I am wanting to buy two caravans for a total cost of £42000, between them they have a yearly rental income of £22000 or thereabouts. Does anyone know if its possible to get a loan for this much? Or would it be possible to get a mortgage for these caravans? Does anyone have any advice or has possibly been in similar circumstances?

Many thanks , Kate

Hi Sugar

You can get a loan for just about anything, the real question is how much it will cost and will it be secured against your home! Certainly one thing to consider is that they will have a limited life and the loan should not be for longer. This is especially true if they are on a site and there are often rules about how old the oldest van can be.

Well when i went  to the seaside they had lots of caravans on show and it gave u the payment options in the window, most caravan places offer you finance on them, so im guessing you can buy them as if youre  buying a car! A local caravan place near me does the same.

the caravans are for sale privately ( owner has to sell through medical reasons and work commitments) but are already sited and are fully booked out for the year , all takings would be passed on to me from when i take over. One caravan is 2001 model and the other is a 2002 one so they should keep going for a while. It just seems to good an oppurtunity to miss. The only problem is i am not a homeowner as i rent. Would this stop me getting either a loan or mortgage for this purpose?

Thanks for your replies so far , Kate

I dont know to be honest cos i rent too and have never had a mortgage. It does sound like an absolutely great opportunity, i think your best bet is to go to a loan advisor or your bank for advice then you will be a bit more wiser as to what to do next. Just make an appointment with your bank to discuss it, they might end up giving you a loan for them, fingers crossed xxx hope it works out for you xxx

I'd make sure with the site that they can do it this way.  Most caravans even though you buy them are still the property of the site!!  They could allow you to buy them from the present owner and then after a year you will either have to take them off the site or buy a new caravan from them!!!

I'd be very careful if I was you.  Sorry to put a dampner on things.

Be careful if the caravans are not for sale through the site, you will have to pay ground rent etc. and its better if you buy through a site, I have a big static, but I hire mine out myself, not through the site, and yes you can get a loan for that amount, and its not secured on a house, I have one, I bought my caravan over 7yrs. it has double glazing and gas ch. a lovely luxury van. Did not want everyone on this site to know this thats why ive pm'd you.  Have you seen a note of the bookings, and have they got deposits in for the weeks the vans are booked out? Makes me wonder why they are selling two vans and not keeping one. When would you be able to use the van for your own use?  I would be a bit suspicious if they are hired out most of the season, you want to get to use it yourself. Can I ask what site they are on? Mine is at Craig Tara, Ayr one of the top parks in the country. but even if I hired mine out all season dont think I could get anywhere near the money you are talking about, even with two vans.  You can only ask decent money in July/August I can get 600. a week then for mine. rest of the time its not as much as that.  Hope this helps you. Get in touch with the site and see if they can give you a loan for the vans, and watch the seller is not overpricing the caravans they do drop a lot in price even if they are only 2 yrs old, just like cars unfortunately. If you need any more information just pm me, Ive had caravans for over 10yrs now, so have a bit of experience with sites etc.

Marguerite/

As Marguerite says I would check out exactly what they mean by this income, is it what they actually took last year or is it what could be earned if both vans were booked every week of the the year.  I know people who rent cottages in the Lake District, which has a pretty good all year season, but they reckon on getting bookings for an average of about 40 weeks a year at most.

Hi ive sent you a pm.

how do i read your message marguerite? I have clicked on the messages option top right corner but it says i have no messages. Thanks for your post i have read tho , very helpful!

Hi, I have looked into caravan ownership for a couple of years now and every site I have spoken to says it CANNOT be viewed as an investment or income earner.  It is simply a lifesyle you are buying.  Even if you rented out the vans every week, you still need to consider not only site fees, but gas/electric, cleaning costs after each renting, wear and tear, etc (I think even council tax?).  Many sites will allow you to keep your van on them despite their age as long as they are fully maintain and good condition, but after the van is a few years old very few will actually rent them out for you - so then you would need to advertise.  There are many other considerations - even if you can buy directly from the owner (had known this to be the case), the site will still want a commission.  Bear in mind also that people will not want to pay top rates for a caravan that is a few years old when they can rent a brand new one for the same money.  There is a lot you should look into - maybe ring the site in question and talk to them.

Fiona

You would be better buying a little house and renting it out. Capital growth even at the lowest rate will always make you money.  Caravans like Cars depriciate. The caravans are lovely without a doubt but I do agree they are a lifestyle and most who have them have them for the own enjoyment and rent out part of the time to help support the costs and cover the weeks of the year they use them.

I agree Blue, a few years ago we were looking for somewhere to lay our heads in the Lakes when our old dog was getting too old for camping.  We started looking at wood cabins and very nice they were too but when we found out how much they depreciated we decided we had to fork out the extra money and buy a cottage.  In in the last 4 years in has more than doubled in value.  If you don't have enough money to buy bricks and mortar for a holiday home/let I would, perhaps, investigate jointly buying with relatives or friends as it would always be a better investment in my view and although you would be sharing the income you also share the maintenance, council tax etc.

Thank you to everyone for all your advice and ideas about other options available to me. I will look into all the " hidden " costs more and let you know how it goes!!

Thanks again , Kate