Woes of Renting Your RV

It is a wild feeling to purchase an asset for $50k or more and watch someone drive off with it. The monthly cashflow definitely helps me swallow my unease. I'm sure it's a discomfort I will overcome after some more time. My goal is to get to a point where I replace my 9-5 income with this side hustle, I've been inspired by Rich Dad Poor Dad to achieve this goal. 

Treat it like a business

When parts come back broken I charge hourly $60 per hour to fix it plus parts. Fact of the matter is other people will not treat your RV like they would their own. Plus many of the RV parts are designed to be lightweight which makes parts not as durable.

The listing platforms will help you a little bit with certain fees like mileage and generator hours. Do not hesitate to charge fees as it is a business you are running. 

RV Renters

I had renter book out my RV for 4 days which is 96 hours. The generator returned with 90 hours of use. He basically ran the generator 24/7 for 4 days. That is not good. First thing I did was change the oil in the generator upon return. I also charged the guy for usage as I give 4 hours a day usage free and after that it is $3.00 an hour. 

All in all I charged him almost $350 in overage fees from things I found after he returned it. He clearly didn't take care of my RV so I ran through it after with a fine toothed comb to find ways to charge him. 

Now you may be thinking I went too far? Nope because he ran my generator for 4 days straight the generator carburetor got junked up and it stopped working for my next renter. This cost me $150 for someone to come take a look at it and fix the problem. On top of that the following renter had a poor experience. 

Partially on me as I didn't know I had to service that part of the generator as well when the generator gets abused. Lesson learned. Generally my RV gets returned in good shape and is well taken care of but be aware that you will get the renter who will trash your stuff. Charge them for things they break and neglect.

Protect Your Asset

Maintain your oils, fluids and uphold all the regular maintenance on your RV. It will make it last far longer. This goes for any vehicle. But if it is an asset that brings in monthly income you better protect that and go the extra mile. 

I've bought and sold vehicles many times in my life. I kept a log of all the maintenance and it has always made it easier to sell my vehicles. One thing to remember is that selling an RV is going to be far easier if you keep records of all the money you spend on fixing it and maintaining it. It will give you leverage when selling that you've taken good care of it. 

Bottom line your investment into an RV will hold its value better and make it easier to sell when the time comes. So be sure to protect your assets. 

Read part 3 in my journey to $5k / month passive income!