For BC park and campground owners
You’re in the right place.
If you own an RV park, campground, mobile home park or retreat property in BC, and you’re thinking about what comes next, this site is for you. How a sale is handled can make a real difference to the result. Confidential conversation. No public listing required. No pressure to sell.
For park owners who built something rare
Many owners underestimate what they’ve created.
You know your property generates income. You know your occupancy rates. You know what you’ve invested.
What’s harder to see from the inside is how location, operating history, guest loyalty, barriers to entry and scarcity combine. Some of that value doesn’t show up on a spreadsheet.
Before you decide anything about your property’s future, it helps to know three things: what today’s private market may support, which kinds of buyers are most likely to be interested, and how to explore a sale without unsettling your staff, guests or residents.
Here’s what matters to the right buyer
- The location can’t be replicated. Waterfront, highway access, closeness to parks or attractions.
- The operating track record shows resilience. Years of stable or growing occupancy tell a buyer this isn’t speculative.
- The guest relationships are an invisible asset. Repeat visitors, seasonal regulars, word of mouth.
- The site is approved and operating. Permits, servicing, infrastructure and zoning are hard to get for a new park today.
- The upside may be larger than you think. Glamping, longer seasons, more sites. Some buyers are paying for what the park could become.
Why this moment matters
Things working in sellers’ favour, and how long they last is anyone’s guess.
You don’t need to be ready to sell today to benefit from understanding today’s market.
Good parks rarely come up for sale.
Serious buyers can wait a long time for the right one. Many owners who built parks decades ago are now thinking about retirement, so supply may change. Nobody can say exactly when.
Interest rates affect what buyers can pay.
Lower borrowing costs can let buyers offer more, and higher ones can do the opposite. The Bank of Canada publishes its current rate.
Your park would cost more to build today.
Construction costs rose sharply in the early 2020s, according to Statistics Canada’s building construction price index. Add permits, servicing and zoning, and starting from scratch is hard. Buyers know it.
Tax rules can change.
Capital gains rules have been debated in recent federal budgets and could change again. The CRA explains the current rules. Plan timing and structure with your accountant.
Buyers pay for future potential, too.
Good buyers look past this year’s income to glamping upgrades, shoulder seasons and the land itself.
Where value gets lost
Sellers usually lose money on the process, not the property.
Parks are specialised, thinly traded and easy to misposition. These are the mistakes I see most.
1. Treating it like any other building
Parks don’t trade like retail plazas or apartment buildings. Buyers think about them differently, value them differently and need more confidentiality.
2. Going public too early
Once a park hits public listing sites, staff get nervous, long-term residents ask questions, guests notice and competitors pay attention. If it sits for months, buyers start to assume something is wrong.
3. Negotiating without knowing the number
If the buyer understands the opportunity better than the seller, the seller loses. Know your income, your expenses and what drives value before the first offer.
Built for confidentiality
A private sale process protects your business.
- No public listing required to start. You can explore value, timing and buyer fit without your park appearing on public listing sites.
- Buyers are screened before they get access. Before seeing financials, they show they can pay, explain their plans and sign a confidentiality agreement.
- Information is shared in stages. First a short overview. Then financials, for qualified buyers. Then a site visit and full details, for buyers working toward an offer.
- You control if, when and how it moves forward. The first conversation doesn’t commit you to a sale. You can pause or walk away.
Beyond the cap rate
Buyers look at the whole picture.
A park isn’t valued quite like an office building. A cap rate gives a starting point. Strong buyers also ask about:
- Operating performance: stable, growing, seasonal or year-round?
- Occupancy: are sites full? Is there a waitlist?
- Land quality and location
- Barriers to replacement
- Guest or resident loyalty
- Site mix: RV, tent, cabins, short and long stays
- Room to expand
- What it could become if rezoned
- Demand nearby: tourism, housing, recreation
- Long-term hold appeal
Two 45-site parks with the same income can sell for very different prices. One on a lake with repeat guests, glamping-friendly zoning and room to grow will usually draw more interest than one without. This is an illustration, not a valuation.
Three simple steps
One conversation. Clearer numbers. Better decisions.
You share the basics
Property type, general location, size, revenue, timeline, and what you’re considering and why. It takes 10 to 15 minutes. It’s a conversation, not an interrogation.
You get a view of the market
Which buyers tend to pursue parks like yours, how timing and marketability look, and whether a private sale makes sense.
You decide
No obligation. If the timing’s not right, you leave with a clearer picture than you had before.
Worth knowing before you sell
Property Transfer Tax in BC
The buyer pays it, but it affects what they can offer and sometimes how the deal is structured.
| Portion of the price | PTT rate |
|---|---|
| First $200,000 | 1% |
| $200,000 to $2,000,000 | 2% |
| Above $2,000,000 | 3% |
| Residential value above $3,000,000 | +2% more |
Rates as of October 2026, from the BC government. On a $3 million commercial property that works out to about $68,000. Where a property mixes commercial and residential use, the extra 2% can apply to the residential part, so ask your lawyer how your park splits. More in Property Transfer Tax and share sales, in plain words.
From camappleton.com
Plain-language guides
I write these for owners and buyers of all kinds of commercial property. The ones below apply to parks.
- How a commercial sale works, step by step. Each stage, from the first conversation to completion.
- Cap rates, explained like a savings account. Why half a point of cap rate is a lot of money.
- Property Transfer Tax and share sales. Why some parks sell as a company instead of as land.
- Vendor take-back mortgages, explained. When carrying part of the price can help a sale.
- Commercial due diligence checklist. What a buyer’s team will ask you for.
- Buying an RV park or campground in BC. The buyer’s side of the same deal.
Let’s start with the basics
Tell me about your property, or what you’re looking to buy.
Send a note. If you’re considering a sale, the first conversation shouldn’t feel like a pitch.
More detail: selling guide, FAQ.
Get in touch
A few quick details help make the first conversation useful. Name and email are all I need to reach you.