just bought 1972 Excella 500 31', what to do next!

[osolow]

I also bought a 1990 29ft er for around 10k my first A/S it was camp ready for the most part after the first season i learned a lot with it it was in OK shape and the older couple that had it before me really didn't have it serviced that much and when i started getting into the trailer i found the whole rear floor were the twin beds were need to replaced as well as the front and a bunch of little things here and there.
If i wanted to add it all up on what it would cost to fix it all i would have said screw it and bought a new one (if I could afford it )

[Splitrock]

@72-500

Your trailer had body damage on both ends. That's gonna just kill it for top dollar re-sale. Up here in South Dakota, we think it's quite bad enough to spend money on a good shell.

[72-500]

Sounds like I should just forget the idea that this old gal will ever get to see another state. I hate to be the one that would cut her all up and melt her down. Maybe a second life as a permanent live in is what this trailer needs. Seems like a whole lot of the major costs here you guys are looking at is road worthy upgrades, cut all that out and do a house fridge, relocate the house water heater, throw a plywood patch over the hole where the toilet is, some flooring, some elbow grease, new counter, sink, faucet, stove, a/c, curtains and then it could be useable if it is parked. I wouldn't have to worry about weight of the couch/bed, dont need to think about the water tanks as it would be hooked up to a hose and piped strait to the septic tank(sewer).

How's that sound? Like a pipe dream still or maybe doable for under $3K?

[wasagachris]

72-500 Yes easily doable for under $3k. Fix the rear floor and seperation problem, seal up the shell(window gaskets,roof vents, stink pipe vents, door and compartments gaskets and all trim and shell seams). If parked you can reuse the residential water heater and the residential toilet add a full size fridge and you can even save on the a/c by putting in a window mount unit.
You would have to drop the belly pan and banana wraps in the rear to properly repair the rear floor. That sounds harder than it is.
Please don't scrap it. Park it, fix it for now and maybe later on down the road you can fix it up for travel.

[72-500]

I think something may be wrong with me, I'm now considering having a look at this I found a few days ago, amazed it is still available, called about it today. Has a couple broken windows, door wont close, bill of sale only. He says it has all the cabinets and stuff inside that should be there, and its a tandem axle. Thats all I know about it for now.

My thought was to make a "trailer park" on my 5 acres here in Joshua Tree and rent them as vacation rentals, I've seen it in FL and Santa Barbara, could work here as well.

PS. Wife is not too happy about me even looking and considering another piece of #$%@, but hey, you only live once!

[wasagachris]

72-500 yes there is definately something wrong with you. You can't even afford to fix up the one you have and now you want "THAT" one. It's even worse the the excella. It's an Argosy the poor painted sister of Airstream. It's another money pit. One at a time. If you can't afford to even fix up the trailers how on earth would you find the financial resources to build a campground. I know of what I speak as I own and operate a campground. Here's a financial wake up for you. Septic system $250,000 water system $50,000 electrical $150,000 roads and site development $75,000 and $5,000 per site for driveway and lot development.Public washrooms $125,000 swimming pool $75,000
Now move on to zoning and bylaws. County planning application $5,000 City planning application $2,500 environmental impact study $50,000, engineered plans for water, septic and electrical required for applications $80,000. Misc other costs, permits out buildings etc $137,500. That all totals at $1.5 million for 150 sites so $10,000 per site based on 150 sites. Fewr sites and the cost per site rises to $15,000 to $20,000 per site. All that is without land costs which I did not include because you said you have the land. With 5 acres you would probably only be allowed 25 sites so a rough guess it would run you closer to $30,000 per site for development and infrastructure.

[NevadaGeo]

Originally Posted by wasagachris

. Here's a financial wake up for you. Septic system $250,000 water system $50,000 electrical $150,000 roads and site development $75,000 and $5,000 per site for driveway and lot development.Public washrooms $125,000 swimming pool $75,000
Now move on to zoning and bylaws. County planning application $5,000 City planning application $2,500 environmental impact study $50,000, engineered plans for water, septic and electrical required for applications $80,000. Misc other costs, permits out buildings etc $137,500. That all totals at $1.5 million for 150 sites so $10,000 per site based on 150 sites. Fewr sites and the cost per site rises to $15,000 to $20,000 per site. All that is without land costs which I did not include because you said you have the land. With 5 acres you would probably only be allowed 25 sites so a rough guess it would run you closer to $30,000 per site for development and infrastructure.

Wow! That comes to 75,000 paid occupanies, or 500 days of 100% occupancy at $20 per nite, to pay the principle. Oh, and hope you didn't find any indian burial groundss or some three toed midget endangered smelt in the verdant pools....and what do the taxes do on that developed ground then?

[Wabbiteer]

Some say 'when it rains, it pours' but some honest types venture 'get the pumps, its too thick to shovel'..

There WILL be more shiny aluminum trailers, we promise - get the roads built, the electrical and plumbing installed and they will come!

[Aage]

Originally Posted by wasagachris

Septic system $250,000 water system $50,000 electrical $150,000 roads and site development $75,000 and $5,000 per site for driveway and lot development.Public washrooms $125,000 swimming pool $75,000
Now move on to zoning and bylaws. County planning application $5,000 City planning application $2,500 environmental impact study $50,000, engineered plans for water, septic and electrical required for applications $80,000. Misc other costs, permits out buildings etc $137,500. That all totals at $1.5 million for 150 sites so $10,000 per site based on 150 sites. Fewr sites and the cost per site rises to $15,000 to $20,000 per site. All that is without land costs which I did not include because you said you have the land. With 5 acres you would probably only be allowed 25 sites so a rough guess it would run you closer to $30,000 per site for development and infrastructure.

Yeah, but you have to admit, Chris: once you have all those things paid, the rest is pure gravy!

[wasagachris]

Double that cost if you need to buy land and then add the $1000 per site per year operational costs. So it's not all gravy as Aage says.

[72-500]

I really was not trying to make a campground, just 2 or 3 cool old trailers that could be rented for the weekend, each one might make $5k per year, not much, but it would pay for the remodel to make it inhabitable in the first year, besides, I dont think a 1.5 million dollar business starts with a couple $600 trailers, at least it wont look good in the business plan when you try the bank for funding. This is one of the few times I was actually thinking on the smaller side, I usually reach far out there with some of my ideas, just hoping one will work, after all it is America, we're supposed to dream a little. When I built my house, it started small and turned into 2000 square feet with an 1800 foot workshop. The shop has a 1000 gallon septic tank with a 60 foot leach line I put in last year for less than $3k which supports my shop and according to the county building code, it should support a 3 bedroom house, so I would think it could support 3 trailers used part time.
Electric is right there, near the septic, water too, the ground is soft there so I dont think it would be too hard to run electric, water and septic lines to them, dont need a plummer or electrician, do it all myself. We live next to the national park that gets near 2 million visitors a year, all of our friends have vacation rentals, but they had to spend quite a bit more on a house or cabin to rent out, granted they get more per night than an old trailer could get, but the profit would be close to the same, if not better in my favor.
I admit, the argosy may have been a bit rougher than what what is considered a good shell, but for $600, can you really go wrong? Thats all I gave for the last one too, so its not like I broke the bank to buy something that has lived its life, been used and abused and put away wet.
I guess I was just thinking out loud, looking for some option that could be in my favor with the excella. I already own my own business, below is a pic of what I do. Its going good, just a little bored with doing the same thing all the time and would love to get out of the shop with a project that has potential to earn a few bucks. I thought I could do a quick make over and get a good price for the excella, but now I know what it takes to make an airstream road worthy, seems like even one that is 15 years old has to be refloored.

[Astriking]

Hi 72-500, I bought a trailer Excella 500 1979 bathroom in the middle from like 8 months ago this trailer was almost in the same condition as yours exept for the floor and almost finished repairing and I've spent about $8,000 dollars in parts and labor that I myself do work. I think if you like the trailer did not give up.WikipediaWictionaryChambers (UK)Google imagesGoogle defineThe Free DictionaryJoin exampleWordNetGoogleUrban DictionaryAnswers.comrhymezone.comMerriam-Webster<>0

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