Every RV park listing comes with a pro forma. A clean one page summary showing gross revenue, expenses, NOI, and a cap rate that makes the deal look compelling. It is professionally formatted. The numbers add up. And it was built entirely to sell you the park.
That is not your pro forma. That is the seller’s story.
Here is what I mean by that.
A pro forma is only as honest as the assumptions behind it. And the seller’s assumptions are always the most optimistic version of the truth. Not necessarily because anyone is lying. But because every single line item in that document was built from the seller’s cost structure, the seller’s relationships, the seller’s management style, and the seller’s years of accumulated advantages that will not transfer to you at closing.
Let me show you what I mean.
The seller self manages the park. No management fee in the expenses. Looks lean and efficient. But you are not moving to that park to work 60 hours a week. You need a manager. Add $40,000 to $60,000 in annual expenses that are nowhere on that pro forma.
The seller has had the same insurance broker for 20 years. Grandfathered rate. Not available to new buyers. Your quote comes in $8,000 higher. Not on the pro forma.
The seller’s maintenance guy has been coming out for half price for years because they are old friends. He retires when the seller does. Your maintenance costs double. Not on the pro forma.
The seller has not put meaningful money back into the property in five years. No CapEx line item because nothing major has broken yet. But the electrical pedestals are aging, the bathhouse fixtures are worn, and the roads need grading. All of that is coming out of your pocket in year one. Not on the pro forma.
By the time you rebuild the NOI honestly, adding real management costs, market rate expenses, normalized CapEx, and actual vacancy, that 8% cap rate on the flyer is often a 5% cap rate in reality. And at the asking price that is a completely different deal.
So how do you build your own pro forma?
This is the part most buyers skip because it feels complicated. It is not. It is methodical. Here is exactly how I do it.
Step 1 — Start with verified gross revenue.
Do not use the number on the flyer. Ask for three years of bank statements and tax returns and build the revenue from actual deposits, not reported income. Look at each revenue stream separately. Site rentals, laundry, store sales, event income. Know which ones are recurring and which ones are one time. If the seller cannot provide bank statements that match the reported revenue that is a red flag before you even get to expenses.
Step 2 — Apply a real vacancy rate.
Most pro formas use 5% vacancy or less. The reality for most parks is closer to 8 to 12% depending on seasonality and market. If the park has heavy seasonal swings model the actual monthly occupancy, not an annual average. A park that is 95% full in July and 20% full in January has a very different cash flow profile than the annual average suggests.
Step 3 — Rebuild every expense line from scratch.
Do not accept the seller’s expense numbers. Go line by line and ask yourself one question for each item. Is this what I would actually pay? Here is what to examine:
Property taxes: Call the county assessor and confirm the current tax bill. Ask whether a sale would trigger a reassessment. In some states a sale resets the assessed value and your tax bill goes up significantly.
Insurance: Get your own quote before you make an offer. Do not use the seller’s number.
Management: If you are not self managing add 8 to 12% of gross revenue as a management fee regardless of whether it is in the current expenses. If you are self managing, add it anyway and then decide if the deal still works. Because someday you will not want to self manage and you need to know the park can support that cost.
Maintenance: Industry standard is 5 to 8% of gross revenue for a well maintained park. If the seller is showing less than that ask why. If the park has deferred maintenance budget more.
CapEx reserve: This is the one most buyers skip entirely. Every major system in an RV park has a finite lifespan. A healthy CapEx reserve is typically 3 to 5% of gross revenue set aside annually for future capital needs. If the seller has no CapEx in their expenses they have been withdrawing equity from the property and handing you the bill.
Utilities: Get the actual utility bills for 24 months. Not the seller’s estimate. The actual bills.
Payroll: Get the actual payroll records. Know who is on payroll, what they make, and whether any of them are family members being compensated below or above market.
Step 4 — Add your debt service.
This is where most deals either work or fall apart. Take your actual financing terms, the real loan amount, the real interest rate, the real payment, and model it against the NOI you just rebuilt. Not the seller’s NOI. Yours. The debt service coverage ratio should be at least 1.25. I want to see 1.5 or above before I feel comfortable.
Step 5 — Model the seasonality.
Build a 12 month cash flow projection, not just an annual total. Map revenue and expenses month by month. Identify your worst cash month. Make sure you have enough reserves to cover it. A park that generates 80% of its revenue in three months needs a financial cushion that most buyers do not account for until they are sitting in month 9 with an empty park and a full expense load.
Step 6 — Stress test the assumptions.
Run the numbers at 10% lower revenue than your projection. Run them at 10% higher expenses. If the deal still works under those scenarios you have a margin of safety. If it only works when everything goes exactly as planned, it is too thin.
When you have done all six of those steps you have your pro forma. Not the seller’s version. Yours. Built from real numbers, real costs, and assumptions that reflect what this park will actually look like under your ownership.
That is the number that tells you what the deal is worth. And that is the only number that matters when you are deciding whether to make an offer.
The seller’s pro forma tells you what they want you to believe. Your pro forma tells you what you are actually buying.
If you want to go deeper on what to look for before you close, I put together a full 34 item due diligence guide that covers exactly this and a lot more. Link in first comment.
~Wendi | Fractional CFO | PVIFinancial.com
PVI Financial 
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