How to Sell Your RV Park Without Handing Over a Big Commission
You spent years pulling weeds at sunrise and fixing midnight clogs. When it is time to move on, it is fair to ask: do I have to give a big slice of what I built to a middleman?
Not necessarily. Many owners sell owner-direct, sometimes called FSBO (for sale by owner). Done carelessly, it is how parks get lowballed. Done carefully, it can protect both your price and your peace of mind.
This page is the overview. It walks through the four steps we see work, and links to the deeper guide for each.
Why Owner-Direct Works, and Where It Goes Wrong
Selling owner-direct can save you a traditional commission and give you more control over timing and confidentiality. With Way-Ya-Go, the owner pays us nothing. Our 1.9% Transparency Premium is buyer-funded at closing; sellers pay 0% in brokerage fees.
Where owner-direct sales go wrong is preparation. Without someone pushing you to get ready, it is easy to go to buyers with soft books, unknown septic capacity, and no plan for keeping tenants calm. Serious buyers then do the work for you, and price every gap against you.
The four steps below put you in control of that work.
What Buyers and Lenders Will Scrutinize
Across the whole process, a serious buyer's team will look at:
- Financials: three years of tax returns, a month-by-month T-12, rent roll, deposit ledger, bank statements.
- Infrastructure: septic permits and performance, electrical capacity and condition, water system and testing, utility bills and recovery.
- Legal: title, survey, zoning and legal site count, licenses, environmental and flood status.
- Buyer-side proof: you should expect them to show proof of funds, and they should expect you to require it.
- Structure: price, deposit, diligence timeline, financing, and escrow terms.
The red flags that most often kill owner-direct deals: books that do not reconcile, infrastructure surprises found late, a rumor that drops occupancy mid-deal, and vague terms with no attorney.
The Four Steps
Step 1: Clean up the books and the paperwork
Buyers underwrite tax returns and standardized statements, not bank balances or memories. If your books show very low expenses because you do the work for free, a lender will rebuild them. In our underwriting we start from a 55% operating expense baseline (Newmark/MMCG standard) when books look too thin.
What to do: three years of tax returns, a month-by-month T-12, revenue split by stream (never fold utilities into rent), a rent roll with deposits, a log of your own labor, and a preliminary title search.
Read the full guide: Step 01, Financial & Legal. See also our page on books, T-12, and rent roll.
Step 2: Prove the infrastructure before they test it
Buyers' inspectors stress-test the park. Voltage drops and septic backups become big renegotiations right before closing.
What to do: twelve months of master utility bills, a site-by-site amp map, a Saturday-night load test with photos, a Sunday-morning septic field walk, licensed assessments and bids, and utility recovery records. Curb appeal comes last.
Read the full guide: Step 02, Infrastructure Stress Audit. See also our septic, electrical, water, and utilities pages.
Step 3: Screen buyers quietly and protect your tenants
Do not broadcast a sale. Rumors drop occupancy, and occupancy is price.
What to do: an anonymous teaser, a mutual NDA before documents, proof of funds from buyers, a two-level information room, a staff script, escorted tours, and a buyer log.
Read the full guide: Step 03, Buyer Screening & Tenant Shield. See also our confidential sale page.
Step 4: Price it honestly, structure it carefully, close it cleanly
Value is net operating income divided by a cap rate. Price what is in place, not what could be. Consider whether seller financing helps, after talking to your CPA. Use a firm diligence timeline, meaningful earnest money, and a commercial escrow company.
Read the full guide: Step 04, Valuation, Seller Financing & Escrow. See also our pages on valuation, seller financing and closing, and taxes at sale.
Week-One Starter List
If you only do a few things this week, do these:
- Pull three years of tax returns
- Start a month-by-month T-12
- Print your rent roll and deposit list
- Gather twelve months of utility bills
- Call your county for septic permits on file
- Make a site list: 30-amp or 50-amp
- Write down your known problems, honestly
- Tell nobody at the park yet
- Book time with your CPA
Common Mistakes
- Going to buyers before the books are honest. You teach them your weak spots.
- Skipping the infrastructure homework. Their inspector will do it on their clock.
- Announcing the sale. Occupancy drops, and so does price.
- Sending tax returns before an NDA and proof of funds.
- Pricing on potential instead of proven income.
- Handshake terms. Use an attorney and a commercial escrow.
- Signing a long exclusive listing while your numbers are still a story, if you do decide to use a broker.
An Example
Illustrative example. Composite of situations we see; details and numbers changed.
An owner had been approached by a few buyers over the years and figured she could sell herself. Her first attempt went badly: she sent her books to an interested party without an NDA, word got around, and two monthly guests left. The buyer then asked for a big price cut over the electric bill.
The second time, she followed the four steps. She built a clean T-12 with utilities on separate lines, did a load test and got a licensed bid for her worst loop, wrote an anonymous teaser, and required an NDA and proof of funds before sharing anything. Her CPA modeled cash vs. a hybrid structure, and her attorney drafted the terms.
The buyer who made it through her screen had fewer questions, because she had already answered them. The deal closed on her timeline, with no rumor at the park.
Ready to Start?
Request a free Glitch Audit. Email wayyago@gmail.com with your last twelve months, rent roll, and a few notes on your infrastructure. Tell us if a broker is already involved.
We will tell you how ready you are for an owner-direct sale and what to do first. No Zoom pitch. No listing contract. You pay us nothing. Our 1.9% Transparency Premium is buyer-funded at closing; sellers pay 0% in brokerage fees.
Request a free Glitch AuditGeneral education only. Not tax, legal, or accounting advice. Use your CPA and attorney for filings, structures, and contracts.