Why I Am Buying RV Parks in 2026 Instead of Apartments

I get asked this question a lot, usually from people who assume I should be buying more multifamily.

The honest answer is: multifamily is a reasonable asset class. I have it in my portfolio. But when I look at where I want to allocate capital specifically before November 30, 2026, RV parks make more sense than apartments on almost every dimension that matters to me.

Here is the full case.

The Bonus Depreciation Window Closes This Year

This is the most time-sensitive piece of the argument, and the one most investors are not thinking about clearly.

Under current tax law, 100% bonus depreciation is available for qualifying short-lived assets through the end of 2026. RV parks, like short-term rentals, are classified as businesses rather than traditional real estate. That business classification means a higher percentage of the purchase price can be allocated to shorter-lived depreciable assets. When combined with a cost segregation study, the first-year tax benefit on a qualifying acquisition can be substantial.

My minimum target for this acquisition is $150,000 in first-year tax benefits from a single deal. That number is achievable on the right RV park. It is significantly harder to hit on a comparable apartment building, where the depreciation schedule is slower and the business treatment does not apply.

If you have a meaningful income tax liability and you are not thinking about this before December 31, you are leaving money on the table.

Cash Flow Is Structurally Stronger Than Multifamily

RV parks generate revenue the way short-term rentals do: nightly and weekly rates, paid in advance, with low per-unit infrastructure costs.

Compare that to a small apartment building. Each unit has plumbing, appliances, HVAC, and a tenant with legal protections that slow your ability to address non-payment or property damage. The expense structure is heavier. The collections process is longer. The legal exposure is higher.

An RV park is closer to selling access to land and utilities than it is to traditional property management. That simplicity compresses expenses. Margins at well-run parks in the $500,000 to $2.5 million range, which is my buy box, can be meaningfully stronger than equivalent-price multifamily on a net operating income basis.

I want to be clear that this is not yet based on a closed acquisition. It is based on research, underwriting practice, and operator conversations. When I close on one, I will share the real numbers. For now, the structure of the economics is what draws me in.

Seller Financing Is the Norm, Not the Exception

Most RV parks in my target size range are owned by operators who have held the same property for twenty or thirty years. They are often not optimized, which creates value-add potential. More importantly, they frequently prefer seller financing.

Mom and pop operators understand installment sales from a tax perspective. They often do not need a lump sum. Investors who already own multiple properties are also generally open to creative structures because they know how the math works.

Traditional lenders are not enthusiastic about RV parks as collateral. That dynamic works in a buyer's favor. It opens the door to seller carryback arrangements, assumable debt, and creative deal structures that are much harder to negotiate on a conventional apartment building where every seller expects a clean cash close.

The SubTo and Gator communities I operate in are built around exactly this kind of deal sourcing. This asset class maps directly onto that skill set.

REP Status Carries Forward Into Future Years

I already have Real Estate Professional status through the Fig House. But REP status is not permanent. You earn it each tax year by meeting the IRS hour requirements in qualifying real estate activities.

If I ever reduce my involvement in the Fig House, sell it, or it no longer qualifies as my primary REP vehicle, I need another qualifying asset to maintain the designation. RV parks qualify because they are treated as businesses involving active real estate operations.

Holding an RV park future-proofs my tax strategy without requiring me to hold the STR indefinitely. That optionality has real value.

This Is an Affordable Housing Bet, and the Data Is Strong

Here is the piece of the argument most investors are not discussing yet.

A meaningful portion of the RV park market functions as de facto affordable housing. Long-term residents, retirees on fixed incomes, workers between leases, and families who have been priced out of traditional rentals are increasingly relying on RV parks and manufactured housing communities as primary residences.

The macro backdrop supports this. Nearly half of U.S. renters are currently paying more than 30 percent of their income on housing, according to the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies. The National Low-Income Housing Coalition has documented a shortage of roughly 7.1 million affordable and available homes for the country's lowest-income renter households. Meanwhile, NOI growth at income-restricted properties averaged 8.7 percent in 2025, compared to just 2.2 percent across market-rate multifamily, according to Yardi Matrix data. The affordable housing shortage is rooted in decades of restrictive zoning, slow permitting, and escalating construction costs, and analysts do not expect it to be resolved within this decade.

My portfolio right now skews toward Class A assets in high-cost urban markets. Adding an affordable housing component is not charity. It is deliberate portfolio construction. The demand is structural, the supply is constrained, and the operators who establish positions in this space early will benefit from both tailwinds over the long term.

There is also a macro argument that I find compelling. Blue-collar work is going to persist longer than white-collar work under AI displacement scenarios. Income compression among lower-earning households drives increased demand for affordable housing options. That is a long-duration trend, and RV parks sit directly in its path.

What I Am Still Working Through

I want to be transparent about where I have conviction and where I am still doing work.

The management intensity of an RV park varies significantly by property. Some parks can be operated lean with the right systems and on-site staff structure. Others require full-time on-site management that changes the economics substantially. Before I close on anything, I need to underwrite the operational model with the same rigor I applied to the Fig House.

The thesis is strong. The execution details matter.

The Short Version

If someone asked me at a dinner party why RV parks instead of apartments, here is what I would actually say: better first-year tax treatment, stronger cash flow potential, seller-friendly deal structures that fit my creative finance skill set, and a long-duration affordable housing tailwind that most investors are not paying attention to yet. All before a bonus depreciation deadline that expires in eight months.

That is a reasonably good reason to move quickly.