What Is a Pull-Through Site? RV Park Terminology Investors Should Know

A pull-through site is a campsite an RV can drive straight into and straight out of, no backing up required. The rig enters from one end and exits from the other, usually because the site connects two points on a looped or through road. Compare that to a back-in site, where the driver has to reverse into a spot, often with someone standing outside directing them.

That's the basic definition. But if you're looking at RV parks as an investment, this term matters more than it sounds like it should. Site type affects who books the site, how much they pay, and how fast the park turns over guests. Understanding the vocabulary here isn't trivia. It's underwriting.

Why Pull-Through Sites Command Higher Rates

Pull-through sites are easier to use, period. A retiree towing a 38-foot fifth wheel doesn't want to back into a tight spot after eight hours of driving. Big rigs, especially motorhomes over 35 feet, often can't physically maneuver into a back-in site without a lot of skill or a spotter. That's why pull-through sites typically rent for 10% to 20% more than back-in sites in the same park, and why they fill first during peak season.

If you're evaluating a park's site mix, ask what percentage of sites are pull-through versus back-in. A park with 60% pull-through sites can generally command a higher blended ADR than one with 20%, all else equal. That difference shows up directly in NOI, which is why site mix belongs in your first pass on any deal.

Other Terms That Affect Valuation

Pull-through is just one piece of the vocabulary. Here are terms that come up constantly in RV park underwriting and operations:

• Full hookup: A site with water, sewer, and electric all connected on-site. These command the highest rents and are what most transient guests expect.

• Partial hookup: Usually water and electric only, no sewer. Guests use a dump station. These rent for less and are more common in older parks or overflow areas.

• Dry camping or boondocking: No hookups at all. Lowest rent, sometimes free or nearly so, and mostly relevant to public land or informal sites rather than commercial parks.

• Amp service (30/50 amp): The electrical capacity at a site. Newer, larger RVs need 50 amp service to run air conditioning and appliances at once. Parks with mostly 30 amp service may struggle to attract newer rigs, which affects both occupancy and the guest profile you can target.

• Site mix: The ratio of pull-through to back-in, full hookup to partial, RV to tent to cabin. This is one of the first things a buyer should map out because it drives both revenue potential and renovation cost.

• Private lot lease or long-term site: A site rented to the same RV owner for months or years, sometimes with a stored unit on it year-round. This is different from nightly or weekly transient rental and creates a steadier, if lower, revenue stream.

• ADR (average daily rate): Same concept as hotels. It's total site revenue divided by occupied site-nights. Useful for comparing parks, but only if you also know the site mix behind the number.

Why This Terminology Affects Cap Rates

RV parks typically trade at cap rates between 7% and 12%, higher than most commercial real estate, because they're operationally intensive and cash flows are seasonal. A park's site mix is part of what determines where in that range it lands. A park heavy on full-hookup pull-through sites with 50 amp service is a more turnkey asset, closer to the 7% to 8% end. A park with a lot of partial hookups, 30 amp service, and back-in-only sites usually needs more capital work, and that risk gets priced into a higher cap rate.

This matters even more given where the industry is heading. The pandemic-era occupancy surge was an anomaly, not a new baseline. Forecasts through the rest of the decade point to flat growth, somewhere in the 0% to 1% range annually. That means you can't underwrite a deal assuming revenue will grow its way to a good return. You have to find NOI through margin improvement and value-add work, and upgrading site mix, converting back-in sites to pull-through where the lot allows, or adding 50 amp service, are common ways operators do that.

Occupancy is also highly seasonal, often near 100% in peak summer and around holidays, then dropping sharply in the off-season depending on climate and location. If you want to understand how that seasonality plays out and what operators do about it, we've covered why RV park occupancy swings so hard between summer and winter and the strategies parks use to stay afloat during the off-season in separate posts.

What to Do With This Vocabulary

None of these terms are complicated once you've seen them defined. The real value is in using them correctly when you're reviewing a deal. Ask for the site mix broken out by hookup type, amp service, and pull-through versus back-in. Ask how ADR differs across those categories. Ask what percentage of revenue comes from nightly transient guests versus private lot leases, since that mix affects both cash flow stability and upside.

If you want help thinking through a specific park's site mix or how it affects your underwriting, reach out through the contact page at Invest With Zac. Getting the vocabulary right is the first step. Getting the numbers right behind it is what actually protects your return.