Hi-Ho RV park in Glenn Heights, Texas has been an icon since as long as we’ve been in the business. This is a real working RV park that makes big dollars and shows how much money you can squeeze out of a piece of land. But, as you can see from the photos, the magic of Hi-Ho can be summed up in one simple word: “location”. It’s not the amenities that do it. It’s not spectacular entrance and common areas. What makes many successful RV parks happen is where they are located at.
The magic of big populations
The Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex has a population of around 6,700,000. That’s a lot of people. When you have a population that large, you always have people driving through, going on vacation, looking for work, building a project, retiring into the RV lifestyle, etc. This is terrific for RV park occupancy! There is no question that being a part of a metro location in the millions is terrific. When it comes to population and RV success, bigger is always better.
The scarcity factor
Although Dallas has a metro population of around 6,700,000, it only has around ten major RV parks. The economic rule of supply and demand shows that a short supply coupled with a large demand equals high occupancy and rents. The worst location for an RV park is the reverse: small population and huge supply of RV parks. That’s why Hi-Ho stays so full – there’s really nowhere else to go. That’s not to say that they don’t do a great job with what they have, but they don’t have the most modern, expensive facilities. And, in the world of real estate, it’s all about location, location, location.
“Destination” is the key sector to be in
There are two types of RV parks: 1) destination and 2) overnighter. A “destination” park has a ton of things to do nearby, and is the ultimate goal of the RV expedition by the consumer. The “overnighter”, on the other hand, caters to those RV users who are on the road to their destination park, but have to stop somewhere along the way. The superiority of “destination” is obvious – they clock all the nights, while the overnighter park only gets one. Hi-Ho is a destination RV park. That’s why it’s so full.
Goodwill is important
Airstream trailers, for example, are hugely collectible and valuable today, in keeping with a work of art. They have been featured in everything from Architectural Digest to the Neiman Marcus Christmas Catalog, in which their custom Airstream was priced at $195,000. A basic 1960’s Airstream today will cost $30,000 to $70,000 before renovation. But Airstream is not the only collectable RV. From Volkswagen to Tear Drop trailers, there are a huge number of RVs that cost more today than when they were new – valued for their art form more than their durability.
Conclusion
Hi-Ho succeeds due to a number of factors, of which the most dominant is location. It enjoys a huge metro population, destination status, and scarcity of supply of RV parks. This is a winning combination for any RV park, and one that you should be looking for in the type you buy.