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Boat and RV storage

Boat and RV storage software: what a small lot needs

8 min readUpdated

A boat and RV storage lot looks simple: a fenced field, a covered row, a keypad at the gate. But spaces are measured and priced in feet, each one holds a vehicle or vessel you must be able to identify, insurance proof expires every year, and renters you see twice a year still owe rent every month. This guide covers what an outdoor lot, a facility with a back lot of parking, or a small marina with slips needs that a plain storage-unit system often lacks.

Everything here works with a clipboard and a spreadsheet if that is where you are today. Where Storage Facility Creator (SFC) handles a step, we say how, and the last section says what it does not do.

Set up spaces the way the lot is laid out

A unit system thinks in boxes and door numbers. A lot thinks in lengths and rows: a 40-foot pull-through, a covered space, an open slot along the fence. Number every space where staff can see it, and group spaces the way staff walk the lot: the covered row, Lot B, the fence line.

In SFC every space has a type: beside storage units, a lot can use Vehicle Storage, Outdoor Storage, Parking Space and RV Site, and sizes read in feet, such as 12 × 40 ft, 14 ft high. Group spaces by area, like Covered row or Lot B, type 101-140 to add a whole row, and draw them on a site map colored by status. Parking spaces and RV sites can carry chips such as covered, pull-through, water, and 30 or 50 amp. Units and vehicle spaces share one facility and one rent run, so a renter with a unit and an RV space pays on one account.

Price by length, and decide what covered is worth

Most lots price outdoor spaces by length, because length is what uses up the lot. A per-foot rate, say $4 a foot so a 30-foot space is $120 a month, is easy to explain; length bands such as up to 20, 21 to 30 and 31 to 40 feet are easier to put on a sign. Either way, decide whether the trailer tongue and the outboard count, and write it into the agreement. Covered spaces earn a premium for keeping sun and hail off paint and canvas, so price them separately from open spaces of the same length.

In SFC, Vehicle Storage, Outdoor Storage, Parking Space and Boat Slip spaces can be priced per foot: set the length, type a price per foot, and the monthly rate fills in, so a 40 ft slip at $5 a foot fills in $200. The price per foot is not saved; each space keeps one monthly rate, so a later per-foot change does not reprice spaces already added. RV Site has no per-foot price.

Keep a record of every vehicle and vessel

On a lot, the thing in the space is the job: when a boat turns up in the wrong space, a trailer is reported stolen or an account stops paying, you need to know exactly what is parked there and whose it is. At move-in, record the type, year, make, model, color and length, the plate and plate state or the boat's registration, the VIN or hull ID, and a separate record for any trailer with its own plate. Ask renters to tell you before they swap vehicles.

SFC keeps several vehicles per renter on the tenant page, each with type, year, length, VIN or hull ID, registration, make, model, color, plate, plate state and notes, so a boat and its trailer can be two records. Renters update make, model and plate from the tenant portal. Start from the included Vehicle, Boat & RV Storage Rental Agreement or upload your own; renters sign in person on your office tablet.

Collect proof of insurance and watch the end date

A lot's own policy often does not cover the boats and motorhomes parked on it, so many agreements require renters to carry their own coverage and show proof. Collect the declarations page at move-in, note the carrier and end date, and ask for the renewal before that date. What your agreement should require, and what to do when coverage lapses, depends on your state and your policy, so ask your insurer and have the agreement reviewed.

In SFC, open the tenant page, go to Insurance and choose Update to record the provider, the policy end date (Policy expires) and the proof document. Policies that expire within 30 days, or already have, show on the dashboard, on the Insurance expiring or expired list on the Insurance page, and on the calendar. An optional email to the tenant before expiry is a per-facility switch, off until you turn it on.

Monthly billing and autopay for renters you rarely see

A boat owner who visits in May and October will not think about rent in January. Make a card on file the default at move-in and put the written authorization in the agreement. If you take a season up front, write down how a prepaid renter is billed and what happens if they leave early.

SFC bills monthly. Each space has one monthly rate and rent posts on the 1st, with a prorated first month, deposits and one-off fees. Autopay charges a saved card through the facility's own Stripe account, so card payments pay out to you; a declined card is retried a few days later, and a dead or expired card switches autopay off. It is card only, with no bank draft. To take a season up front, record the payment once: the paid-through date moves ahead by whole months and rent still posts monthly. There is no separate rate for a season.

Access codes for a lot people visit at odd hours

Renters come early on a Saturday and late on a Sunday, often towing, and with one shared gate code nobody knows who came in. Give every renter their own code, limit it to your access hours, and turn it off the day they leave. Check that your gate system can schedule codes by day and hour.

SFC generates an access code for each tenant in the app, limited to the days, hours or dates you choose, and switches it off at move-out. SFC does not connect to gate hardware: you enter each code in your gate controller, and remove it there when a renter leaves.

If you also rent boat slips

A small marina or lake dock has the same needs, plus numbering: docks repeat slip numbers, boaters say slip, not unit, and shore power, water and pump-out matter as much as length.

In SFC, pick the Boat Slip type, number each slip and set its dock as the area; one setting labels repeated numbers 12 (Dock A) and 12 (Dock B). A slip given only its length reads 40 ft slip, and chips cover shore power, water, pump-out, 30 and 50 amp, covered and pull-through. Boaters see Slip 12 on their tenant portal; emails, statements, invoices and your own screens still say unit.

What this kind of software does not do

Start with a renter who stops paying. What you may do with a stored vehicle or boat is set by state law and can differ from the rules for a unit's contents, so have your agreement and process reviewed. SFC's Past due tab shows who is behind and by how many days, but it does not prepare or send notices or run a sale.

Full marina and RV park systems exist because those businesses also sell fuel, repairs, short stays and metered power. If your income is monthly space rent you can skip them, but know where SFC stops:

  • No per-night, weekend or transient bookings: everyone rents by the month.
  • No fuel dock system: the Retail screen only rings up items you stock.
  • No power meter readings, repair work orders or boat rentals.
  • No gate hardware connection or bank draft.
  • Vehicle and Outdoor Storage spaces read Unit on the tenant portal, and emails, statements and invoices say unit for every type.

Questions operators ask

Can I price boat and RV spaces by the foot?

Yes, for Vehicle Storage, Outdoor Storage, Parking Space and Boat Slip spaces. Set the length and a price per foot and the monthly rate fills in. The price per foot is not saved, so each space keeps one flat monthly rate.

Can one renter keep a boat, a trailer and a storage unit on one account?

Yes. A renter with a unit and an RV space pays on one account, and their tenant page holds several vehicles, boats or trailers, each with its own make, model and plate or registration.

Does it flag a renter's boat or RV insurance before it expires?

Yes. Record the provider, policy end date and proof document under Insurance on the tenant page. Policies expiring within 30 days, or already expired, show on the dashboard, the Insurance page and the calendar. Tenant emails before expiry are a per-facility switch, off until you turn it on.

Can renters book a space for a night or a weekend?

No. SFC rents every space by the month: each space has one monthly rate and rent posts on the 1st. There are no per-night, weekend or transient bookings, and no metered power billing.

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