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How much can you make renting your RV?

Have you ever wondered how much you can make renting out your RV? I wondered the same thing. So I listed my RV on Outdoorsy over a year ago to make some additional income while my RV wasn’t in use. In the first two weeks on Outdoorsy I had already booked over $16,000. Wow! Honestly, it probably would have been more if I knew then what I know now about rentals.

I have loved renting out my RV and making extra income. It’s been a great side hustle and I’ve gotten to meet a lot of people and share my love of traveling. If you already have an RV or are looking into getting one, I would highly recommend you rent it out on the side when you’re not using it.

Most people that have an objection say, oh I don’t want to rent it because it will devalue my RV. Or something along those lines. I want to dig into that over the entire time you would own your RV to check the math.

First, any vehicle is a liability, not an asset. The only way to turn your RV into an asset is to rent it out and turn it into a business. 

Let’s go over the math

C Class RVs will last around 20 years or 200,000 to 300,000 miles if properly cared for. Whichever comes first. 

I rent my RV out as much as possible but I still take a few months off. Right now, I’m averaging about $45,000 a year conservatively and around 30,000 miles per year. That’s a lot I know but I’m in Georgia and most of my renters are driving to the Grand Canyon and doing long cross-country road trips. Yours might be different depending on your location.

I say conservatively because those are my booking numbers. However, I only allow my renters 100 miles per day, which is pretty average. So on these long road trips they typically go over the mileage. I charge between .55 and .85 per mile they go over. Some renters have gone over 4500 miles over the allowed mileage and those fees add up. Those aren’t reflected in my math.

I took 300,000 miles and divided it by 30,000 miles. That’s 10 years. So essentially you could say RV rental cuts your usage in half from 20 years to 10 years. That’s simply because it’s getting more use. In my case, I’m running up those miles faster.

Now, let’s take 10 years x $45,000 (my annual income). That equals a gross revenue of $450,000. Let’s subtract my purchase price (-$90,000) and insurance and parking fees over the 10 years (-$16,800) equals a net profit of $343,200

Not only that but the normal maintenance and repairs etc are paid for and covered by your renters if you charge appropriately. I pass on the cleaning and prep fees to my renters. If they break anything they also pay for that. They pay for generator usage and mileage as well. 

Plus, you’re able to sell your RV after those 10 years, whatever that price would be. Right now, used RVs have retained a lot of value and I was told my Jayco is one of the best at retaining value. I’ve seen used RVs go for $70-80,000

rv rental business side hustle

I have a mobile mechanic, a cleaning crew, and a repair shop who handle the maintenance but if you did it yourself your margins would be higher. However, I’m not very handy and I like to get it professionally checked out. I rent my RV roughly 1x/month and it takes me about an hour to prep the paperwork and do a walkthrough with the renter. I think that’s a pretty good income for my RV side hustle. The only other time exchange is that I answer phone calls when they’re stuck or need help on their trip but I’ve created a comprehensive welcome booklet that covers most anything.

If you’re going to argue time value exchange. I exclusively list my RV on Outdoorsy. I haven’t used any other listing site or done it on my own. So these numbers are from 1 booking site. That’s pretty impressive.

I would argue that an RV is an investment in lifestyle. You also need to factor in that you’ll get to vacation for free and use the RV whenever you want to explore. Our family took a cross-country road trip during “rona” and it was such an incredible experience. 

If you want to know what my RV payment and insurance are, you can check out this post all about buying my first RV. 

Do you think it’s a good deal? Would you rent out your RV to make some extra money?

Want to travel the US in an RV? Become a renter

Already have an RV and want to make extra money while sharing your passion? Become an owner + List your RV on Outdoorsy!

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