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dizposition

Sell your campground

RV parks, tent sites, and cabins, franchised or independent. Thirty-amp pedestals, an old well, and owners who have done enough summers.

Campground at a glance

Typical deal size
$1M – $10M
Lease structure
Owner-operated
Typical term
N/A; site rentals are nightly, seasonal, or annual
Escalations
Rates reset annually by season and demand
KOAYogi Bear's Jellystone Park Camp-ResortsThousand TrailsSun OutdoorsUnder CanvasIndependent operators

Overview

What campgrounds are really worth

Our read

A campground is a hospitality business measured on a calendar. The same acreage can be a four-month business or a twelve-month one depending on climate and what is nearby, and that difference matters more than the number of sites or the condition of the bathhouse.

The real estate value comes from location relative to a demand driver and from the difficulty of building another one. Parks, lakes, beaches, and interstate corridors draw campers; zoning, health department licensing, and private water and septic approvals make new campgrounds hard to permit in exactly those places. An existing licensed park near a real draw is scarcer than it looks.

What holds most campgrounds back is infrastructure. Modern RVs are larger and draw more power than the parks built for them, and private wells and septic systems cap how many sites a property can support. The gap between what a park is and what it could be is usually an electrical and wastewater question.

Valuation

How we underwrite it

The method

We underwrite the season first. Occupancy by month and by site type tells us what kind of business this actually is, and whether shoulder-season or year-round demand is realistic or a hope.

Site mix and hookups come next. Full-hookup sites with 50-amp service carry the rate and the longer stays; tent and partial-hookup sites carry volume. We look at what each site can actually accommodate rather than what the map calls it.

Water, wastewater, and electrical are underwritten as the constraint on everything else. They determine whether the existing sites are sustainable and whether expansion acreage is worth campground value or only land value.

We do not need the park to be modernized. Old pedestals, a tired bathhouse, and a well near the end of its life are defined costs, and pricing them is our job rather than a precondition for an offer.

What moves the number

  1. 01Season length, since a campground open four months and one open twelve are fundamentally different businesses on the same acreage
  2. 02Site mix — full-hookup RV, partial-hookup, tent, and cabins — because full hookups command the rate and the long stays
  3. 03Electrical service per site, as larger modern RVs need 50-amp service many older parks were never built for
  4. 04Proximity to a demand driver people will travel for: a national park, a lake, a beach, or an interstate corridor
  5. 05Water and wastewater capacity, which caps how many sites can be added regardless of how much land there is
  6. 06Mix of transient, seasonal, and long-term guests, which trades rate for stability in both directions

Capital markets today

10-yr Treasury
5.24%
4.12% a year ago
SOFR
3.87%
4.2% a year ago
30-yr mortgage
7.28%
6.3% a year ago
CRE loan delinquency
1.53%
1.57% a year ago
CRE prices, YoY
6.58%
-2.7% a year ago

Sources: FRED DGS10, 2026-10-01 · FRED SOFR, 2026-10-01 · FRED MORTGAGE30US, 2026-10-01 · FRED DRCRELEXFACBS, 2026-04-01 · FRED COMREPUSQ159N, 2026-01-01

Diligence

What a buyer actually looks at in a campground

  1. Check 01

    State health department campground license and permitted site count

    Campgrounds are licensed for a specific number of sites. Sites operating beyond the permitted count are a liability, not an asset, and expansion requires new approval.

  2. Check 02

    Well, water treatment, and septic or wastewater system

    Most campgrounds run private water and wastewater. A water system serving enough people is regulated as a public water system, and septic capacity is often the binding constraint on adding sites.

  3. Check 03

    Electrical distribution and per-site amperage

    Old distribution and 30-amp pedestals limit which RVs can stay. Upgrading service is a significant capital cost that rarely shows up in the listing.

  4. Check 04

    Floodplain mapping

    Campgrounds cluster along rivers and lakes for good reason. Flood exposure affects insurance, which sites can be improved, and whether cabins can be permitted.

  5. Check 05

    Reservation history by season and site type

    Revenue is a calendar. Occupancy by month and by site type shows whether the business is a summer business, a shoulder-season business, or a year-round one.

  6. Check 06

    Long-term guests and local tenancy rules

    Guests who stay for months can acquire tenant protections under some state laws, which changes how the property operates and how hard it is to reposition.

Backfill risk

What happens if the tenant leaves

The tenant-goes-dark scenario

A campground has no tenant to replace. It is an owner-operated hospitality business on rural acreage, and when it changes hands the real question is whether the next operator can run it better, not who fills the space.

The supply side is favorable. New campgrounds are hard to approve in most of the places people actually want to camp — near parks, on water, outside tourist towns — because of zoning, septic and water approvals, and neighbor opposition. An existing licensed campground with a demand driver nearby has scarcity that is not obvious from the improvements.

The improvements themselves are modest and specialized. Pads, pedestals, a bathhouse, a store, and private utilities do not convert to much else, and if the business fails the fallback is usually the underlying land value.

The operating reality is what drives most sales. Campgrounds are seven-day, seasonal, hands-on businesses, and owners age out of them. A well-located park with tired infrastructure and an owner who is ready to stop is the most common transaction in the sector.

Why this matters to you

Every buyer prices the tenant-goes-dark scenario, whether or not they say so out loud. It is the largest hidden input into the cap rate you get offered.

Understanding it before you go to market is the difference between negotiating and being negotiated with.

Who sells to us

Situations we see most often

  • Couple who has run the campground for decades and is done working every summer weekend
  • Owner facing a well, septic, or electrical upgrade they do not want to fund
  • Family that inherited a campground nobody in the next generation wants to operate
  • Franchisee ready to exit the brand and the business together
  • Owner with expansion acreage and no capital or appetite to build it out

Buy box

What we buy

  1. 01Campgrounds and RV resorts, $1M to $10M
  2. 02Owner-operated and franchised
  3. 03Aging electrical, water, and septic systems
  4. 04Parks with undeveloped expansion acreage

Process

How selling to Dizposition works

The full process
  1. Day 0

    01

    Send us the property

    Address, asset type, and the lease if there is one. That is enough for us to start.

  2. 02

    We underwrite it

    Our underwriting runs the income against current market pricing and the cost of capital. No lowball anchor.

  3. 10 minutes

    03

    You get a firm offer

    In 10 minutes, with the math shown. You will know exactly how we got there.

  4. As fast as 30 days

    04

    Close on your timeline

    As fast as 30 days, or as slow as you need. We are the principal, so the date is yours.

FAQ

Selling a campground

We are only open part of the year. Does that hurt value?

It shapes value rather than hurting it. A seasonal campground near a strong summer draw can be a very good business. We underwrite the season you actually have and look at whether shoulder months or winter use are realistic, rather than assuming they are.

Our electrical is mostly 30-amp. Is that a problem?

It limits which RVs can stay, since many larger rigs need 50-amp service. It is a capital item, not a deal-breaker. We price the upgrade rather than asking you to do it before selling.

We have extra acreage we never developed. Is it worth anything?

It can be, but expansion value depends on water, septic capacity, and whether the county will approve more sites — not just on the acreage. Undeveloped land you cannot get sites approved on is worth land value, not campground value.

We have guests who have been here for years. What happens to them?

Tell us early. Long-term guests can be a stable part of the business, and in some states long stays carry tenant protections that matter to how a buyer operates. We would rather know the arrangement up front than find it in the reservation system.

How long does it take to sell a commercial property to Dizposition?

You get a firm written offer within 10 minutes of sending us the property. If you accept, you can close in as little as 30 days — most of that is title work and your own timeline. There is no listing period, no marketing, and no waiting on a buyer's financing contingency.

Can I sell my property as-is?

Yes. We are the buyer, so there is no lender requiring repairs and no inspection contingency to renegotiate against you. Deferred maintenance, a failing roof, an aging tank system — we price it into the offer rather than asking you to fix it first.

Can I sell with a tenant in place?

Yes, and in most cases a tenant makes the property more valuable to us, not less. We will ask for the lease, a rent roll, and any estoppel certificates. You do not need to deliver the property vacant.

What if my lease is short-term or about to expire?

Short remaining term is one of the main reasons owners come to us. A conventional buyer needs lease term to get financing, which is why short-dated assets sit on the market. We underwrite the real estate and the backfill prospects rather than the remaining term alone.

What if the property is vacant?

We buy vacant assets. Pricing shifts from an income approach to what the building and land are worth to the next user, which is a different calculation — but it is one we do routinely rather than one that disqualifies the property.

Do I need a broker to sell to you?

No. We buy directly, and there is no commission because there is nothing to market. If you already have a broker, we will pay them. Selling without one saves the commission, but you should understand you are also giving up price discovery — a broker's job is to find out whether someone will pay more than we will.

What documents do I need to get an offer?

The address and the lease are enough to start. To finalize, we will want the rent roll, the last two years of operating statements, the title commitment, any existing survey, and any environmental reports you already have. You do not need an appraisal or a broker package.

How do you determine your offer?

We underwrite in-place income against what the space would re-lease for, adjust for capital needs and any environmental tail, and apply a cap rate supported by comparable transactions. We show you the inputs. If you disagree with an assumption, we would rather argue about the assumption than about the number.

What are typical seller closing costs?

Title and escrow fees, any transfer or recording tax owed in your state, prorated property taxes, and payoff of any existing debt. Because we are the buyer, there is no commission and no marketing cost. Transfer tax varies significantly by state and is often the largest single line.

Will I owe capital gains tax when I sell?

Usually yes, on the gain above your adjusted basis, and depreciation recapture is taxed separately from appreciation. State treatment varies. This is a question for your CPA before you sign, not after — the structure of the sale can change the answer.

Can I do a 1031 exchange?

Yes. A 1031 exchange lets you defer federal capital gains by reinvesting in like-kind property, subject to a 45-day identification window and a 180-day closing window from the date you sell. You must have a qualified intermediary in place before closing — it cannot be arranged afterward. Most states conform to federal treatment, but a few do not.

Can I sell if I am behind on payments or facing foreclosure?

Yes, and speed is the reason to move early rather than late. We can close on a defined date, which is what a lender or a receiver generally needs to see. Send us the payoff figure and any notices you have received.

Can I sell a property I inherited or that is in probate?

Yes. Probate sales take longer because the court timeline governs, not ours, and multiple heirs need to agree on the price before anything can close. We are used to working around both. Inherited property also generally receives a stepped-up basis, which can change the tax math substantially.

What if there is environmental contamination?

Send it anyway. Environmental history is one of the most common reasons a conventional sale falls apart, and it is one of the reasons owners call us. We price the remediation and the residual liability into the offer rather than walking away at the Phase II.

Is there any cost or obligation to get an offer?

None. There is no fee, no listing agreement, and no obligation to accept. If our number does not work for you, you keep the underwriting we showed you and we part ways.

Markets

Top markets we buy campgrounds in

10-minute offer

Ready to sell your campground?

Send us the property and the lease. You'll have a firm offer, with the math shown, in 10 minutes.