning the RV each time for rental is a chore, plus, you need to check that everything is working properly
• 
  Training - renters come over, and I spent at least an hour training them and giving them a test drive, plus showed them the books and my instruction manual, which were always in the RV.  You have to do paperwork with them at that time.
• 
  Pickup - it was easy for me as they could leave their car at my place
• 
  Return - This is the problem.  Testing all systems takes at least 3 hours, so discovering everything and writing it on their check out form is almost impossible.  People don't tell you if they broke something.

I rented out 6 times.  Three of the times there were no issues, the other three were headaches. Here's what they damaged:
Renter #2 - Did not level RV before putting out slide room - It messed it up so it wouldn't go out - motors had to be re-synched.  This renter also put a bike rack on the back and scratched the paint on the back.  He also messed up the table, and put it back so I wouldn't notice at check out.
Renter #3 - Backed into bushes and scratched back (what makes it bad is there is a rear view camera)
Renter #6 - Child flushed paper towel down macerator toilet which jammed the blades, whole thing had to be taken out to repair. they burned up a brand new $60 skillet, and they also left AC on when power wasn't present - this ruined the compressor. Repair bill for this rental was over $1400.

I think renting could be a good thing if you have an older RV that you don't really care about getting beat up.  Mine is a 2011, and I plan on using it a long time.  You may think, well, you're going to have some repairs, but kids will do things you don't expect.  What is so stressful is making sure it is ready for the next renter.  I made sure everything was fixed again each time, and the good Lord helped me with that.  I had a 7th renter signed up for next week, but I don't think the AC will get here in time.  They have had it reserved for months, and now it's probably too late for them to rent another one.

Make no mistake, renting out your RV is a JOB!  I do not plan on ever doing it again.  For the work and hours I put in, it is not worth the money.  By the way, mine rented for $250 per night.  From May 24 to end of July I ended up netting around $2500.  It could have been $4000 if the last rental took place. It was rented the full month of July.

I wanted to share this because I thought it might help someone out.  RVshare was good to work with, and they handled the money and deposits wonderfully.  My biggest tip is to wait before you complete the online checkout form for them.  You have 3 days to discover damage, take pics, and get quotes.  As to the insurance, the supplemental coverage that renters purchase only covers the vehicle, none of the inside systems.

 

[Pugapooh]

I'm curious as to what happens if it breaks down or a major component stops working while under rental.  Seems like extra headaches for you.  I know,not what you were asking.  Would you have to arrange towing or mobile repairs?  Suppose they need a hotel? 

I've spent hours here trying to learn everything I need to know.  I can't imagine most people remembering it all in one orientation.  And fixing RVs is not like fixing a rental property.  You can't get replacement parts at Home Depot.

If I had a rig I didn't care too much about I can't imagine anybody wanting to rent it.  If I had a rig I cared about,which I do, nobody else is touching it. 

 

[JoelP]

I think that what we owe the OP is the answer to his insurance question and perhaps the suggestion to call Progressive is all that is needed here.  It is clear that this forum community thinks it is a bad idea as the overwhelming majority of us feel, and many have shared.  To be fair to the OP consider this possibility for the OP: what if this older MH is not for driving around the country and is really a full time home for someone who is not able to afford any more.  If I had an older MH that I did not care much for, I might consider it just another rental unit, like the rental homes that I already own.  It would, in this case, be set up in some park and used to live in. I wouldn't have the same concerns for how it was maintained as if I planned to travel in it myself. We don't fully understand the motivation of the OP, so let's be careful not to read into this what we would be doing with the RV we love as our own. There could be some agent involved in cleaning and maintaining it.  The security deposit could be more substantial with a detailed contract if it were to be used for driving any distance.  It could be used to rent only to ones relatives who he trusts perfectly (not to say that I have any such relatives). I cannot speak to the economics of this, but I expect that the OP has been thinking about it.

Certainly there are people who own 1/4 shares arrangements for condos in vacation property that experience this regularly.  Having done this once in Otter Crest,OR I learned that such sharing was not for me, but there are plenty of people who have done this successfully.

 

[Back2PA]

I suspect the OP found his answer sometime back in 2010 when he originally asked the question.

 

[JoelP]

Hmm... I expect you are right.  I need to pay more attention to those dates.