“We bought the RV with my brother as a business opportunity. We also knew this would be the perfect side business for our family,” Outdoorsy owner Tracey Heartsun explains. “My brother owns a collision repair center that specializes in RV repair, so we knew we could always repair the RV ASAP without having to wait for a dealership to do it.
“My husband Dale is a mechanic for PGE and we knew that he could do any mechanical repair on the RV, and this would save us money and time as well. We also own a property that has plenty of room to house the RV. So, we felt like this would be a fun little business adventure!”
Of course, a big bonus of owning an RV rental business is the ability to use the rental unit. “We wanted the opportunity to use the RV on occasion,” Tracey tells us. “We have, and it has been great. This past summer we took a trip to the Redwoods (California/Oregon border) in our RV, and it was an absolutely breathtaking and fabulous trip. We drove home up the California and Oregon coast on our way back.”
This couple loves that when they rent their RV, they are giving others the chance to have awesome road trips of their own. “We hope and are finding with experience that our RV is allowing renters a really fun adventure,” Tracey says. “It is so nice for people to fly into Oregon and take the RV for a trip around the beautiful sites here, such as Crater Lake, the Oregon coast, the Columbia River Gorge, and more. We love hearing about the fun times people enjoyed while traveling in the RV.”
Tracey and Dale have gone the extra mile in order to make their guests’ RV adventures a little more fun. “We put in our own RV septic at our house, and we do not ask them to dump the tanks; we do this [ourselves] as part of the rental,” Tracey shares. “We also allow people renting the RV to leave their car in a safe parking place in our driveway while they are on their trip. I usually offer to pick up and drop people off at the airport at no charge to them.
“I guess our hospitality is our greatest benefit. Our RV does come fully stocked with everything a person would need for their trip. All they need to bring is clothes and food.”
Has all that hospitality paid off? We’d say so. “We bought our RV in April of 2021 and had our first renter by May,” Tracey recalls. “So it was very fast after we got our profile up—maybe two weeks. We have been through two seasons with Outdoorsy, and the season here in Oregon is about 3½ months long. I would say the first season we made $10,000. This season we did about $13,000.”
Tracey seems very happy with her Outdoorsy experience so far. “We feel completely comfortable renting on Outdoorsy,” she tells us. “We love the ease of the platform, we love the insurance coverage, and we love the support team. It has been very easy, fast, and efficient.”
Another thing this couple loves about Outdoorsy? The owner community. “We have met one guy named Mark Cobb who lives here in Oregon and has been doing the rental business for about four years,” Tracey shares. “He has been a mentor to us and helped us out along the way. We are also on the Outdoorsy Owners Community Facebook page and love learning and hearing about everyone’s rental experiences and how to do repairs.”
All About Tracey and Dale
Favorite morning beverage: “Hot tea.”
Favorite campsite meal: “Steaks and baked potatoes on the BBQ.”
Music you like to play on the radio: “Easy listening music from the ’80s and ’90s.”
Best game to play on the road or at your campsite: “Yahtzee, Scrabble, and cards.”
Favorite season: “Summer and early fall.”
If you could travel anywhere in an RV, where would you go? “Our next adventure we would like to travel to Arizona and Utah for some of the sights there.”
