How Much Is My Campground Worth?

The Two Numbers That Actually Matter

Almost every campground sale comes down to Net Operating Income (NOI) and the cap rate buyers are using in the current market. Everything else matters, including amenities, curb appeal, and your story, but it shows up inside these two numbers.

Net Operating Income (NOI)

NOI is your gross revenue minus operating expenses. That means before debt service, before depreciation, and typically before one-time or owner-specific costs a new owner wouldn't carry forward (often called a "seller's discretionary earnings" adjustment). Buyers want to see three to five years of clean, consistent NOI.

Cap Rate

The capitalization rate ("cap rate") is the return a buyer expects on their investment. Divide NOI by the cap rate, and you get an estimated value.

Example: a campground with $300,000 in annual NOI, sold at a 9% cap rate, is worth approximately $3,333,000 ($300,000 ÷ 0.09).

There's no single market cap rate. The number moves with interest rates, how deep the buyer pool is in your region, whether your campground runs year-round, and the condition of your infrastructure. A well-run campground in a strong market trades at a lower cap rate, which means a higher price, than a seasonal campground with deferred maintenance. Where your campground lands depends on the factors below.

What Moves Your Number Up or Down

• Location and drive-time from a major metro or destination market
• Occupancy trends over the past three to five years, not just a single good season
• Whether the campground operates year-round or seasonally
• Condition of infrastructure, meaning utilities, roads, septic and water systems
• Amenities and site mix (full hookups, cabins, glamping, activities)
• Expansion potential, such as excess land, unused sites, or permitted density
• How well the business is documented, with clean reservation data, written procedures, and trained staff who aren't just you

Pro Tip: Two campgrounds with identical revenue can be worth very different amounts. The one that can run for a week without the owner on-site is lower risk to a buyer, and lower risk means a better offer.

Mistakes Owners Make When Estimating Their Own Value

We'd rather tell you this now than have it surprise you later.

• Using gross revenue instead of NOI. Revenue alone tells a buyer almost nothing about what the business actually earns.
• Anchoring to a headline "price per site" number from an unrelated sale. Location, amenities, and NOI vary too much for that shortcut to be reliable.
• Not accounting for deferred maintenance or known environmental issues. Buyers find these in due diligence, and surprises erode trust and price.
• Ignoring what a buyer's lender will require. Most buyers need NOI to comfortably cover debt service, often measured as a Debt Service Coverage Ratio (DSCR), which can cap how much they're able to offer regardless of your target price.

How EverHaven Approaches Valuation

We're not a private equity fund working toward a quarterly target, and we don't play the lowball-then-renegotiate game. We show our work. We walk you through how we arrived at a number, using the same NOI and cap rate approach outlined above, and we can provide a preliminary, no-obligation range after a confidential conversation and a look at your numbers, before you commit to anything.

If you'd like a straightforward, honest read on where your campground likely lands, that conversation costs you nothing and stays completely confidential.

Once you have a sense of the number, our Getting Ready to Sell checklist walks through what's next

For the rest of the process after valuation, see the full step-by-step process

Once you have a number, loop in your tax advisor early.