How to Find the Value of Travel Trailers

Travel trailers are a big investment. This makes finding the value of a travel trailer an important task for anyone who intends to buy or sell a particular model. The information might also be necessary for insurance or tax purposes. To find the value of a travel trailer, you'll need to weigh all of the travel trailer's characteristics and amenities, consult an established travel-trailer value guide, and make adjustments. Thus, it is imperative to gather a comprehensive list of the travel trailer's features, add-ons and repair work to find the most accurate figure. Once you've established a comprehensive list of these things, then you'll take the travel trailer's condition into consideration along with any modifications.

Instructions

1

Make a list. Write down the make, model and year of the travel trailer, then write down all factory-included amenities such as heating and air conditioning, the refrigerator and other appliances (and their designated powers or capacities), and other features. Also list the size of water tanks, the trailer weight and anything else that might be a variable between this travel trailer and others of its type.

2

Enter the information into the NADA RV Pricing Guide on the NADA Website. This establishes a base value and is a good point to start from.

3

Compare the prices of similar travel trailers. This gives you a "real world" adjustment you can apply to the base price you've already established. In many cases, listings are likely to be in close range to the price you determined from the NADA guide. The region where the trailer is located sometimes makes a difference in its price, so it is another factor that might be subject to adjustment.

4

Add or detract value for any modifications that have been done on the trailer. The value is not likely to be the real cost of modification, so don't use the price that the modification cost. Check the RV Pricing guide for a comparable value of options. If particularly outstanding features have been added to the travel trailer, it's a good idea to obtain a professional estimate.

5

Assess the condition of the trailer. A trailer in good condition, with everything in working order, brings a fair market price that compares to what you've seen thus far. Broken or unusable options lower the price. Excellent or like-new condition adds value.

6

Use all the information that you've gathered to estimate a fair value for the travel trailer.