Welcome to the world of buying a campground. In truth, almost every campground owner has had a similar experience. Most were campers, most have thought about it a long time, most have never had experience running a campground and in many cases have never run a business. AND a great many of them did not realize what they were getting into!

Running a business is tough, even it is running what appears to be a fun business like a campground. It is a 24 hours a day job and contrary to your perception as a camper, it is a 12-month-a-year job. True there is an off season, but repairs, planning, promotion, letters to campers, taking reservations, getting caught up on government regulations continue even if you have your camper in storage!

First off all, keep doing what you are doing... camp. Take note of what works and what doesn't. Talk to campground owners, it you can catch them during a quiet moment, they love to talk and will tell you a lot. You might attend a campground owners convention. Many states and regions have annual conventions and invite potential campground owners. Ask any campground owner about such organizations.

As you got a little more serious you should start talking to qualified professionals. A campground sale is a business sale not just a normal real estate purchase. A real estate broker used to selling homes will drive you nuts. You are not buying ground, trees and buildings, you are buying a business, you are buying customers, an income stream and all this comes with a wide variety of potential for growth or decline.

There are a few specialized campground brokers. including my firm, Campground Data. These brokers dedicate all their working time to helping buyers buy campgrounds. They have seen the pitfalls and problems and will help you avoid most of them. They give you information about campgrounds for sale, give you realistic information about what you can afford to buy and generally give you a head start on 'the dream". Even with this help, buying a campground is difficult and emotional. You probably will be committing most of your financial resources to the purchase. The seller has . put his life into this campground over the years and the mortgage payments will probably be a large part of his retirement income.

Because most potential buyers come to the process with little knowledge, we have held

Campground Buyers Seminars over the last eight years. At these day-long seminars we - talk about the campground business, discuss franchises, look at how you would value a campground, how to improve it and probably most important, how. to negotiate and buy your dream campground.

We follow ,,his with other items such as legal consideration, how to work with professionals. We try to answer every question you have. Before we are done, many decide that campground ownership is not for them but most are ready to charge ahead. I recommend you attend one of these seminars, mine or those put on by other specialized brokers.

The most important piece of advice is to rely on your own common sense. Ask questions and if they don't add up, ask again and again until you are satisfied. It is not enough for the owner to say you can "live off the laundry money." You need to know his quality of "living" and the exact amount he is taking out of the laundry! You are making a commitment to a business that has to pay that mortgage and put food on the table, and you ire committing yourself to this lifestyle.. Before you make that final decision you won't have every fear eliminated. Life is a risk and buying a campground is too, but it you make your decision on sound thought and good advice, you along with most campground owners, will make out just fine.