Before buying

[Andy Appleby]

Hi all. I am totally new to this and looking for some good advice.  As a family we have holidayed in statics for many years. Now my wife and are are looking to buy to provide us with either a weekend and the odd 1 or 2 week break for us and our family. I have seen the site fees and the extras which is fine but I also need to make this financially viable. Using the sites own rental scheme would I be able to off set most of the buying and running costs? Or on average how much is it personally costing at the end of year to have? I'm not looking to make money just looking to cover costs. I hope this makes sense.  Just trying to get all straight in my mind.  Thank you. Andy

Linkback: https://staticforum.co.uk/index.php/topic,860.msg2353.html#msg2353

[fhb2]

That really is a "how long is a piece of string?" question - there are so many variables.
The short answer is - probably not.
if there was that much profit in renting vans out, there would not be any privately owned vans - they would all be rented out by the site themselves.

It is possible to cover some, maybe even most, of the running costs with the right van in the right location - but you need to have a van and a location that people want to rent, so this means a reasonable quality van in a desirable location. So the purchase itself will not be cheap.
Then the site will take a percentage of the rental in management fees.
Cleaning in between rentals may be included in the fees, or may be extra. Safety inspections (electricity and gas) are legal requirements that have to be paid for. Insurance for rented vans is generally more expensive. Maintenance on a van that is rented out is usually higher than one kept for personal use.
If your family are school age - then the times you want to use it will be the times when others want to rent it, so who gets priority?
You need to talk to people on any site you are interested in to get a feel for whether or not it is viable - just remember that the people you are talking to will be your competitors in the rental market.

You should make a spreadsheet, with on the one site the anticipated running costs and the other the expected income, which information you may be able to get from the site owner.
Then to be safe, add 25% to the running costs, and deduct 25% from the income and see if it still works out.
Bear in mind that even in  void periods, you still have to pay all the running costs (remember that the pitch fee is not a fixed amount, it can and usually does increase).

It will not be a "home-from-home" for you, as you will not want to leave your personal belongings in it when others are using it, so that means carrying everything back and forward for each visit, and if your intention is to only use it occasionally my personal opinion is that  you would be much better off to carry on renting a static when you want it and let somebody else have the hassle of maintaining it.



Linkback: https://staticforum.co.uk/index.php/topic,860.msg2355.html#msg2355

[Slattster]

As fhb says , too many variables . You need to visit a few sites and have a chat with the sales guys , no use guessing figures , the same van will cost different amounts depending on the site. You should get a good chunk of your site fees back but if you want to use the van then the rent won’t be paying much if anything of the cost of the van. Sites with lots of facilities will get you a higher rent per week but the site fees will be higher & the van will cost more . Visit sites , do some figures  , you might not be much worse off buying on a smaller site and not have to rent it out.

Linkback: https://staticforum.co.uk/index.php/topic,860.msg2356.html#msg2356

[Sparkalicious]

Hi Andy,

So we dabbled in renting for a very short period of time.

First thing I would say, be careful of being snake oiled by the sales staff. They will tell you there is no concern etc, the rent will cover everything and it is all bright and rosy. Well below is my experience

We were very fortunate that we paid for our new static outright so had no loan that needed covering. When we initial bought we had one child who was not at school for another year. We also bought about 4 months before all the lockdown shenanigans started. When things opened up we did get bookings for what was left of that season. Now these raised us a substantial amount of cash which easily covered the next years site fees and any maintenance costs (remember we had no capital costs to cover).

That is not the full story though. As FHB mentions, it started to be come a bit of a chore, packing up completely, making sure nothing was left out, no personal touches in the van.
Also we had damage, there are photos of that in another thread on this site. We had the back of our dining table seat ripped off the wall and an arm rest of the main sofa fell off. What pushed us over was the smell of wee in my daughters bedroom after one booking. The cleaners, provided by the site, must of had no sense of smell as it was overwhelming as soon as you went into the room.

When I approached the site, they just don't care. Gone was the seeming genuine care they had when we first bought. They now leave everything up to you to sort out, repair through insurers and in my case start cleaning mattresses with a mini vax unit when I should of been enjoying my time down in the van. Was causing me a lot of stress and anxiety.

So we pulled out of the rental scheme at the end of that year. The decision wasn't a hard one. Also our daughter just started school the following year so we need the school holiday time for ourselves. Park Dean, who's park I am on, want a minimum of 10 weeks a year, 6 of those have to be in school hols and 3 of those in the summer school hols. That just doesn't work for us. We are here every opportunity we can get. I am actually here now working for 2 weeks which will take our time down here over the summer hols to 5 out of 8 in the end.

Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of people who get on with the rental scheme. Some have more than one van on the site. But for us, we were not comfortable and we are fortunate enough to not have to rely on it. We are much happier now we know that the van is secure and waiting for us when ever we want it. We do rent it out to friends and family only and that covers some of the bills. We have personal touches up around the place as well so now it does feel much more like a home from home (although surfboard storage is becoming and issue  ). If you need to rely on the rental to cover the cost then I would say the risk is too big. Especially in this world of forced lock downs. A few have become unstuck by this.

So my to round up my advice. If you can't afford everything without the rental income then don't do it. If you do go ahead don't get too attached or make it overly homely, it will not last.

I hope that hasn't put you off buying a static. Other than our little renting blip we genuinely think it has been one of the best purchases especially with a young family. We have another child just about to turn 2, him combined with our 5 y/o daughter, they absolutely love the place and can't wait to be here at every opportunity.

Linkback: https://staticforum.co.uk/index.php/topic,860.msg2358.html#msg2358