Im first summer hip camp . I have had success. But lately I've hade a couple of bad experiences. I was planing on building a cabin . Now I'm thinking hard . Ive got great reviews. But some land disrespect. We are land owners .it's our land . Respect it .or go else where .
True! I’ve had one group book three times n the last 6 months and the last time they left a lot of trash. From time to time I do think about taking it off because some folks don’t respect the land. One way to possibly reduce this is to charge more to stay. This might keep the folks that do those types of things away and if they do, you still make some money.
Me too! I had pet owners refuse to clean up after pets poop! And if you get aggressive with following your rules, they retaliate by leaving a bad review!
I have a good suggestion though it sounds like I am crazy. You should only rent to people who have been to burning man. Why? Because most if not all people go to burning man totally understand the concept of “leave no trace“. If burning man people stay on your property you will not find a bottle cap a peanut shell a cigarette butt or anything else left on the ground. Those are may be some exceptions in general you’ll have a lot less litter left behind if you only provide camping space to burners. Thank you
Thanks for sharing --We've had a similar experience in our first year. Pretty overwhelmingly positive. Most folks who camp are respectful of the land by nature. We've had a used tampon and some small trash left behind but I can't even be positive that it was a guest - we are on a river so paddlers can stop and come on our land. Hope your place continues to be fun!
we shut ours down. The parties were killing us. They make a bad review and ask for the money back if you call them to the rules posted. The neighbors complained about the bad campers and decided those few bad ones in the bunch ruined it for all. It was lakefront and remote but those select few ones ruined it for the whole community. We will look at it again. but we need to find out how to screen out the turd heads.
Sorry some folks ruined it for you. We have had our share of parties too. We are a bit more removed from our neighbors so no complaints there. They do leave thrash. You are right that if you leave the negative review, you can potentially leave the bad review or ask for the refund. The sites might also give them the benefit of doubt. We make sure that they request the camp and not the automatic approval. We also make sure we are not the cheapest site so at least we will not be their first choice.
Thank you so much for the video. I've been so stressed and scared and your video even teared me up lol. Ty for the info and for sharing your own feelings and experiences
Thanks for the video! We are doing our research now to see if this is something that would work for us. The perspective you provide here is very helpful!
We were marketing to those campers who were self sustained with an RV and toilet, or portable toilet with their setup. Many people would also just choose to dig a deep hole and go in nature.
Thank you for the video. Questions: In your first two years for each year how much did you make, if you don't mind me asking? What would you have done different? I'm considering doing this, this year.
Hello there, I forget the amount but not enough to quit my day job lol. A few thousand. I have other videos with these specifics on my channel. Check them out and let me know if you have other questions. If you do take the leap, check out my referral link.
Residential zoning can be good even better for more permanent structures. Check with your local city or county depending were you are. Also, jump on Hipcamp and use the map feature to see what others around you are doing and how big.
I like to start on a lower end for pricing. On Hipcamp you can become verified and a star host as more people rate you 5 stars. This helps get more attention later on. Initially, the lower price will help bring those first couple of reviews. You can also share post on social media or give a friends and family discount to your group for the first couple of stays to get those bookings building up. Best of luck!
Thank you for the video. Will love to learn more. I have lands in New Mexico. It is vacant and have nothing. Can I still be a host and I don’t live there either.
Hi, I would say if you don’t live there it becomes a bit more complicated to manage. My property while an hour away, it is still in the same county I live in. This helps me because I know people, the county policies, and can be onsite for bigger projects. It’s not impossible if you already have or build a team to help you manage these things since you are further away from the site. I would say start small and get a proof of concept going first.
Hello, depends what city, county and state. I’m in the unincorporated areas of LA County so it is a little easier. Depending what you have on your land, ie camper, small house, or just vacant land will also let you know if you will need to pay a Transient Occupancy Tax. Best thing to start off with will be to google your “city” and “short term rental permit/license”
At this point I try to emphasize that this site is better suited for RV campers, trailers, or other self contained campers. I do not currently have a composting toilet. For those that don’t have that, some have brought the bucket toilets, or the small portable ones. Others will simple dig a cat hole nearby on site.
Hi I watch this a few times I still don’t understand the numbers. You said you’re averaging $43 a night is that 365 days a year? Is that for the summer season? Even if you’re averaging $43 a night after fees to Airbnb or other sites You have to figure out the amount of hours you’re putting in all of the extra driving time it takes to do phone calls emails replies social media posting photos and all of that if you divide up what you put into it with $43 income per day doesn’t even make sense it’s like you’re making $1 an hour for being a host of a camping spot? So let’s say you have 50% occupancy of that campsite so that’s about 175 days a year times $43. Somehow the numbers just don’t add up. Obviously no one gets super rich doing this but if you’re doing it at a financial loss or a small gain maybe you should perceive other things? You don’t mention if you are going back to Jesus another year or another season
Hello, thank you for the questions. I have made other videos on this campsite and more break down on the profit I made. Check them out if you haven’t already. The main reason for putting this on Hipcamp was to cover my taxes and make some money for the spot just sitting idly by. I did this with Hipcamp. After the initial time setting up the account, it was pretty easy to manage and rent out. I already used it for camping for myself and family, I also already went out there once in a while to check up on it. Per booking, I would say I spent less than 1 hour dealing with the campers, maybe less than 10 minutes really. The $43 average was per stay. The idea was never that I was going to get rich, I just wanted to make extra money. Thanks for watching!
Yeah, I got a few of those too. I took off auto book early, it made it easier to see who might want to enjoy the property how I intended and who was going to be ‘reckless’