Most RV park deals don't die on price. They die in underwriting, when the lender rebuilds the seller's numbers and the loan comes back smaller than the buyer planned for. Or they die three years later, when a cheap loan balloons and the refinance doesn't cover it.
This page covers how to finance buying an RV park, or refinancing one you own: the loan programs, what each actually requires in 2026, what lenders look at, and the refinance problem a lot of 2020–2021 buyers are about to hit. If you want money for upgrades at a park you already own, read how to finance RV park improvements instead.
RV park acquisition financing: your options
| Source | Leverage | Coverage | Term / amortization | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SBA 7(a) | 10% minimum equity on an acquisition | 1.25x on historical cash flow | Up to 25 years on real estate | Owner-operators buying a transient park up to $5M |
| SBA 504 | At least 10% borrower equity | Underwritten by bank and CDC | 10, 20 or 25 years | Real-estate-heavy purchases and expansions |
| USDA B&I | Lender-set; 85% guarantee under $5M | Lender-set | Up to 40 years | Rural parks (towns under 50,000) |
| Community or regional bank | 65–75% LTV | ~1.25x | 20–25 year amortization, 3–10 year term with balloon | Experienced operators with deposits at the bank |
| CMBS | 55–65% LTV | 1.5–1.6x, 11% debt yield | Typically 10 years | Large stabilized parks, usually $20M+ |
| Seller financing | 10–20% down is realistic | Negotiated | 5–30 years | Parks a bank won't touch yet; bridging a gap |
Sources: SBA, USDA Rural Development, MMCG Invest (mid-2026 terms), Outdoor Hospitality Weekly, Commercial Lending Solutions. Full list at the bottom.
SBA loans for RV parks
SBA is how most first-time buyers get into a park, because it can go as high as 90% of cost. The 2026 rules matter, and they changed more than once this year.
SBA 7(a)
- Size: up to $5 million. SBA's own page lists real estate purchase, changes of ownership and refinancing business debt as eligible uses.
- Term: up to 25 years for real estate.
- Rate: variable loans over $350,000 can be priced up to base rate plus 3%. One RV park lender's April 2026 table showed prime plus 2.25–2.75%.
- Prepayment: on loans of 15 years or more, paying down 25% or more in the first three years costs 5%, 3% and 1% in years one to three.
- Equity and coverage (SOP 50 10 8.1, loans numbered on or after Oct 1, 2026): an acquisition needs at least 10% of total project cost in equity, and coverage of at least 1.25x measured on the last fiscal year or the two-year average. Projections can't be used to hit the floor. A seller note on full standby, meaning no payments for the life of the loan, can count toward equity, but only for up to half of the injection.
- Combined limit: per SBA Policy Notice 5000-879058, effective July 4, 2026, a borrower can now carry up to $10 million across 7(a) and 504 combined, as reported by MMCG Invest.
SBA 504
The 504 pairs a bank first mortgage with a CDC second mortgage backed by SBA. SBA's page lists 10-, 20- and 25-year terms, with the rate set as a spread over the 10-year Treasury, and allows buying land and buildings and refinancing qualified debt. The borrower puts in at least 10%. One lender notes some RV parks are treated as special-purpose properties under 504, which can raise the down payment to 20%. A 504 can't fund working capital.
The rule that knocks small parks out of SBA
SBA doesn't finance passive real estate, and it treats a park full of long-term tenants as just that. Under the transient test, more than 50% of the prior year's revenue must come from guests who stay 30 days or less. MMCG Invest published an October 2026 eligibility study on a Texas snowbird resort that failed: only about 5% of projected revenue came from stays of 30 days or less. Mobile home parks are ineligible outright.
That matters in the Southeast, where plenty of small parks have drifted toward monthly guests. If you're selling and your best buyer is an SBA buyer, check your revenue split before you list. If you're buying, get the stay-length ledger, not just the rent roll.
USDA Business & Industry loans
Overlooked, and a fit for a lot of mountain and lake parks. USDA Rural Development guarantees loans made by private lenders for projects outside cities and towns of more than 50,000 people. For fiscal 2026 the guarantee is 85% under $5 million and 80% at $5 million and up. Terms can run up to 40 years based on the life of the assets. Eligible uses include buying and developing land, buildings and infrastructure and business acquisitions that keep operations going. Fees: 3% of the guaranteed amount up front and 0.55% a year on the guaranteed balance. The program page doesn't mention campgrounds specifically; it excludes golf courses, racetracks and rental housing. Ask a lender that does B&I loans before you count on it.
Conventional bank loans and CMBS
A community or regional bank is the natural lender for a stabilized park with an experienced operator. MMCG's mid-2026 read on bank terms: 6.5%–8.0% rates, 65%–75% loan-to-value, 1.25x coverage, 20–25 year amortization, recourse. Outdoor Hospitality Weekly says bank terms typically run 3 to 10 years with a balloon at maturity. Remember that word. It's the next section.
CMBS is for big parks. MMCG cites 55%–65% LTV, a 1.5–1.6x coverage floor and an 11% debt yield test, and one lender lists CMBS for stabilized portfolios of $20 million and up. If you own 40 sites, skip it.
Seller financing
When a park has deferred maintenance, messy books or too many monthly guests for SBA, the seller is often the only lender. Outdoor Hospitality Weekly says 10%–20% down is a realistic target, terms run 5 to 30 years, and the rate should come in below a bank's. Sellers: get a real down payment, a personal guarantee and a first lien, and price the risk. Buyers: a seller note that balloons in three years just moves the bank problem to year three.
What lenders want to see
- Two to three years of financials that tie to the tax returns. SBA acquisitions are underwritten on last year's numbers now, not your projections.
- Occupancy by month and site type. One lender's published criteria call for peak-season occupancy of 80% or more and stable NOI for two to three years before a park counts as stabilized, and it stress-tests the weakest off-season month. See our occupancy benchmarks.
- Revenue by stay type, for SBA's transient test.
- Operator experience. First-time operators get lower proceeds and tighter recourse.
- Property condition and permits: utilities, roads, bathhouses, the septic permit. In Georgia that includes the DPH tourist accommodation permit; in North and South Carolina the on-site wastewater permit. Our construction cost guide covers the permit path state by state.
- Reserves. The same lender lists capex reserves of $300–$1,500 per site per year.
Financing an RV park in North Carolina, South Carolina or Georgia
There's no special state loan program for RV parks in any of the three that we found. The programs above are national. What's local is the diligence: whether the park sits in a USDA-eligible rural area (outside any city or town of more than 50,000 people; check the exact address with the lender), whether the septic system is permitted for the site count, and whether the county allows the stay lengths the park relies on. Buyers who line those up before applying close faster.
Size your loan
Every lender runs two tests and gives you the smaller answer: how much loan the NOI can cover at their minimum DSCR, and how much the value supports at their maximum LTV. Run both before you make an offer.
DSCR and maximum loan calculator
How big a loan your park's NOI and value will support. Runs in your browser; nothing is saved or sent.
Defaults are the refinance example on this page, not a quote. Real loans also test debt yield, global cash flow, reserves and fees.
The 2020–2021 refinance wall
A lot of parks changed hands in 2020 and 2021 on cheap money. Bank loans with 5-year balloons from those years are maturing now, into higher rates. MMCG's tabulation of SBA loan-level data shows the median SBA note rate on RV park and campground loans went from 5.25% in fiscal 2021 to 9.87% in fiscal 2024.
It's not just parks. The Mortgage Bankers Association reported in February 2026 that $875 billion of commercial mortgages, 17% of the $5.0 trillion outstanding, was scheduled to mature in 2026, including $396 billion held by depositories such as banks, with another $652 billion in 2027.
Example (assumptions, not a real park): a buyer paid $2,000,000 for a 40-site park in 2021 with a $1,600,000 bank loan at 3.75%, 25-year amortization, 5-year balloon. NOI was $150,000 then and is still $150,000 now.
| 2021 loan | 2026 refinance at 7.5% | |
|---|---|---|
| Loan amount | $1,600,000 | Balance due: ~$1,387,000 |
| Annual debt service | ~$98,700 | ~$123,000 to refinance the full balance |
| DSCR | 1.52x | 1.22x (below a 1.25x minimum) |
| Max loan at 1.25x DSCR | ~$1,353,000 | |
| Value at a 9% cap / max at 75% LTV | ~$1,667,000 / $1,250,000 | |
| Cash the owner must bring | ~$137,000 |
The 7.5% is an assumption inside the 7.25%–8.75% conventional range one lender published in April 2026 and MMCG's 6.5%–8.0% mid-2026 bank range. The 9% cap matches Newmark's 2026 survey figure for Class C parks (see our cap rates page). Notice the LTV test bites before the DSCR test: the park didn't get worse, the cap rate the bank uses got higher. Flat NOI isn't enough. Plug your own numbers into the calculator above with your balance in the last box.
If your balloon is 12–24 months out
- Run the refinance nowGet a term sheet a year early. Don't find out the gap at maturity.
- Raise NOI before the appraisalPricing, sub-metering and guest mix move NOI fastest. Every $10,000 of NOI at a 9% cap is about $111,000 of value and more loan. Start with our revenue levers.
- Talk to your bank earlyLenders extend loans for borrowers who show up with a plan, not for ones who show up the week of maturity.
- Fill the gap with equity, not more expensive debtSee below.
- Or sell on your timelineA sale you plan beats a sale you're forced into. Read how to sell an RV park.
When an equity partner beats more debt
If the refinance comes up $137,000 short, a bridge loan or a second mortgage can fill it. It also raises your payment on a park whose coverage is already thin. MMCG cites bridge loans at 9%–13.5% in mid-2026. That's the wrong tool when the problem is coverage.
Equity fixes coverage. Our Value-Add Partnership puts our capital into the park, usually into the improvements that raise NOI, in exchange for a share of the value we create together. No bank loan or personal guarantee on our money, and you keep ownership and control. It makes sense when the park has real upside a lender won't pay for yet. It doesn't make sense if you can borrow cheaply and the park already covers the debt; then a bank is cheaper than a partner, and we'll tell you that.
For full transparency: Brian also runs Waterfall Parks Holdings, which buys 25–100 site parks in Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Florida for cash and closes in under 45 days. If selling is the better answer for your park, that's an option too. If it isn't, we'll say so.
The operator's take: Brian bought or built his own three RV parks with cash, and every closing took under 45 days. Cash is a choice, not a requirement, and most buyers will borrow. The buyers who get hurt are the ones who underwrite the seller's story instead of the tax returns, or who take a 5-year balloon and assume rates will cooperate. If you're buying, refinancing or staring at a balloon, ask for a confidential park review. We'll run the lender's math on your park before a lender does.
FAQ: RV park loans and financing
Can you get an SBA loan to buy an RV park?
Yes, if the park passes SBA's transient test: more than 50 percent of the prior year's revenue must come from guests staying 30 days or less. Under SOP 50 10 8.1, which applies to loans numbered on or after October 1, 2026, an acquisition needs at least 10 percent equity and 1.25x debt service coverage on historical cash flow. The 7(a) program tops out at 5 million dollars.
How much down payment do you need to buy an RV park?
Plan on 10 percent minimum with SBA, and more like 25 to 35 percent with a conventional bank. Outdoor Hospitality Weekly puts bank down payments at 20 to 35 percent and says 10 to 20 percent is a realistic target when the seller carries financing. Lenders size the loan on the lower of price times their loan-to-value limit or what the NOI can cover.
What DSCR do lenders require for an RV park loan?
Most lenders want 1.25x or better, meaning NOI is at least 1.25 times the annual loan payments. Published RV park lender criteria range from 1.25x to 1.40x, and CMBS lenders look for 1.5x to 1.6x. SBA's acquisition floor is 1.25x on last year's numbers, not projections.
What interest rate is an RV park loan in 2026?
One RV park lender's April 2026 rate table showed conventional banks at 7.25 to 8.75 percent, SBA 7(a) at prime plus 2.25 to 2.75 percent, and the CDC portion of SBA 504 loans at 5.50 to 6.00 percent fixed. Rates move, and your rate depends on the park, your experience and the lender. Get quotes from at least two lenders who have closed RV park loans.
What happens if my RV park loan balloon is coming due?
Run the refinance now, not at maturity. A park financed in 2020 or 2021 at a low rate may not cover a new loan at today's rates, and if cap rates have risen the appraisal may come in lower too. Your options are to pay down the loan, raise NOI first, bring in an equity partner, negotiate an extension, or sell. Each is easier with 12 to 24 months of lead time.
Sources
- U.S. Small Business Administration, 7(a) loans: maximum amount, eligible uses.
- U.S. Small Business Administration, 7(a) terms, conditions and eligibility: maturities, rate caps, prepayment fees, 504 equity.
- U.S. Small Business Administration, 504 loans: terms, rate basis, eligible and ineligible uses.
- USDA Rural Development, Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan: rural eligibility, FY2026 guarantees, term, fees, uses.
- MMCG Invest, SBA stopped lending on projections: SOP 50 10 8.1 (Sept 6, 2026): equity, DSCR, seller notes, $10M combined limit.
- MMCG Invest, SBA 7(a) snowbird RV resort, Weslaco TX: not eligible (Oct 4, 2026): transient test.
- MMCG Invest, US RV Park and Campground Market Outlook 2026 (Aug 1, 2026): bank, CMBS and bridge terms; SBA note rates FY2021–FY2024.
- Live Oak Bank, Navigating the SBA's new SOP 50 10 8 (May 1, 2025): equity injection, seller standby notes.
- Commercial Lending Solutions, RV Park and Campground Financing (April 2026 rate table): rates by source, DSCR range, occupancy and reserve expectations, 504 special-purpose note.
- Select Commercial, Campground loans (rates dated Nov 13, 2026): SBA leverage and term.
- Matt Whitermore, Outdoor Hospitality Weekly, How to Finance a Campground or RV Park (Dec 28, 2024): bank and seller financing terms.
- Mortgage Bankers Association, 17 Percent of Commercial and Multifamily Mortgage Balances to Mature in 2026 (Feb 9, 2026).