RV Financing 101

A whopping 70% of RV buyers use financing to complete their dream camper purchases. This is because RVs are a spendy item and many people don’t have the cash on hand to purchase an RV outright. Fortunately, financing options are freely available at many dealerships, including ours, and they’re not too tough to figure out.

Mountaineer RV & Outdoor in Weston is your West Virginia RV dealer. Read on to learn just how RV financing works and how it can benefit you.

1. Create Your Budget

First, you’ll need to take a good hard look at your financial situation and determine exactly how much you can afford to spend on an RV, including the down payment and paying off the loan over time. There are loan calculators online that will allow you to calculate different loan amounts based on higher or lower costs and longer or shorter payment terms. Don’t forget to budget for maintenance, accessories, insurance and storage costs as well! You don’t want to buy an RV only to be too broke to use it for anything.

2. Save Up Your Down Payment

You can’t finance 100% of the cost of your RV; you probably already knew this, but it’s worth repeating. You’ll likely need to furnish anywhere from 10% to 20% of the RV’s total cost up-front, so it’s important to save up this amount in advance. This may take a few months, so start saving as soon as possible!

3. Improve Your Credit Score

One essential step you can take before looking into getting a loan of any type is to check your credit score. Lenders look for borrowers who have “good credit,” which is generally any score over 700. A “very poor” score is under 550. Do what you can to raise your credit score before applying for any loans; this might include paying off credit card balances or loans you’ve already taken or opening up a credit account if you don’t have one.

4. Secured Vs. Unsecured Loans

There are two main types of loans available to you: secured and unsecured loans. It’s very important to understand the difference between them before you start shopping.

A secured loan is a loan which uses the RV you’ve purchased as collateral. What does that mean? Collateral is a type of security (hence the loan’s name); the lender can repossess anything put up as collateral if a debtor defaults on (doesn’t pay) their loan on time. Secured loans often have lower interest rates and allow you to get more money, but that collateral risk is definitely something to keep in mind.

An unsecured loan doesn’t require collateral, which means your RV is safe from the lenders. However, interest rates will be much higher and you may not be able to get as much money up-front.

Seeking campers in WV? Visit our dealership in Weston today to check out our wide stock of new and used RVs for sale. Our sales team is experienced in the world of RV financing and we’ll be more than happy to assist you with your loan options. We can even do trade-ins and provide price quotes to help you fund your next RV purchase. Mountaineer RV & Outdoor proudly serves the city of Morgantown along with all of our West Virginia customers.