Own the Boat or RV. Not the Building.
Own the Boat or RV. Not the Building.
Maxx
August 24th, 2026
Storage condos are showing up around the country. The idea is simple. Instead of renting a space for your RV or boat, you buy the unit outright, take a deed, and join an owners association. It is a real trend and it works for some people. Before you sign, it is worth running the numbers on what ownership actually costs against what a lease costs.
What you are buying when you buy
A deeded storage unit is real estate. Everything that comes with real estate comes with it. You need a down payment and financing, or you pay cash. Either way the money is tied up in a building instead of working somewhere else. Closing costs, title work, and survey come out of pocket before you park anything inside. Then the annual costs start. Property taxes on the unit are in your name. Building insurance is in your name, and in Lee County that number has gone one direction since Ian. Association dues cover the gate, the cameras, the roof, the paving, and the climate system. Those dues go up. Special assessments are the part people do not plan for. When the roof needs replacing or the association raises reserves, every owner gets a bill. You do not get to decide the amount. Your neighbors vote on it.
Selling it later
The other cost is on the back end. There are not many buyers for a storage unit. It is a small market. When you want out you are looking for someone who wants that specific size, in that specific building, at that specific time. A house in Fort Myers has hundreds of buyers. A storage bay has a handful. If you sell the RV, or downsize, or decide you are done with the boat, you still own the unit. You are a landlord until it sells.
What a lease costs
Our single units are 16 feet by 50 feet and rent for $1,295 a month. Our double units are 32 by 50 and rent for $2,595, which is $31,140 a year. Either one covers everything. No down payment. No closing. No taxes in your name, no building insurance in your name, no dues, and no assessments. If the roof needs work, that is our problem. The lease is month to month. If your situation changes you give notice and you are done. Compare that to a purchase. A double that size in the markets where these are selling runs into the mid six figures, and dues, taxes, and insurance run on top of it every year. Add the cost of the capital you tied up and the annual number gets close to a lease, and sometimes passes it. Ownership makes sense when you are certain about the next twenty years. Most people are not.
What you get either way
The reason people look at ownership is control. They want their own bay, their own door, and access whenever they want it. You get that here. Every unit at MetroMaxx is fully enclosed and climate controlled, with a private automatic roll up door and 50 amp power included in the rent. Access is 24/7 through a gated entrance with license plate readers. No shared bays, and nobody else's equipment parked in front of yours. There is a dump station on site for tenants. The building is concrete and it sits 17 feet above sea level. A 12 foot concrete perimeter wall runs around the property with a roll up security gate. Cameras cover the site and we have a host here. That is the part that matters for a motorhome worth more than most houses on your street, or a boat you cannot replace in a season. It is not who holds the deed. It is whether the thing stays dry, cool, locked, and above the water.
The short version
Buying a storage condo puts capital, taxes, insurance, dues, assessments, and resale risk on you. Leasing puts them on us. You get the same enclosed, climate controlled, ground level bay either way. We are at 11659 Metro Parkway in Fort Myers, between Colonial and Daniels, minutes from I-75, Page Field, and RSW. Call (239) 689-5046 or come walk the property and look at a unit.
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