Selling
Selling your park
A park is a business sitting on land, and buyers want proof of both. Here’s what to pull together before a buyer starts asking. Every rule below links to the official source.
The short list
- Three years of financials. Include the wage you should be paying yourself. Owner-run parks often look less profitable than they are, and buyers will add a manager’s wage back in anyway.
- Occupancy by month. Booking reports or your reservation software export.
- Zoning and your licence. What the zoning allows, and how many sites you actually run. Check with your municipality or regional district.
- Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) status. If any land is in the reserve, find your Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) approval or decision letter.
- Water and septic records. Permits, test results and pump-outs. See the Drinking Water Protection Act and Sewerage System Regulation.
- A list of full-time residents. With their agreements and rents.
Heads up
Full-time residents
People living full-time in a manufactured home park are generally covered by the Manufactured Home Park Tenancy Act. They stay after a sale, and rent increases and move-outs follow strict rules. Get legal advice before you list.
Taxes
Selling land and a business can trigger capital gains tax. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) explains the basics. Talk to an accountant early, since some planning has to happen before the sale.
Fees
My fee is agreed in writing before anything goes to market.
Buyers pay for income they can verify.
Clean books and current permits give a buyer fewer reasons to knock the price down. That part is in your control.
How a sale runs
From first call to completion
On a typical BC commercial sale, marketing takes about 4 to 12 weeks, the buyer’s conditions 30 to 60 days, and completion another 30 to 90 days. Parks vary. The steps are in How a commercial sale works.
Share sale or asset sale
If your park is owned by a company, a buyer may offer to buy the shares instead of the land. That usually avoids Property Transfer Tax for the buyer, but they take on the company’s history, so they may ask for a lower price. Your lawyer and accountant decide what suits you. See PTT and share sales.
Carrying part of the price
Lenders can be cautious with parks. A vendor take-back mortgage, where you lend the buyer part of the price, can bring in more buyers. It also carries risk if the buyer doesn’t pay.
Property Transfer Tax
What the buyer will budget for
| 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.
What buyers check first
| What buyers check | Why it matters | Where to confirm it |
|---|---|---|
| Income | Most buyers want three years of statements. Lenders usually do too. | Your accountant |
| Zoning and site count | Sites the zoning allows versus sites you actually rent. | Your local government |
| ALR status | Campgrounds on reserve land need ALC approval or a history that predates the rules. | Agricultural Land Commission |
| Drinking water | A system serving the public usually needs a health authority permit and test records. | Drinking Water Protection Act |
| Septic | Smaller systems are registered with the health authority. Bigger ones fall under provincial rules. | Sewerage System Regulation, Municipal Wastewater Regulation |
| Full-time residents | They stay after a sale, and their rent increases are limited by law. | Manufactured Home Park Tenancy Act |
| Title | Charges, easements and covenants on the land. | Land Title and Survey Authority (LTSA) |
Questions? Send me a note.
Valuation
How a park price usually gets worked out
Most buyers start with three numbers. None of them is the whole story, but you’ll hear all three in the first conversation.
Net operating income (NOI). What the park brings in over a year, minus the costs of running it. Mortgage payments and income tax don’t come off. If you’re working the office and cutting the grass yourself, a buyer will usually price in paying someone to do it.
Cap rate (capitalization rate). Net operating income divided by price, shown as a percentage. A lower cap rate means a higher price for the same income. The rate a buyer will accept depends on location, risk, the season and what money costs that year, so it moves. Cap rates, explained like a savings account on camappleton.com goes through it slowly.
Price per site. Price divided by the number of rentable sites. It’s a quick check on whether a number is in the right neighbourhood, not a way to set a price.
Made-up example
A pretend 40-site campground
These numbers are invented to show the arithmetic. They aren’t market data, a cap rate for your area, or a value for any real park.
| Step | Pretend number |
|---|---|
| Revenue for the year | $420,000 |
| Operating costs, including paid help | $260,000 |
| Net operating income (NOI) | $160,000 |
| Cap rate (capitalization rate), picked for the example | 8% |
| Price ($160,000 ÷ 0.08) | $2,000,000 |
| Price per site ($2,000,000 ÷ 40) | $50,000 |
Change the cap rate to 7% and the same park works out to about $2.29 million. That’s why buyers argue about half a point. For a seasonal park, buyers often look hard at how many weeks you’re really open and how much of the work you do yourself.
GST
GST when you sell a park
This one catches people. In CRA’s guidance, the sale of commercial real property is generally taxable for GST. When the buyer is registered for GST, the buyer usually self-assesses and pays it to CRA instead of paying it to you. Buyers who aren’t registered may file a GST60 return.
Parks are rarely simple, though. A property with people living there full time, a house, farm land or a mix of uses may be treated differently in parts. How the price is split across land, buildings and equipment matters too.
CRA’s memo Real Property and the GST/harmonized sales tax (HST) is the official starting point. Please talk to your accountant and lawyer before you agree on a price, because the contract should say how GST is handled.
Questions to take to your accountant
- Is my sale taxable, exempt, or partly both?
- Is the buyer registered, and how do we confirm their GST number before closing?
- How should the price be split between land, buildings and equipment?
- Does the contract say whether the price includes GST?
Seasonal parks and long stays
Campers, monthlies and people who live there
Lots of BC parks mix nightly campers, monthly stays and a few people who have been on the same site for years. Buyers will ask which is which, because the rules can be different.
Short, temporary stays in a campground are usually treated as a licence to occupy, not a tenancy. When an RV becomes someone’s permanent home, the Manufactured Home Park Tenancy Act may apply. Signs of that can include year-round living, permanent hook-ups, a deck or skirting the park allowed, and a unit that hasn’t moved in a long time.
The Residential Tenancy Branch explains the factors in Policy Guideline 9. No single factor decides it. If you aren’t sure where your long-stay guests sit, ask a lawyer before you sell, not after.
What buyers will want to see
- A site list showing nightly, monthly, seasonal and year-round use
- Copies of agreements or registration forms for long stays
- How long each long-stay guest has been there
- Occupancy by month, so the shoulder seasons are clear
- Which sites have winterized water and power
Lenders may also look closely at how seasonal the income is. Clear monthly numbers help that conversation.
Step by step
How a confidential sale usually runs
Every sale is a bit different. This is the usual order, so you know what’s coming.
- A first talk. Your goals, your timing and what you’d want kept quiet. Nothing is signed.
- Getting the numbers together. Usually three years of statements, a site list, permits and anything a buyer will ask about anyway.
- A teaser. A short summary with no park name or exact location, shared with buyers who fit.
- A non-disclosure agreement (NDA). Serious buyers sign a confidentiality agreement before they learn which park it is.
- A data room. One private folder with the documents, so everyone sees the same thing and you can track who has seen it.
- Offers. Buyers put their price and terms in writing, usually with subject conditions such as financing and inspections.
- Due diligence. The buyer checks the numbers, zoning, ALR status, water, septic and residents. Then they remove subjects or walk away.
- Closing. Lawyers handle the transfer, adjustments and Property Transfer Tax. Staff and guests hear about it when you decide.
Want the longer version? See how a commercial sale works, step by step and the commercial due diligence checklist.