Renting Out Your Motorhome
I always purchased our motorhome with the view to renting it out and making it pay for itself.
By my reckoning by the time I have paid out for insurance, storage, annual servicing and road tax our motorhome costs at least £1,000 to keep on the road each year.
It is generally recognised that most motorhomes spend up to 80% of the year either on the drive or in storage; so much as you love your motorhome it is a fairly expensive piece of kit.
I also acknowledge that speaking to at least three sets of friends who own their own motorhomes, some from new, some older vans that the idea of a stranger using their motorhomes makes their blood run cold and they could no more consider it that fly to the moon, but for me it was an economic decision, and one that has become increasingly important.
Firstly, I registered with an online website, and then I set up my own website for my own private rentals through independent advertising or to family, friends and neighbours.
When I was in full-time work I limited myself to Saturday and Sunday hires only which definitely limited me to an extent, however, since working independently I have more scope to be flexible and this is working well.
The income you receive through the website is based on the number of berths in your motorhome and the season, but on average you can earn between £250 and £500 per week for little more than a few hours cleaning and preparation.
As long as you keep the website updated on dates you are using your vehicle yourself which is clearly whenever you wish, there are no limitations.
Usually you get good notice for bookings but some can be very short notice, so my motorhome is always clean and ready to go.
It is essential that you are thorough with the paperwork involved and your handover - I take around an hour to do this - it's an investment in protecting your motorhome ensuring that people understand how things work, avoids constant telephone questions and helps minimise accidents happening.
Whether we are using the motorhome ourselves or someone else is using it, things break or get worn out, so I usually expect some minor issue - a missing plate, a mark on one of the beds, a broken window retainer.
Usually the customer will tell me what has gone wrong or not worked/broken, however, I do a check with them when they return the vehicle and a more thorough check after they have gone, and I photograph anything wrong and send them details of any problems and photos the same day.
I have never had anything irreparable or irreplaceable to date.
In the 4 years I have been renting the motorhome out, I have only had one serious issue, but the website dealt with the client directly and paid me in full for all repairs which were carried out by a main dealership, so no long term harm done.
Overall I find it a beneficial and rewarding experience and means that I can concentrate on where and when we want to use our motorhome in the knowledge all our annual overheads are paid for.
By my reckoning by the time I have paid out for insurance, storage, annual servicing and road tax our motorhome costs at least £1,000 to keep on the road each year.
It is generally recognised that most motorhomes spend up to 80% of the year either on the drive or in storage; so much as you love your motorhome it is a fairly expensive piece of kit.
I also acknowledge that speaking to at least three sets of friends who own their own motorhomes, some from new, some older vans that the idea of a stranger using their motorhomes makes their blood run cold and they could no more consider it that fly to the moon, but for me it was an economic decision, and one that has become increasingly important.
Firstly, I registered with an online website, and then I set up my own website for my own private rentals through independent advertising or to family, friends and neighbours.
When I was in full-time work I limited myself to Saturday and Sunday hires only which definitely limited me to an extent, however, since working independently I have more scope to be flexible and this is working well.
The income you receive through the website is based on the number of berths in your motorhome and the season, but on average you can earn between £250 and £500 per week for little more than a few hours cleaning and preparation.
As long as you keep the website updated on dates you are using your vehicle yourself which is clearly whenever you wish, there are no limitations.
Usually you get good notice for bookings but some can be very short notice, so my motorhome is always clean and ready to go.
It is essential that you are thorough with the paperwork involved and your handover - I take around an hour to do this - it's an investment in protecting your motorhome ensuring that people understand how things work, avoids constant telephone questions and helps minimise accidents happening.
Whether we are using the motorhome ourselves or someone else is using it, things break or get worn out, so I usually expect some minor issue - a missing plate, a mark on one of the beds, a broken window retainer.
Usually the customer will tell me what has gone wrong or not worked/broken, however, I do a check with them when they return the vehicle and a more thorough check after they have gone, and I photograph anything wrong and send them details of any problems and photos the same day.
I have never had anything irreparable or irreplaceable to date.
In the 4 years I have been renting the motorhome out, I have only had one serious issue, but the website dealt with the client directly and paid me in full for all repairs which were carried out by a main dealership, so no long term harm done.
Overall I find it a beneficial and rewarding experience and means that I can concentrate on where and when we want to use our motorhome in the knowledge all our annual overheads are paid for.