Business Funding for RV Parks & Campgrounds: Sites, Seasonality & the Expansion Loan (2026)

The RV park money map: sites, occupancy, and the long-stay surge

An RV park does not sell nights. It sells occupied sites, and the economics of each site are brutally simple: a site that sits empty earns nothing, and a site occupied for a month earns thirty nights of revenue with one check-in. A typical park runs at 60 to 70 percent occupancy across the year, spiking to near 100 percent in peak season, and in 2024 more than half of all campers — 56.1 percent — reported difficulty finding a campsite at all. Demand is not the problem. The problem is the calendar: a park that fills in July and empties in January has to survive January on July's money.

The numbers behind the demand are strong. More than 52 million North American households camped in 2025, nearly 10 million of them in an RV, and more than 81 million people camped in 2024. The U.S. RV park and campground industry was worth about $8.2 billion in 2023, and roughly 250,000 new sites were added between 2018 and 2023 — yet supply still lags demand in most markets. The shift that matters most for owners is the long stay: in 2025, stays of 28 nights or longer jumped 19.1 percent to an all-time record, while total reservations slipped 1 percent and total revenue still hit an all-time high, up 5.2 percent. Parks are earning more from fewer, longer stays — and a long-stay guest is the cheapest revenue in the business, with one check-in, one cleaning, and one utility hookup per month.

What it actually costs to build, buy, or expand a park

Development runs on the order of $15,000 to $50,000 or more per site, depending on land, grading, utilities, and amenities — and the per-site number is the one that decides whether an expansion pencils out. A 40-site expansion at $30,000 a site is a $1.2 million project before the first guest arrives. Operating expenses run about 50 to 70 percent of revenue, which is why the revenue-per-site math matters more than the nightly rate: industry data put 2023 revenue per occupied site at about $285 a month, with profit margins rising to 22.4 percent from 18 percent before the pandemic, and ancillary sales — propane, laundry, store, firewood — contributing about 28 percent of total income.

The nightly rate itself has moved fast. The national average nightly rate runs about $52, but medium-sized parks saw their average nightly rate jump 16.6 percent in 2025 to $83.00, the largest rate acceleration on record on the RoverPass platform. The amenity gap explains much of it: 73 percent of parks now offer pull-through sites and 65 percent offer laundry, and parks with full hookups, reliable Wi-Fi, and clean bathhouses command the premium. Meanwhile 42 percent of sites still lack full hookups — which is both a warning and an opportunity, because a hookup upgrade is one of the highest-return capital projects in the trade.

Buying an existing park is a different equation. Industry cap rates commonly run 7 to 12 percent, and the value sits in the occupancy history, the site mix, and the utility infrastructure — not in the land alone. A park at 65 percent occupancy with 40 percent of sites lacking full hookups is a value-add purchase: the buyer funds the hookups, raises the rate, and lifts occupancy. A park at 90 percent occupancy with full hookups everywhere is priced for what it already is. Supply is tightest where permitting is hardest: Florida added at least 3,596 new RV campsites between 2022 and 2024, while California's permitting keeps its supply essentially static — and the parks that already exist in constrained markets are worth more for exactly that reason.

The funding map: which product fits which need

Expansion and new sites: term loans and SBA financing. A multi-site expansion is a one-to-three-year project with a useful life measured in decades, and it wants a term loan with a fixed payment matched to a full year of revenue — not one season. SBA 7(a) loans are the common route for park acquisitions and expansions, because the amounts are large and the terms are long. Apply before the need is urgent: underwriting verifies the appraisal, the occupancy history, and the utility capacity, and one to three months is normal.

Hookups, bathhouses, and amenity upgrades: equipment and term financing. A full-hookup conversion or a new bathhouse is a capital project with a clear payback — higher rates, higher occupancy, longer stays. Equipment financing fits the machines and the infrastructure with a useful life; a term loan fits the build-out. Size the project to the rate lift it produces: if full hookups let you raise the nightly rate by $15 on 40 sites at 65 percent occupancy, that is roughly $11,700 a month in new revenue against the project cost.

The off-season float: a business line of credit. The park that fills in July and empties in January needs a bridge, not a second mortgage. A line of credit drawn in the slow months and repaid from peak-season deposits is the tool built for this shape — drawn when payroll and utilities are due, repaid when the summer reservations land. Size it to one off-season, not to the expansion you wish you had.

Revenue-based funding: the seasonal surge only. Revenue-based funding fits a park with steady daily card deposits — a park taking online reservations year-round qualifies; a park that takes cash at the gate in summer and nothing in winter does not. Use it for a seasonal hire, a marketing push before peak season, or a slow-month bridge — not for a multi-year expansion, where the repayment window is shorter than the payback period.

What funders actually check

Funders underwriting an RV park read the same three things in every file. First, occupancy history: a full year of monthly occupancy, not just the July peak, because the lender is underwriting the January trough. A park that shows 60 to 70 percent annual occupancy with a documented long-stay base is a different credit than a park that shows 95 percent in July and silence in February. Second, the revenue mix: nightly transient revenue, monthly long-stay revenue, and ancillary income — propane, laundry, store, rentals — because a park with 28 percent ancillary income has a cushion a transient-only park does not. Third, the infrastructure: the age of the electrical pedestals, the water and sewer capacity, and the condition of the bathhouses, because a park whose utilities cannot support full hookups cannot raise its rate no matter how much demand exists.

The document list is short. Bank statements are required — typically the last three months — and they carry most of the decision. For expansions and acquisitions, the funder also wants the occupancy history, the site count and mix, and the appraisal, because the park itself is the collateral. Tax returns and a profit-and-loss statement enter the picture for larger term loans, but photo ID and a voided check are optional, not required. A funder that understands the trade will ask about your long-stay share and your hookup mix before quoting, because those two numbers decide which product fits. The ones that do not ask are the ones whose product will not fit.

Traps that cost RV park owners real money

Watch for three traps. One: borrowing a fixed monthly term loan against peak-season revenue to cover a year-round cost. If the cost is year-round, the repayment should flex, or the revenue should be year-round too — and a long-stay base is how you make the revenue year-round. Two: expanding sites before fixing the utilities. New pads on an electrical system that cannot support full hookups are new sites you cannot charge premium rates for, and the expansion loan still has to be repaid. Three: pricing the expansion on the nightly rate instead of the occupancy it will actually achieve. Forty new sites at $83 a night are worth nothing at 30 percent winter occupancy; underwrite the expansion on the slow month's occupancy, not the peak month's rate, and fund the off-season float separately.

FAQ

How fast can an RV park get funded? Revenue-based funding typically decides the same business day and funds in 24 to 72 hours with a complete file: three months of statements, a consistent business name, and no undisclosed advances. Term loans take one to three weeks, and SBA-backed acquisitions and expansions take one to three months.

Does an RV park need collateral? Not for revenue-based funding or most lines of credit, which underwrite on deposits. Term loans and SBA financing use the park itself — land, improvements, and the operating business — as collateral, which is why their terms are longer and their total cost is usually lower.

What if most of my revenue is monthly long-stay guests, not nightly transients? Say so up front: long-stay revenue is steadier and more fundable than transient revenue, and it strengthens a line-of-credit or term-loan application. Funders that understand the trade will treat a strong long-stay base as a positive, not a limitation.

Can I fund a franchise flag, like a KOA or Jellystone affiliation? Yes — affiliation fees, signage, and the brand-standard upgrades are a normal use of a term loan or line of credit, and the reservation-system access and brand demand that come with a flag are part of the underwriting story. Show the funder the affiliation agreement and the expected occupancy lift, not just the fee.

MCA vs. loan vs. line of credit

The rule of thumb: the longer the need lasts, the worse an MCA fits it. An advance is priced for speed and short duration. A need that will still be there in a year — a second location's rent, a permanent hire, an ongoing marketing budget — should be financed with a product priced for a year, not one priced for months.

When an MCA makes sense — and when it does not

It makes sense when the need is short, specific, and tied to revenue: a bulk inventory buy at a discount that expires this month, equipment that lets you take a contract you have already won, a bridge to a contracted receivable, a seasonal push with a clear end date. In each case the advance pays for itself from the revenue it unlocks, and the total cost is known before you sign.

It does not make sense when the business is losing money month after month and the advance covers the loss, when the debit only fits in good weeks, when you already carry two or more positions, or when the need is really a bank loan in disguise — a property purchase, a multi-year expansion, a refinance of long-term debt. In those cases the advance does not solve the problem; it rents time at the highest price in the market, and the renewal offer that follows usually costs more than the first advance did.

Five checks before you sign any MCA

• Total dollars in writing. Advance amount, factor rate, total repayment, and any fees — all four, before signature. If a funder quotes only a daily payment, ask for the rest.
• The dead-week test. Confirm the debit fits your worst normal week, not your average week.
• The reconciliation clause. Confirm in writing how the debit adjusts if revenue drops, and what you must submit to trigger it.
• Existing positions disclosed. Tell the funder about every open advance. Undisclosed positions surface in underwriting anyway, and hiding one can void the deal or trigger default terms.
• The exit. What does early payoff cost — is there a discount, and how much? Does the funder terminate its UCC filing promptly after payoff? A lien that lingers blocks your next financing.

An MCA is a legitimate tool that has funded millions of small businesses, and a dangerous one when it is used as a substitute for a business that cannot cover its costs. The difference is rarely the product — it is the match between the product, the need, and the calendar. Get that match right, in writing, before the money moves.

Educational information only; this guide is not financial, legal, or tax advice. Factor rates, terms, and qualification standards vary by funder and by file. Talk to a CPA or attorney about the accounting and tax treatment of any advance for your business.

Why some lenders ask to connect your bank account — and why MCA funders ask for statements instead

If you shop more than one kind of funding, you will run into two very different document asks, and it is easy to read the difference as one lender being modern and the other being old-fashioned. It is usually the product, not the lender, that decides which one you get.

Lines of credit are the connect-first products. BlueVine, Fundbox, and American Express's Business Line of Credit (the former Kabbage product) all underwrite primarily from a live connection to your business bank account — and, in Fundbox's case, optionally your accounting software as well. The lender reads cash flow in real time instead of asking you to gather files, which is how decisions land in minutes rather than days, and why statements appear only as a fallback when the connection cannot verify something. American Express goes one step further: the connection stays live after approval, so your available credit can move with your latest business performance rather than being fixed at application time.

MCA funders ask for statements because the advance is underwritten on the statements themselves. Three months of deposits show what a live bank connection alone does not settle for this product: how steady deposits are across the week and the season, how often the account goes negative, and whether other advances are already debiting the account every day. Those are the facts the offer is priced on, so the upload is the underwriting — not paperwork for its own sake.

Term lenders sit at the heavy end of the same spectrum. A lender writing a multi-year term loan at a lower price needs a deeper file — typically bank statements plus filed accounts or tax returns, a longer time in business, and a higher credit bar — because it is carrying the risk for years rather than months. The document list grows with the term and falls with the price of the money.

The practical takeaway: pick the friction that matches the product you actually want. If you want revolving credit you can draw and repay, expect to connect your bank and keep it connected. If you want an advance priced on your deposits, expect to upload statements — and treat a funder that prices an MCA without ever looking at them with suspicion, not gratitude. Either way, check what access you are granting, whether it stays live after approval, and whether the lender's written offer matches what the application promised.

Frequently asked questions

What is a merchant cash advance?

A merchant cash advance is a lump sum a funder provides in exchange for a fixed amount of your business's future sales. The funder collects that amount from your daily or weekly revenue until it is repaid. It is structured as a purchase of future receivables, not as a loan, so it has a factor rate instead of an interest rate.

How does a merchant cash advance work?

You apply with business bank statements, the funder offers an advance amount and a factor rate, and you repay the total (advance times factor rate) through a percentage of daily card sales or fixed daily or weekly debits from your bank account. Funding usually arrives in 24 to 72 hours.

How much does a merchant cash advance cost?

The cost is the factor rate minus one, times the advance. A $50,000 advance at 1.30 costs $15,000, for $65,000 total repayment. Real factor rates vary by file; ask for the total repayment in dollars before signing, and compare offers on that number.

Is a merchant cash advance a loan?

Legally, no — it is a purchase of future sales, which is why it carries a factor rate rather than an interest rate and why repayment flexes with revenue in percentage-split deals. Practically, it behaves like short-term financing, and most contracts include a personal guarantee.

Do you need good credit to get a merchant cash advance?

No. MCA underwriting is primarily revenue-based: steady deposits, time in business, and bank-account health matter more than a credit score. Weaker credit usually means a higher factor rate, not an automatic decline.

How fast can you get a merchant cash advance?

Typically 24 to 72 hours from a complete application. Same-day decisions are common; funding speed depends on how quickly statements are verified and the contract is signed.