The RV Life

>>While some home shoppers dither over how big the kitchen is or whether the den's too small, a different breed is plunking down $250,000 to $500,000 for a little building and a concrete slab.

The buyers are recreational-vehicle owners (RVers) who need a place to park their luxury home on wheels. The "parking lots" in Southwest Florida that can accommodate them are sitting pretty. Those that can house high-end RVs in Collier County are seeing healthy appreciation, and a young venture in Lee County is aiming to grab a share of the market with some new enticements.

Today's RVers crave a well-equipped parking spot to own or rent. The spiffier the auto-abode, the more elaborate surroundings they seek. Local RV parks meet that challenge with lakes, pools, spas, docks, tennis courts, clubhouses, activities and personal structures that make the RV experience a lot more comfortable than in the past.

Nearly 8 million households owned a home on wheels in 2005, a 15 percent increase since 2001 and a 58 percent increase since 1980, according to a University of Michigan Survey Research Center study.

Dick O'Connell, sales director for Cypress Woods and Golden Palms RV resorts in Fort Myers, says current RVers are wealthier than before, due in part to hefty pensions and golden parachutes.

Data also show owners are younger and driving bigger and better vehicles.

Rachel Parsons of the Recreational Vehicle Industry Association, says almost any luxury can be installed in an RV, especially class-A motor coaches.

"Marble floors, fireplaces, heated floors, and plasma TVs are popular," she explains. "Expandable features, called slide-outs, increase the floor space of individual areas, or, with the new full-panel slide-outs, enlarge the entire floor plan."

One Naples RVer had a dry cleaners-style clothes-conveyor rack installed, and Parsons reports that a built-in garage that holds a small vehicle is now available.