What this is, in plain English
An NOI audit is a financial and operations review of your RV park or campground, done from the buyer's side of the table. Net operating income is the only number a buyer, lender or appraiser really cares about. Value is NOI divided by a cap rate. That's it.
The problem is that most small parks don't know their real NOI. The owner mows for free. Monthly guests run heat pumps on an electric bill the park pays. The P&L and the tax return tell two different stories. None of that shows up until a buyer's analyst finds it, and by then it costs you price.
We find it first. You get the number, the reasons behind it, and a ranked list of what to fix.
Who it's for
- Owners of private and family-owned parks, roughly 20-100 sites, in NC, SC, GA, TN or FL
- Owners 1-3 years from a refinance, sale or retirement who want to know where they stand
- Parks that feel full but don't seem to make the money they should
- Owners who inherited a park, or bought one recently, and want a clean baseline
Who it's NOT for
- You need a formal appraisal. For a loan, an estate or a court, hire a licensed appraiser. We're not one.
- You want a bookkeeper. We review the books, we don't run them month to month.
- You won't share the real numbers. If we only see the version for the tax return, the audit is worthless to you.
- You run a big resort with a revenue manager on staff. You probably already have most of this.
Thinking about buying a park rather than auditing one you own? Start with our buyer due diligence checklist.
What we review
| What you send | What we're looking for |
|---|---|
| 2-3 years of P&Ls | Owner labor nobody paid for, personal expenses running through the park, one-time items, expenses that are missing entirely |
| Tax returns for the same years | Whether they match the P&L. If they don't, a lender will believe the return |
| Rate sheet and fees | Flat rates on sites that should carry a premium, weekly and monthly discounts that are too deep, fees you could charge and don't |
| Utility bills | Electric, water, sewer and trash costs against what you recover from monthly and seasonal guests |
| Occupancy and reservation reports | Occupancy by month and site type, and the mix of nightly, weekly and monthly guests |
| Big fixed costs | Insurance, property tax and repairs, and which of those a buyer will re-underwrite at a higher number |
What you get
- Adjusted NOI a buyer will accept. Your reported NOI, every adjustment we made, and why.
- Pricing, utility and guest-mix fixes, ranked by payback. What each one should be worth to NOI, what it costs, and which to do first.
- Value today vs. value after fixes. A range, using the cap rates buyers are actually paying for parks like yours.
- A walkthrough call. We go through it line by line so you can defend every number to a lender or buyer.
Example only: at a 9% cap rate, every $1 of NOI is worth about $11 of park value. So $10,000 of NOI you didn't know you were losing is roughly $110,000 of price. Run your own numbers in the RV park valuation calculator and see where cap rates sit on our RV park cap rates page.
Timeline
About two weeks from the day we have your documents. If your records are spread across a shoebox, a booking system and your accountant's inbox, it takes longer, and we'll say so before we start rather than after.
What it costs
A flat fee. We quote it after a short call, once we know your site count and what shape the records are in, and you get it in writing before any work starts. No hourly meter, no percentage of your sale, no obligation to do anything with us afterward. We don't publish one price because a 30-site park with clean books and an 80-site park with three years of loose receipts are different jobs.
How it works
- Confidential callSites, rates, occupancy and what you want out of the park. If an audit won't help you, we'll say so on the call.
- You send the documentsP&Ls, tax returns, rate sheet, utility bills and occupancy reports. We send a short list so you're not guessing.
- We do the workWe rebuild your NOI the way a buyer would, find the gaps and price each fix.
- WalkthroughWe go through the report with you and answer every question. What you do next is your call.
Who's doing the review
Brian Zmich leads every owner relationship personally. He has bought, built and sold three Southeast RV parks (McIntosh Manor, Land of Waterfalls RV Park and Pisgah Forest RV Park), all cash, every closing under 45 days. This is the same review he ran on the parks he bought before buying them. More about the team.
Questions owners ask
Is an NOI audit the same as an appraisal?
No. We aren't appraisers and the report isn't an appraisal. A lender, estate or court that needs an appraisal still needs a licensed appraiser. What we give you is the number a buyer's underwriter is going to land on, and the reasons why, before anyone else does that math for you.
Do you do RV park bookkeeping?
No. We review your books; we don't keep them. If the audit shows your bookkeeping is the problem, we'll tell you exactly what needs to change in how income and expenses get recorded so your next 12 months hold up.
My books are a mess. Is it still worth doing?
Usually that's when it's worth the most. Messy books are how good parks get priced like bad ones. It may take longer than two weeks to pull together, and we'll tell you that on the first call.
What does the NOI audit cost?
It's a flat fee, quoted after a short call once we know your site count and what shape your records are in. You'll have the number in writing before we start. No hourly billing and no percentage of anything.
Do I have to hire you for anything after the audit?
No. You get the report and the fix list, and they're yours. You can do the fixes yourself, ask us to fund them through a value-add partnership, or do nothing. All three are fine.
Is my information kept confidential?
Yes. Your numbers, your park name and your plans stay with us. We don't shop parks to brokers or buyers.