You Can’t Underwrite a Campground You Haven’t Seen

We see this more often than you might think. In traditional commercial real estate, a buyer may be able to get surprisingly far by studying leases, rent rolls, expenses and market data. A campground or resort is different. It is real estate, yes, but it is also an operating business, a hospitality property and, in many cases, a future development opportunity.

You cannot fully understand that from a spreadsheet.

A site count does not tell you which sites are premium, which are seasonal, which are difficult to access or which could command higher rates. Acreage does not tell you whether expansion is practical. Revenue does not tell you why guests come, how much owner involvement is required or where additional income could be created. Even a clean P&L cannot show you the personality of the property.

Before deciding what a campground is worth, a buyer should understand what they are actually buying. Walk the roads. Look at the utilities. Study the guest mix. Ask how the owner operates the business. Look at the surrounding tourism drivers. Identify unused land, underutilized buildings, cabins, storage, waterfront, activities and other possible opportunities.

Then underwrite it.

That does not mean buyers should ignore the numbers. Quite the opposite. It means the numbers should be interpreted in the context of the actual business.

An LOI should reflect understanding, not just arithmetic. When a buyer begins with a preconceived formula and forces every campground into it, they risk missing both problems and opportunities.

At Campground Marketplace, we encourage buyers to ask questions before reaching conclusions. No two campgrounds are alike, and the best acquisition decisions usually come from understanding the whole operation—not simply finding a number that fits a spreadsheet.