Does anyone own their own static and rent it out - I'm thinking of doing this...

[StripeyKnickersSpottySocks]

Just wondering really how you find it. Are you normally booked up. Is it a good return?

How long do statics normally last for?

I could only get a 2nd hand one - have 16k to spend, could stretch to 20k.

Do you do your own cleaning on changeover day or do the park do it?

Thanks.

You'll need to budget for groundrent. My parents had a static and the groundrent on a site with no facilities at all was nearly £2000. They bought a fairly old static and they were told after a few years that they either had to replace it or leave the site. They chose to leave as they didn't really want to fork out £0000s for a newer one, having picked up the old one for an excellent price.

They rarely, if ever, rented it out, although had a few regular families, maybe one or two a year, who couldn't afford anything else so my parents let them have it for a peppercorn rent. The site my parents had was very popular with surfers so tended to attract large groups of younger people, so my parents were very wary of renting to strangers. It gets quite rowdy in summer, it is very popular.

Out of season it was a fab place to spend a day or the weekend, and as it was so close to home (half an hour or so) renting it out defeated the object of having it. We had a great sea view, and we all found we returned completely relaxed. Many families there were second generation, having spent their childhoods there and had subsequently bought their own vans as adults. Lots of people moved in for the summer holidays, so again, less potential to rent.

A few people I know have overcome this problem by having two vans, one for themselves and another, plusher van for rent. They aim to keep one fully booked to subsidise the other.

There were quite a few handymen operating on site, maintaining the vans and the gas supply, so I would assume that someone similar would sort out a regular changeover contract if you wanted it.

Depends on the site, I guess, how booked up you'd be. The site we were on was so popular there wouldn't be a problem filling it, even with the lack of facilities. The waiting list to buy a van is so long it is closed.

Thanks for that, well worth knowing about the fact that the site can decide a caravan is too old and insist its removed. Will have to look into it some more now.

Some sites do have a age limit on vans, but they should state this somewhere in their terms.

If you make freinds with other owners you can maybe come to some deals on cleaning/ changeovers. My freinds Mum looks after a few other peoples cleaning/changeovers for a small fee. Other owners have freindly arrangments where they look after each others vans to allow for your own holidays and family ocasions etc.

Some parks like Haven will do rentals for you plus cleaning, they will pay you a percentage for the rentals, or sometimes even a fixed agreed amount for the seasons. BUT>>> many owners don't like renting through Haven as the clientel isn't as erm trustworthy or responsible sometimes. If you do your own rentals, you can take a deposit, this will often put of your dodgier clients.

In your calculations you will have to allow for replacing items regularly and yearly replacements of things like pillows and bedding to keep it fresh.

Can you tell I was looking into doing this myself .