Resort Buyer Resources

As you consider various resorts for purchase, keep in mind their style and personality and choose a property that will be well suited to you. We recommend finding a resort that will appeal to others like yourself; as your guests will then likely be people to whom you will easily relate. A resort may cater to families, business people, or sport enthusiasts in various income brackets. Once you’ve identified the style of resort operation you prefer, pay very close attention to the environment because no matter how much money you may have, you cannot change the environment! It is important to understand that, in purchasing a resort, you are entering the “hospitality industry”. Being hospitable and seeing that your guests enjoy their vacations is the key to business success. At JMDS Properties we help buyers understand opportunities. This begins with dividing resort business into three to five income categories:

• Lodging Revenues
• RV Site Rentals (overnight & seasonal)
• Restaurant Revenue
• Equipment Rentals
• All other income (store, gas, bait, etc.)

Each of these categories has a different percentage of profit. Profit on renting a cabin might have a gross profit margin of 75%. RV site rental might have a gross operating profit of 90%. Profit on renting boats and motors may be higher than 90%, and profit in the lodge or store selling games, apparel, souvenirs, candy, pop, ice, wood, bait and gas may only average 25% profit. This information will help you identify opportunities and assess the needs of a resort property – whether they are promotional or physical. Then after purchasing the property, you can concentrate your time, spending, and improvement/additions on the revenue department(s) with the greatest yield. This can also help you resolve any physical or operating deficiencies of the property to capitalize on the opportunities for greatest performance gain. At JMDS Properties sales, each of us have previously owned and operated resorts; so we know firsthand how to identify opportunities and budget for greater performance and profits. We share operating information with buyers to help you become better resort operators and we look forward to helping you with your success.