Is buying one deeded space in a condo garage a real thing or a gimmick?

A deeded space is one that the condominium declaration created as its own unit with its own tax parcel or unit number, so you take title to it the way you would take title to a condo apartment. That's the strict meaning. The loose usage you'll see in listings is "deeded" applied to a space that's really a limited common element, meaning the association owns it and assigns you exclusive use of it. Those two look identical when you're parked in them and behave very differently when you try to sell. Whether a space can be transferred to someone outside the building depends on the declaration and on state condo law, so get the declaration and have a real estate attorney in that state read the transfer section before you offer.

On the money, $225 in and $95 out leaves $130 a month, about $1,560 a year on $38,000, so roughly 4% before anything goes wrong. The thing that goes wrong in garages is the deck. Concrete parking structures need sealing and eventually post-tension or slab repair, and those get funded by special assessments that hit your space at its allocated percentage. Ask for the association's reserve study and the last few years of assessment history.

Two more practical points. Most lenders won't write a mortgage on a single stall, so these tend to be cash purchases, and you should confirm that in writing with any lender before you count on financing. And your buyer pool later is often limited to people who already live in the building, which is a thin market when you want out.