Paint Last. Prove the Machine First.
When owners decide to sell, the first instinct is usually cosmetic: paint the posts, spread fresh gravel, plant flowers by the sign. We understand. You want the place to look its best.
But here is what we have learned from decades in construction and in the dirt: buyers walk past the flowers. They look at the roads after rain, the pads under big rigs, the bathhouse plumbing, the roof on the laundry, and the drainage on the back loop. Cosmetics done before the real work can even backfire. Fresh paint over a problem looks like hiding.
This page covers the physical side of your park beyond septic, electrical, and water: roads, pads, drainage, buildings, and equipment. And yes, curb appeal, in its proper place.
Why the Physical Plant Matters at Sale
A buyer adds up everything that needs work in the first few years and subtracts it from what they will pay. If they do not know the cost, they guess high. They also look at whether the park fits today's guests: can a 40-foot rig with slide-outs get in and level up on your pads?
Deferred maintenance tends to affect value twice:
- Directly, as repair dollars the buyer subtracts.
- Indirectly, as risk that makes a buyer want a better return, which lowers the price they will pay for the same income.
A park where the owner can show what was done, when, and what is planned, with invoices and bids, takes most of the guesswork out.
What Buyers and Lenders Will Scrutinize
Documents they will ask for
- Capital expense history for the last three years or more, with invoices: roads, roofs, bathhouses, laundry, pool, fencing.
- Planned repairs you already know about, with bids if you have them.
- Service contracts: trash, pest control, landscaping, internet, equipment leases.
- Insurance declarations and loss history (often called loss runs) for the last several years.
- A list of equipment and furnishings included in the sale: mowers, golf carts, tools, office gear, laundry machines.
- Titles and condition for any park-owned units, like rental trailers or park models.
What they will inspect
- Roads and drainage: potholes, washouts, standing water, how water moves after a storm.
- Pads: level, size, surface, and whether they fit modern rigs.
- Bathhouses and laundry: plumbing, ventilation, fixtures, accessibility, roof.
- Office and other buildings: roof, structure, HVAC, and whether permits exist for additions.
- Pool and amenities, if any: condition and required permits.
- Fencing, signage, and lighting.
- Wi-Fi coverage, because guests now treat it like a utility.
Red flags that move price
- Roads that wash out or hold water
- Pads too short or too narrow for today's rigs
- Bathhouse roofs or plumbing near the end of life
- Additions with no permits
- Insurance claims history with repeat losses
- No records of past work
What to Check, Fix, and Document
1. Walk your park like a buyer
Walk it after a hard rain and on a full weekend. Take notes and photos of anything you would question if you were writing the check: ruts, standing water, tight turns, cracked pads, peeling roofs, stained ceilings, weak lighting.
2. Build your capital history
Gather invoices for every major project in the last several years. Put them in a simple list: date, what was done, who did it, cost. This shows care, and it lets a buyer see that some big items are already handled.
3. Get bids for the big items
For anything significant you know needs work, get written bids from qualified contractors. You do not have to do all the work. A buyer just needs a real number instead of a guess.
4. Fix safety items first
Anything that could hurt someone, like trip hazards, loose railings, failing lighting, or exposed wiring in buildings, should be fixed now. Safety items are not negotiating chips.
5. Measure your pads
Make a list of each site's usable length and type (pull-through or back-in). Buyers want to know how many sites fit big rigs. Owners are sometimes surprised by the count, in both directions.
6. Check your insurance history
Request loss runs from your insurer. If there are repeat claims, be ready to explain what was fixed.
7. Then, curb appeal
Once the systems are documented and the big items are either fixed or bid, spend on appearance: clean entrance, trimmed trees, filled ruts, painted posts, tidy office. Now it reads as care, not cover.
Get-Ready-for-Sale Checklist
- Park walked after rain and on a full weekend, with photos
- Capital expense list with invoices for recent years
- Written bids for known major repairs
- Safety items fixed
- Site list with usable pad length and type
- Service contracts gathered
- Insurance declarations and loss runs requested
- Equipment and furnishings list for the sale
- Titles for park-owned units and equipment located
- Permits found for building additions, or questions noted for your attorney
- Curb appeal work scheduled after the above
Common Mistakes
- Painting first. Cosmetics before forensics looks like hiding.
- Throwing away invoices. Your maintenance history is proof.
- Assuming buyers will not notice drainage. They will walk it after rain if they can.
- Overstating big-rig sites. They will measure.
- Leaving safety items for the buyer. It hurts trust and can create liability.
- Spending heavily on amenities before the basics are documented.
An Example
Illustrative example. Composite of situations we see; details and numbers changed.
A couple getting ready to sell spent a spring painting every post, replacing the entrance sign, and putting in new picnic tables. It looked great.
The first buyer's inspector visited after a storm. The main road had standing water in two places, a bathhouse roof had a slow leak, and several back-in sites were too short for the rigs the buyer planned to attract. With no repair history or bids on hand, the buyer subtracted a large, rough number and asked for a price cut.
The couple paused, gathered invoices for past work, had a contractor bid the road drainage and roof, measured every pad, and fixed the roof. The next buyer saw a complete picture: what was done, what was planned, and what it would cost. The paint and the new sign finally did their job, as the finishing touch.
Want a Second Set of Eyes on Your Park?
Request a free Glitch Audit. Email wayyago@gmail.com with photos of your roads, pads, and buildings, any recent repair invoices, and your last twelve months and rent roll.
We will tell you what a buyer's inspector is likely to flag and what to do first. No Zoom pitch. You pay us nothing. Our 1.9% Transparency Premium is buyer-funded at closing; sellers pay 0% in brokerage fees.
Request a free Glitch AuditGeneral education only. Not engineering, building code, or legal advice. Licensed contractors and your local building department decide what is required.