Resources for renting land or place to park

[AirDavid.com]

Hello,

I'm an Adventure Advisor (salesman) for Bay Area Airstream in Northern California. With the tiny house movement in full swing we get a lot of people asking about land for rent or space next to a home or anywhere they can park their Airstream. Does anybody have any resources other than Craigslist to find long term living parking?

I have a young couple from Marin County currently looking and not having much luck so far. RV parks are very expensive around here, so they prefer a private land or home owner.

Thanks in advance for your help!

- David

[drboyd]

I would think that zoning is gonna be the biggest obstacle. I'd talk with some of the ciity planning and zoning departments to see what they know.

[OTRA15]

Welcome to the forum David! Always good to have someone in the industry associated with an AS dealer.

There have been some other threads raising similar issues. I will look for some links FYI. Ditto to drboyd about zoning in most suburban areas being the main problem. Here are some possible threads with leads:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f314...eam-98483.html
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f314...al-149306.html
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f462...and-73264.html
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f314...ots-33174.html
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f459...ons-47242.html
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f314...er-115340.html
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f314...ccd-39344.html


Also you could look at the Full-timing sub-forums' list of threads:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f314/
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f459/

Good luck!

Peter

PS -- David are you getting the new Basecamp demo model in soon? Curious if you have any feedback on the issues being raised in this thread:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f404...ng-156584.html

Thanks

[AWCHIEF]

Welcome, Local real estate agents.

[AirDavid.com]

Originally Posted by AWCHIEF

Welcome, Local real estate agents.

Yeah, been seriously thinking about finding a real estate agent that deals in land. This has been such a popular idea because of the "Tiny House" TV shows, especially in the Bay Area where housing prices have become ridiculous.


Thanks for the links OTRA15, I will check those out.

drboyd, I agree but first we need to know where to even begin. Was looking for resources that might list land rentals, then can look into city ordinances once a location is scouted.

[AirDavid.com]

Originally Posted by OTRA15

PS -- David are you getting the new Basecamp demo model in soon? Curious if you have any feedback on the issues being raised in this thread:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f404...ng-156584.html

Thanks

Peter, we don't have the Basecamp yet, should be any day now. I'll hold off on talking about any "issues" until I can see it myself. I can tell you we have had a HUGE amount of interest and taken quite a few deposits on pre-orders already. I'll chime in once we have one to show.

Thanks for the welcome!

- David

[Hittenstiehl]

"Lands of America" lists rural property. It's free and fun to look at.

[cameront120]

Originally Posted by AirDavid.com

drboyd, I agree but first we need to know where to even begin. Was looking for resources that might list land rentals, then can look into city ordinances once a location is scouted.

You're doing it backwards. You need to determine which zoning in the chosen county will allow the use that you are suggesting, then restrict your searches to those locations. You'll likely have some work to do to contact all the AHJ (authorities having jurisdiction) to determine which zones permit RV use. Once you find a property that has the necessary zoning, you'll then need to build the infrastructure if none exists. This is why RV parks aren't cheap; there are land costs, taxes and infrastructure costs (water, sanitary, electric, gas, etc.). Good luck.

[mandolindave]

Can I live in my camper... in your yard? I don't want to pay very much. I'll need to be close to your house so I can hook up to your sewer, and water, and electric. Most likely, your neighbors won't mind very much. If they report you, you might have to declare the income when you file, but you can write off the finders fee. Most likely, your insurance company won't find out, and charge you extra, ya know, in case I get hurt on your property and sue you. If you are not interested, is there a lot next to you that's for sale? Maybe I could buy it and live there…in my camper.

See what your up against? Then there is the zoning issues. ( you can research that because I'm too lazy get into that…but I'll give you two. The town I live in doesn't allow clothes lines, The county where my country home is, doesn't allow you to live in a trailer that is shorter than 50 feet )

Just thinking that most folks that can afford a really nice location, with pretty views, won't need the income, or want to give up their privacy.

Folks that would be willing to give up their privacy, because they need a few extra bucks, might not have a very desirable location to camp long term.

Remember all those annoying cliches? There are no free lunches, You reap what you sew, You get what you pay for

I'm sure you could find some nice places, but they might be in the middle of nowhere, hopefully not next to a meth lab, or a pig farm.

Hope you got a chuckle, and aren't offended by obnoxious sarcasm ha ha.

[SteveSueMac]

That was some fine obnoxious sarcasm! And informative too. 😀

[OTRA15]

???

[OTRA15]

Thanks David, looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the Basecamp thread if you wish. Apologies for the recent sarcasm, I hope your skin is not thin. mandolindave's underlying concerns are worth exploring with your customers, although his tone could have been a little more supportive of your goodhearted inquiries IMO.

I do imagine that there is a rural plot someplace which would fit the bill. How about placing a Craig's List ad for what they want? You never know, but dealing with the volume of non-productive leads, spam, scams, etc., may be too much to bear. One of the links I posted yesterday was for a stationary AS in Northern CA, so that thread may resonate here. Link to follow on edit:

Edit -- http://www.airforums.com/forums/f314...eam-98483.html

I would suggest recommending that the couple focus on where they would like to live first, and then dive into the zoning and land use regulations next. Way north of Santa Rosa is my guess, with Marin, Sonoma, and Napa counties being unlikely candidates for an easy find, again IMO.

Good luck!

Peter

Originally Posted by AirDavid.com

Peter, we don't have the Basecamp yet, should be any day now. I'll hold off on talking about any "issues" until I can see it myself. I can tell you we have had a HUGE amount of interest and taken quite a few deposits on pre-orders already. I'll chime in once we have one to show.

Thanks for the welcome!

- David

[xrvr]

OS, crude but effective, and necessary sometimes.

[xrvr]

The tiny house thing is resurrecting the reason zoning started.

[AWCHIEF]

Adventure Advisor = salesman. LMAO, only in kalifornia.

[mandolindave]

Originally Posted by OTRA15

Apologies for the recent sarcasm, I hope your skin is not thin. mandolindave's underlying concerns are worth exploring with your customers, although his tone could have been a little more supportive of your goodhearted inquiries IMO.

No need to apologize for me. I meant what I said. I realize that the printed word can be misinterpreted, given the lack of inflection, and facial cues, which is why I added a disclaimer at the end of my post.

As far as sarcasm, and taking off the kid gloves, on a scale of one to ten, that was about a two for me. I'm thinking a six would have gotten me banished from the forum. Point taken…I'll dial it down to a one, unless the original poster has a sense of humor and is curious as to what a ten sounds like….ha ha

[Lily&Me]

People sometimes seem to latch onto a dream... such as "living in an Airstream"...when they simply don't yet have the means to achieve it.

It would be an unusual homeowner that is very much the exception, rather than the rule, it seems to me, who would be interested in setting up full hookups to rent a spot long term to strangers.

They would then become landlords, with all those accompanying trials, tribulations, and liability issues.

It seems the idyllic dream of the young-and-not-yet-financially-stable...like backpacking across Europe, living in a VW bus and traveling the country, etc.

They want it all, and now, and want others to help them.

I could be wrong, but if it were one of my kids wanting to live in an Airstream on the cheap, I would direct them to the hard reality of financing any dream thru working and saving for it.

Most of us don't get dreams such as this in young adulthood, because we simply don't have the resources to fund them.

My 2 cents.

Maggie

[xrvr]

Yup!

[mandolindave]

Young folks who spot an Airstream on the road, and get the great idea of saving a lot of money by buying a cool trailer, and a lot, to live on the cheap is a different story.

They might buy a used RV, spend a year and a ton of money fixing it up, or buy a new one and lose a ton of money driving it off the lot. Only to find out how much a well, septic tank, electric service, and communications service costs to install. Not taking into account zoning laws and winter camping issues.

When buying a small home might be about the same price, and you have a chance of being able to sell it without loosing too much money.

[Lily&Me]

I took Dave's statement about a young couple looking as "wanting to buy", and needing an inexpensive place to set up to then live in full time.

Either way, this is a dilemma of the dreamers-without-financial-security...it seems to me.


Maggie