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5 Reasons To Rent Out Your RV

This post was updated on March 15th, 2024

Peer-to-peer rental sites have grown a lot over the past decade. The sharing economy has exploded with sites such as Airbnb and Uber, and it just makes sense that RVers would follow suit. Besides, considering the average RV sits unused about 90% of the time, renting out your rig to others does seem like a sensible thing to do.

Still, many people are hesitant to jump onto the RV rental bandwagon. Honestly, this is understandable. After all, an RV is a big investment, and handing it over to strangers can feel scary.

Fortunately, the biggest peer-to-peer rental sites offer good insurance coverage. This ensures that your investment is safe no matter what happens. Considering the many pros of renting out your RV, knowing this fact might just tip the scales for a person on the fence.

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Need even more convincing? Here are 5 other reasons you might choose to go the rental route.

1. Your RV is unused most of the time

If your RV sits in your driveway or a storage facility the majority of the time, renting might be just the thing for you. Not only will this help cover the costs of owning an RV and make it more worthwhile, it’ll also give you incentive to keep up with your RV maintenance so your rig doesn’t rot away while sitting in-between trips.

Does your RV sit unused for most of the year? Why not make some money off it? Image source: Unsplash

2. You’d like to pay off your RV

It’s no secret that RVs are expensive. Not only that, but motorhomes and travel trailers depreciate in value quickly. In fact, most RVs have lost half their value by the time they’re six years old.

This is not great for anyone who has to take out a loan in order to own an RV. Instead, it means a large number of RV owners are probably upside-down in their loans.

Renting your RV will allow you to have more money to put toward paying down your loan, so you can stay ahead of the game and never find yourself owing more than your rig is worth. Besides, who doesn’t want to get rid of that monthly payment so they can start putting that money toward trips?

3. You need a bit of extra cash

If your RV is already paid off, you may think renting is unnecessary, financially speaking. However, this is far from the truth. Even if you don’t owe anything on your rig, you’ll still be able to take all of your earnings and put them towards other things.

Have student loan debt? Pay it off with your rental profits.

Want to go on an international vacation or cross-country RV trip? Your profits could cover that instead.

If nothing else, your rental profits will be good for paying for storage fees, insurance, and general maintenance on your rig so you can enjoy it for years to come.

4. You’d like to loan your rig to friends or family

Maybe you’ve never thought much about renting your RV to strangers, but you’d like to loan it out to friends and family. Listing your rig on a peer-to-peer rental site will allow you to rent to loved ones while still insuring your RV.

Yes, your friends and family will still have to pay something, but you can always make your fees low. This setup is sure to make you more comfortable with loaning your RV out, and should make those who you loan it to take the transaction a bit more seriously.

Share your love of travel with others by renting out your RV. Image source: Pixabay

5. You’d like to share the joy of RVing with everyone

If you’re an RV enthusiast, you likely want to share the joy of RV travel with everyone you meet. Renting out your RV is the perfect way to do just that.

Not only can you offer others a vehicle with which to explore, you’ll also be able to give travel suggestions. Some RV owners even go so far as to offer travel planning for their renters. Sometimes having the opportunity to share your passion for travel and see someone else enjoy your rig as much as you do is almost as good as going on a trip yourself.

Obviously, there are tons of great reasons to rent out your RV. If you do choose to do so, I highly recommend going with peer-to-peer websites—as opposed to a dealership—in order to retain full control over your RV and make as much profit as possible.

Two of the best peer-to-peer RV rental sites out there include RVShare and Outdoorsy. All have pros and cons, so be sure to do your research and pick the site (or sites) that suit your needs best.

Once you find the perfect peer-to-peer system for you, get your rig listed and get ready to send it off on some awesome adventures.

See also: Check Out These 5 Awesome RVs You Can Rent For Your Next Vacation