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Ten
of the most important questions you should ask before buying a static
holiday caravan.
And we know, because
we have done this twice in the last 14 years.
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Q1:
How much will this is cost me?
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Q2: Can
I speak with other caravan owners?
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Q3:
What are ALL the annual running costs?
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Q4:
Can you see a breakdown of the running costs in writing?
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Q5: What
is the actual value of the caravan I am purchasing?
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Q6: Can
we have a free 'right to move' written into our contract?
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Q7: If
we have an urgent need to sell, do you have a guaranteed 'buy back price'
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Q8: Do
you allow sub-letting?
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Q9: How
many months of the year can we use our caravan?
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Q10: What
is the maximum length of occupancy?
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Answers.
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Q1:
How much will this cost me?
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A1: This
sounds like a silly question, but here is a reality check for you.
With prices starting at around £15,00 to over £100,000, the average cost
of a very comfortable caravan is approx £30,000. This with 9% finance over
10 years may only cost you £380 a month, which means the caravan would have
cost a total of £45,600 after 10 years. This is not taking into account the
running costs which vary from park to park from around £2,000 to £5,000 a
year. ±
On the positive side: You will get as many holidays as you can squeeze in
which would save you a bundle over 10 years. Plus your family and friends
could use make good use from it, in return for helping with some of the
smaller running costs. Then of course you could make around £600 a week
from sub-letting your spare weeks.
See A8.
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Q2: Can
I speak with other caravan owners?
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A2:
Never assume you have just made a 'new best friend' with your caravan
salesman, just like every other salesman they simply want to do their job
and sell a caravan. For an honest, no holds barred opinion, ALWAYS walk
around the caravan holiday park, and look for other caravan owners to ask if
they have experienced any problems after their purchase, and how it was
dealt with.
We have also a
group forum
where many hundreds of caravan owners have registered to share experiences
and offer advice.
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Q3:
What are ALL the annual running costs?
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A3:
Buying a static caravan is the easy bit. The running costs are usually
hidden in the initial purchase price and can be a shock if you have not
prepared yourself for them.
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Q4:
Can you see a breakdown of the annual running costs in writing?
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A4:
A breakdown of costs would usually show; annual site fees, water rates, gas,
sewage, insurance and so on.
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Q5: What
is the actual value of the caravan I am purchasing?
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A5:
Makes sense to ask this really, especially if answer 7 ever applies to you.
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Q6: Can
we have a free 'right to move' written into our contract?
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A7:
Tricky one this, and no-one ever thinks to ask it. Imagine you have bought a
caravan with a great view over the countryside or sea, and after a while,
the park begins to make a new development right in your line of sight to the
view. Wouldn't be too happy would you?
If you ask to move to the new development, you may be told they are for 'new
caravans only' and if you want to move to this new prime location, you would
need to purchase a new caravan.
So protect yourself before you buy always ask for a free 'right to move' to be included in
your contract if a new development obstructs your view. 9 times out of 10
they will do it. They did with us and our friends.
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Q7: If
we have an urgent need to sell, do you have a guaranteed 'buy back price'
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A7:
If you should fall into problems with losing your job, or an illness in the
family, there may come the time when you cannot keep your static caravan any
longer, or need the money urgently.
The second hand values of static caravans are worse than second hand cars
because the park will have to re-sell them again and still make a profit.
Typically, a £30,000 caravan after one year may only be worth £10,000 buy
back.
So, ask for a contractual agreement in the case of illness, death or job
loss, where you get a guaranteed buy back percentage based on the value in
Q5. You may get it, if not, you should consider insuring for those set of
circumstances.
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Q8: Do
you allow sub-letting?
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A8:
If a park allows sub-letting you may be able to off-set some or all of your
annual running costs in just a few prime school holiday weeks at Easter and
August leaving you the rest of the year to yourself and your family to
enjoy. There are also some very good tax breaks available for sub-letters,
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Q9: How
many months of the year can we use our caravan?
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A9:
Many people now use their static caravans all year round to live in. These
are referred to as 'Mobile Home Community Parks'. Others are only licensed
as a 'holiday park' and permit access only for certain months of the year.
Some static caravan owners prefer holiday parks to permanently live in
because of the beautiful locations beside the sea for example, so they sell
their main properties and use the cash to buy a static caravan to use in
season, then go to Spain in January - February etc when it's really
cheap and still warm.
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Q10: What
is the maximum length of occupancy?
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A10:
Believe it or not, many holiday caravan parks operate a maximum occupancy
period. This varies from company to company, and means you are not permitted
to occupy your own holiday caravan which exceeds a period of unbroken time.
For example after 60 days, you must leave for a period of 24 hours and
return to begin a new period. (Never known to have been legally enforced).
 Click
here to download a copy of this list in pdf format (20KB)
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