Question for those of you who store their RV at a storage lot.

[bmcgc]

Originally Posted by Ericb760

Wow! Where do you live? Considering that a 12 X 40 space would be $480 uncovered and twice that for covered? Is that right? Or, do you mean $1 per linear foot?

40ft MH is $40 a month uncovered, $80 a month covered.

[Mile Marker 42]

Originally Posted by Mr.Mark

I'm in Palm Springs and rent a garage in Indio. The place I rent from has about 100 individual garages all connected together. I have my own garage door and main gate opener.

The facility is gated and camera'd with management on site M-F. I have access 24/7.

Eric, you don't have to make it a 'man-cave' but fully enclosed garage storage is surely nice. My garage is 13x50 with a 30 amp connection.

If you are North of Palm Springs you are in the wind tunnel. I would not want my coach sandblasted which happens quite often through the pass.

You can start small, maybe 20 garages, and then add more as time and money present. I would say that you will pretty much be guaranteed full capacity in this area.

Good luck and safe travels!
Mark

What do you pay for your rental?

[Ericb760]

Originally Posted by Ted Lambert

I pay less than 500 a year for just about everything that people have stating. 300 to 400 a month? Are you sure about your figures. Maybe the area you live in can support those costs.
However why don't you call storage facilities in a 50 mile radius and pose as a potential customer. This will give you an idea before you go with this venture.
To ask on this site about cost you'll get prices from the Mexican border to Alaska.
The only thing I can add is my storage facility is 2 miles down the road and I live in the city.
Good luck with your venture

Mark is right. For gated, secured parking with amenities like water, dump station, ice, washing area, online bill pay, etc. $250 for covered parking and $400+ for enclosed parking is quite the norm here. Most of that has to do with the amount of wealth in this valley as well as the annual influx of snowbirds with plenty of disposable income.

[Ericb760]

Originally Posted by bmcgc

40ft MH is $40 a month uncovered, $80 a month covered.

Don't move to California. The sticker shock will kill ya...

[Doug427]

It seems the variation in pricing by geographic area is huge. Here in Houston, covered parking for my 43' is $275 per month with 110V electric, and no paved areas. Enclosed is $395 per month with 110v electric. Concrete floor inside the "garage", no paved areas outside. You guys paying $80 to $100 per month will never find anything close to that around here in the Houston area. To the OP, you'll need to find out what the prevailing pricing is in your area. What's happening elsewhere with regard to pricing is almost irrelevant.

[Mile Marker 42]

Originally Posted by Ericb760

I am in negotiations with a construction company that specializes in RV storage/covered parking. Since the land is vacant desert I have no real choice but to pave the entire parking surface. Additionally, I will be adding solar panels to the top of each storage area which should pay for any electricity that I offer at the individual sites, as well as the overall electric bill. Putting 30a access at each spot is probably not in my budget, and wouldn't be needed by most customers. I agree that I will try to incorporate a number of "VIP" spots that do have 30/50a. Free water and a dump station are being incorporated in to the design.

You should see if you can parcel out or condo map the lot. Have each lot it's own parcel number and sell each lot. I bought a unit in CO 20 years ago that constructed individual units totally secured. You picked 1 or 2 units, power needed and type of garage door. Each unit had a ceiling hung gas heater. The owner was on a 99 year lease and "parceled" out the entire lot so each unit had it's own parcel number and you owned your unit. It was set up for RV, classic car and home based businesses like plumbers, electricians etc. Fantastic idea. I had my unit for aprox a year and a half and made over $10K when I sold. You will have to be careful with water and sewer as that will bring in people who will live in their unit without you knowing about it.

[JohnLoves2Sk]

Originally Posted by Ericb760

Mods please move if this is not the appropriate page for this topic. My wife and I purchased five acres of vacant land recently. Our plan was to buy a double wide mobile home, a garage for me, plenty of RV parking, etc. After drawing up plans with an architect it became obvious that we are going to use, at most, one acre. That leaves four empty acres just sitting there. After trying to find a place to stash our RV for a few months it occurred to me just how little RV storage is available near me.

I am now contemplating taking out a humungous SBA loan to build an RV storage park on my land. If you store your RV in a yard, would you share with me the pros and cons that you perceive with the place you use? Anything at all. Storage fees, access, drivability, amenities, etc. I'd really like to hear from real world users of RV storage. Thanks! Eric

My 2 cents:
- Compare the number of storage locations nearby with the number of spaces they have available tp determine demand.
- Talk to a lawyer about setting up a LLC and the protection it offers you. Also about loaning $$ to the LLC rather than just dumping yoru cash into it.
- Are you anywhere near any land that will soon be housing developments? They generally don't allow for RV Storage, so they will bring potential customers to you.
- Location, location, Security. Cameras will allow you to see 2 guys in hoodies and baseball hats stealing catalytic converters... on Monday a few days after the theft. Cameras are necessary, but ask your security designer about how to detect motion without the gate cycling, fence cutting, etc. When that occurs, how fast will you be able to get to the cameras and see if it's an issue or not?
- The office. Will there be a building on site? (an office?) If so, consider having a small upstairs apartment that you can rent out cheap to someone that is willing to respond to night time issues.
- Insurance - talk to an agent, find our what insurance will cost you, and if they will give you a disclaimer/waiver to have tenants sign. Ask THEM what design features will keep your rates down.
- Dump station and water on site? That would put you ahead of competitors!! If you do this, set it up so RVs can pull out of the driveway, dump on the way in, not on the way out (you are not an RV park). Add a sign reminding them to clean up after themselves and take any trash with them... because the camera is watching and it's $50 every time someone leaves a mess.
- How will you charge for power usage? If you don't charge, all the RVs will leave electric space heaters set for 68, and the water heater on because why not? Will you be reading meters and preparing bills manually every month?


I hope this works out well for you!
Good luck!!

[JohnLoves2Sk]

If you invest in Solar, you STILL NEED TO CHARGE FOR POWER. It's costing you $$ to install, maintain, repair, replace at end of life. If you don't charge for it, everyone there will use a lot of it.

[RoadEyePie]

I live on 5 acres and built my own pole building w/roof over concrete pad to store my 40 ft FW. It has 50 amp power and water but no sewer (as yet). I find that I'm always out there working on it. Whether it's washing, cleaning, waxing, or doing maintenance such as winterizing or battery charging, etc. I also have the luxury of having a 1680 sq. ft. shop 40 ft. away. My point is, that if I was renting, I would still need / want to be able to do a lot of visits for maintenance. Having things like ladders or scaffolds available, water hoses, typical cleaning supplies, anti freeze, etc. for sell. I mean think of a marina...there's more to the business than just storing a boat. But I guess it just depends on how involved you want to be and how much of a "business" you want to make of it.

[BajaFog]

Online account management.

Generous keypad access hours.

[Ericb760]

Originally Posted by JohnLoves2Sk

My 2 cents:
- Compare the number of storage locations nearby with the number of spaces they have available tp determine demand.
- Talk to a lawyer about setting up a LLC and the protection it offers you. Also about loaning $$ to the LLC rather than just dumping yoru cash into it.
- Are you anywhere near any land that will soon be housing developments? They generally don't allow for RV Storage, so they will bring potential customers to you.
- Location, location, Security. Cameras will allow you to see 2 guys in hoodies and baseball hats stealing catalytic converters... on Monday a few days after the theft. Cameras are necessary, but ask your security designer about how to detect motion without the gate cycling, fence cutting, etc. When that occurs, how fast will you be able to get to the cameras and see if it's an issue or not?
- The office. Will there be a building on site? (an office?) If so, consider having a small upstairs apartment that you can rent out cheap to someone that is willing to respond to night time issues.
- Insurance - talk to an agent, find our what insurance will cost you, and if they will give you a disclaimer/waiver to have tenants sign. Ask THEM what design features will keep your rates down.
- Dump station and water on site? That would put you ahead of competitors!! If you do this, set it up so RVs can pull out of the driveway, dump on the way in, not on the way out (you are not an RV park). Add a sign reminding them to clean up after themselves and take any trash with them... because the camera is watching and it's $50 every time someone leaves a mess.
- How will you charge for power usage? If you don't charge, all the RVs will leave electric space heaters set for 68, and the water heater on because why not? Will you be reading meters and preparing bills manually every month?


I hope this works out well for you!
Good luck!!

One of my prime motivators for this project is the fact that less than 1/2 mile from my land is a new housing project with a projected 400 homes. Another with 100 homes being built is a mile away. Neither HOA allows RV's to be parked in the development. Plus, I am 25 minutes from the entrance to Joshua Tree NP, 90 minutes from Los Angeles and San Diego, and this area is a haven for snowbirds.

I have already set up an LLC.

I'm not sure how the electricity payment will be handled yet. The construction company that I am talking with also owns and runs an RV & Boat storage. I am told that around 30% opt for 110v power at a fixed monthly rate. This is something I will have to study.

A dump station at the entrance is a fantastic idea. I had already planned for it but didn't really consider where it would be located yet.

Thanks for your input.

[DurangoNick]

I have stored in 2 facilities here in the Tampa area. Neither with aminities other than gravel on the ground--one with not a lot of that. High fence with cameras that maybe record something. Since I only visit my MH every 4 - 6 weeks, it would be awhile before I knew about a break in. So, recordings would need to be kept for months, which would be a lot of reviewing. Still, I think cameras are a deterrent and sales benefit.

Both places use a padlock and a manual gate. The one we are at now requires you to take your RV out for at least 2 weeks a year and provide registration and proof of insurance annually. The other one has/had a problem with abandoned units. Both have an annual key or combination exchange.

Going rate here is $100 / month. Covered storage would be nice, but not sure how much I'd pay for it. Neither have a place to pee. They both should! Wash and dump would be nice, but again not sure how much extra I'd pay.

[Cooperhawk]

Originally Posted by Ericb760

A dump station at the entrance is a fantastic idea. I had already planned for it but didn't really consider where it would be located yet. Thanks for your input.

I provided electricity at the end of each building, not to each unit. If you do that you will get people living in them and using your bathroom facilities in the office.

My dump station was in front of the large buildings where it was easy to access.

The large buildings were full of campers and large boats, while the mini storage units held smaller boat, antique cars, snow mobiles, four wheelers, ect.

The gate was electric and each renter had their own opener.

The mini units were 10/23 feet and I allowed some folks to build attics in them if they did not alter the building in any way.

Be careful, are you building a storage facility or a camp ground?

Our facility was called Cooper's Toy Box, and our ad read, "Got toys your wife doesn't know about, we won't tell", or "Can't get you car in the garage? We have room."

[bmcgc]

I was at the storage facility today. I asked the attendant about a covered storage spot. The facility had an ownership change last summer. $240 a month on a 12 month contract. The price is going to $275 a month on a 12 month contract for new renters or $325 month by month. That gets you a single 110 outlet.