But Sarah Lemps DIY camper flipping gig didnt start out that way.

In 2014, the frugal family just wanted an affordable way to travel.

Lemp dreamed of hitting the road for family vacations, vintage trailer in tow.

A family stands outside of a renovated trailer.

Photo courtesy of Sarah Lemp of All Things With Purpose

I obviously cant afford one thats already been fixed up, she thought.

So Im going to get a really cheap, junky one, and Im going to fix it.

Five years later, Lemp, 35, hasnt stopped.

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It took her about a year, but she found it: a 16-foot unpainted 1956 Century trailer.

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Sure, it had decaying wood.

Most of all, it had character.

For $1,700, Lemp jumped on the opportunity.

It took her about a month of non-stop work to get the old Century in presentable shape.

She patched up the holes.

Repaired the rusty frame.

Removed the oven and stove.

Ran all new electrical lines.

Installed laminate wood flooring.

Painted the interior white and gave the exterior a two toned, white-and-powder-blue retro makeover.

Grand total: about $3,000 thanks, in particular, to the frame repairs.

She even leaned on her readers to name the trailer.

They landed on Gidget, based on the 1959 musical.

Did you know?

As a homeschooling parent, Lemp took her kids on numerous field trips in Gidget.

That first DIY camper served them through countless road trips to parks, forests, beaches and campgrounds.

Travel has always been the retreat, Lemp said.

You need a change of scenery.

You need time to unplug and give your mind a rest.

By 2017 and with the adoption of their youngest, Asher, the Lemps outgrew the cozy 50s trailer.

Lemp wanted to renovate another one.

Lemps husband, Jason, listed Gidget on Facebook Marketplace.

That same day, it sold for their asking price, $8,900.

That got the Lemps thinking: Could this be a business opportunity?

But after the sale, they were singing a very different tune.

Wow, OK. Theres really something here.

And she knew to avoid expensive issues like structural damage.

To accommodate her growing family, the second DIY camper definitely needed to be bigger.

And definitely fewer dead rodents.

And in the meantime, we did a couple different [campers] that were specifically to sell.

To curb the mom guilt from the first time around, Lemp made camper flipping a family endeavor.

Husband Jason scours Facebook Marketplace for good deals.

Prices can vary widely.

Trailer purchases run between $1,000 and $2,000.

Jason haggles with sellers, meets them and typically tows or drives the trailers home.

Once the vehicle is parked in their secluded and spacious backyard, the work begins.

I usually have all the kids help me in the very beginning, Lemp said.

They help me clear it all out and do the demo[lition].

They help take curtains off the windows, take smelly couch cushions out.

They help pull up carpet.

(Attention span permitting.)

To keep the kids interested, she rotates their duties frequently.

They love theideaof painting, she laughed.

They beg me to help paint, but then they dont last too long.

She teaches them to inspect the walls, cupboards and floors for signs of water damage, too.

As a kid, I didnt have any kind of grasp of how much money wasreallyworth, Lemp said.

I didnt know how it would impact me.

Lemps Camper Renovation Process

Money lessons aside, the flipping process is laborious and expensive.

She flips campers mainly, but lately shes been experimenting with RVs.

I will always take a stab at do it myself first, Lemp said.

Mechanical or structural issues are big time and money holes.

Because of the engine, she says RVs introduce all kinds of potential problems.

But with her first RV purchase for $3,200, she lucked out there were no serious engine issues.

At that sales price, Lemp waded into a different buyer demographic.

The RV garnered bids from all across the country.

People wanted to fly to Michigan and buy it.

But thats not who her work typically attracts.

More often she sells to young families who are buying their first trailer and appreciate an older aesthetic.

My sweet spot, I would say, is more the vintage style 70s and older, Lemp said.

People from Florida and California reached out for RV requests.

The media caught wind.

ABC,Detroit News, Fox, Insider, Yahoo!

A Michigan camping and RV expo tapped her as a guest speaker.

A production company in LA raised the possibility of a reality show.

How am I even in this position to have someone contacting me and talking to me about this?

Has this gotten too big for me?

All of the recent attention has been slightly exciting.

At its core, her side gig is a way to spend time with her kids and travel.

With its success, she feels pressured to expand.

Then the mom guilt kicks in.

Thats also freed up a little more of her time.

At what age are they not going to be interested in going on family camping trips?

Shes in no rush to find out.

As her kids grow, shed like to let her business follow suit.

Adam Hardy is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder.

He specializes in ways to make money that dont involve stuffy corporate offices.

Read his latest articles here, or say hi on Twitter@hardyjournalism.

(Can you sense my millennial sarcasm there?)

You know which ones were talking about: rent, utilities, cell phone bill, insurance, groceries…