RV Owners Continue to Profit Big from RV Rental Boom
The RVs that go Boom
RVshare, the largest community for RV owners and renters, has had over 100,000 owners sign up to rent their RV’s since the pandemic began. The ongoing interest in RV travel has fueled RV owners’ profits. With an influx of new RV owners renting on the site, nearly 30 percent use their rental as a way to offset the cost of owning an RV. According to a recent survey of RVshare owners, nearly 60 percent of owners are able to cover at least half or more of their financing payments by renting out their vehicle through RVshare, while 17 percent claim that they have been able to pay off their vehicle entirely.
The online rental site recently found that 64 percent of owners claim to have purchased their RV after the pandemic started in March 2020. While fluctuating gas prices and interest rates may have some owners tempted to sell, RVshare is seeing continuous demand and growth in bookings, with revenue from bookings up nearly 40 percent in 2022. According to an RV Shipment Report from RVIA, nearly 19 percent more RV units were being imported into the United States in March 2022, compared to the prior year. This increased RV supply could result in lower prices for buyers and sellers alike, making it the right time to rent instead of sell.
“RVshare was built with the idea of making it easy for RV owners to list and rent to create the world’s first fleet of RV entrepreneurs with the ability to make real money from their RV,” said RVshare’s CEO Jon Gray. “With record sales in 2020 and 2021, there are more RV owners in the US than ever before.
Rising interest levels paired with the continued trend of outdoor travel make us believe that demand will only increase, making it a great time for owners to turn their asset into a source of revenue.”
RVshare owners, Robyn and Luis Valdez from Washington, weigh in claiming that, “We didn’t buy during the pandemic expecting to create income. We purchased our RV to create memories with our family! We are currently 60+ rentals later, and our rental business accounts for nearly half of our household income. Our rentals more than pay for themselves, and we plan to continue growing our fleet, and using RVshare as a lead gathering resource.”
The recent RVshare survey also highlighted that only 20 percent of owners are currently retired from their primary occupation, making their rental services a wonderful source of earnings; while 80 percent of owners claim that RVshare acts as a second source of income for themselves and their families. With many RVshare owners still working their full time jobs, the upkeep and management of an RV rental can seem like a big time commitment.
To help cushion the commitment, RV rental management companies have begun to gain popularity in the RV rental industry. For example, goHomePort Rentals, an RV rental management company and RVshare partner based in Denver, CO, assists owners with insuring and cleaning vehicles, communicating with renters and supporting them on the road with technical issues, delivery, and facilitating an easy and hands-off check-in and check-out process. RV owners are finding companies like goHomePort are a great option to overcome the workload of renting.
“Hiring an RV rental management company like goHomePort Rentals is a great option for time-crunched RV owners who are looking to rent but want to offset the workload,” said goHomePort Rental’s Marketing Director, Laura Patten. “We manage the RV rental entirely with little to no financial risk to the RV owner. We are commission-based, and only get paid a portion of the RV rental income. Furthermore, we can help kickstart rental earnings because we know what works. As an added incentive, RV owners can write-off our management fees on their taxes as well as other expenses related to renting, furnishing, repairing, and upgrading their RV, so all in all, our service is a win-win for everyone.”
For more information about listing an RV rental, please visit here, and for additional information about RVshare and RV management services, please visit here.
