Canal Homes-Tides/Palmetto Bugs/Mosquitos/Barking Dogs (Cape Coral, Port Charlotte: rent, houses)

[macdonell]

Planning on moving to CC area and getting a boat, which means a canal home. The following questions will not deter us, but I just want to know up front what to plan while we look for a place.

Tides: Does low tide mean the water level is the canals are so low, you can see the muddy bottom and your boat actually sits on the bottom. Which then means the canal is smelly during that time. (Hilton Head Island, SC has this issue on some of the canal homes and that is where this question comes from.)

Palmetto Bugs: I heard that an abundance of vegetation near your home = palmetto bugs. How prevelant are they? I will do anything to keep them away from me.

Mosquitos: In Missouri they carry small pets away. Are mosquitos vicious all day and all night?

Barking Dogs: Last time I complained to a dog owner in our subdivision about their barking dog (incessant - not a bark here or there) their reply was "It is a dog and dogs do bark". The trustees took action-bothered them as well. Are their ordinances for barking dogs and/or are people more considerate of their neighbors there.

Thanks for your comments!

[TamRE]

Tides - Most tidal patterns are 2 high and 2 low tides. In the Gulf waters we have days where there are only 2 tides. You would need a tide chart to refer to daily to know what the tides will be. The tide heights on average are about 2 to 2 ½ feet from high to low. Extreme wind and full or new moons can change this and cause fluctuations. All boaters should pay attention to tides. To get local tides go to www.saltwatertides.com

Palmetto Bugs – they aren’t too bad. You see one every once in a while. The best thing is to have pest control at your home. Some people pay a pest control company to do it quarterly and others do it themselves.

Mosquitos – they can be bad around any body of water or standing water. We do have county spraying when it is bad. I am not sure about the city of Cape Coral. I think Lee County does their mosquito control. Here is the web site: http://www.lcmcd.org/

Barking Dogs – most of the time you can’t control it. If it gets out of hand, call animal control and complain, they may send someone out. If you live in a deed restricted community, there may be rules and regulations for barking dogs and you should report that to the board. Sometimes it is better first to express your concern to the owner of the dog rather than complaining over their head.

Here is a quote from Cape Coral codes: City code reads that it is unlawful for: "Any animal to make unreasonable disturbing noises, including, but not limited to: barking, howling, whining, screeching or other utterances causing annoyance, discomfort or disturbance of the peace or sleep of a reasonable person(s)." Please note the terms "unreasonable" associated with the noise of the animal and "reasonable" associated with the reaction of the human. If you believe the barking is "unreasonable," you might want to call the police non-emergency number (574-3223) to report the problem and ask for your district resource officer. Or you can call Lee County Animal Control (533-7387).

Charlotte County has a lot of gulf access and canal homes as well. Mostly in Punta Gorda Isles and Port Charlotte.
Charlotte Harbor is world famous for its tarpon fishing and sailing and boating waters. Fishing is a major attraction here. There are charter boats that will take you out into the Gulf of Mexico. You can catch tarpon, grouper, mackerel or snapper. You can also fish in the passes, off bridges, or in the coves. Here you can catch snook, trout or even sheepshead. There are numerous public fishing peers available as well. You can obtain a fishing license at the Charlotte County tax collector's office, local bait shops, or go to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission web site at http://myfwc.com/.

Charlotte Harbor has 365 miles of canals, 190 miles of saltwater, and 175 miles of freshwater. The harbor is formed by the blending of saltwater from the Gulf of Mexico with freshwater from the Peace River and Myakka River. The state of Florida is the number one recreational fishing destination in the United States, and Charlotte Harbor is one of Florida's favorite spots.

Best wishes on your home search and finding a boat to meet your needs. I hope you find something you like. I know you will enjoy living in Southwest Florida. There is so much to do.

[tjstrain]

spend lots of time in the neighborhoods where you want to buy. As I always say, RENT FOR ABOUT A YEAR FIRST before buying to be sure it's what you want. Not all canals lead out to the gulf, some are freshwater canals that are land locked. ASK LOTS OF QUESTIONS but believe half of the answers.
Now for the roaches, you keep a clean house and grounds they will go next-door. Don't buy next to a slum, you will be sure to see bugs and rodents. Same with the dogs barking, usually you can tell a lot from the way a house looks from the outside. If it's dirty and overgrown or needs lots of attention the owners clearly don't care and prolly will not give a hoot if their dog barks all day OUTSIDE! Plus it will definitely hurt the value of your home. Mosquitos are bad right now, cause the rain has been sitting for a long time. Get a good bug repellant for times like this. The positives far out weigh a few skeeter bites!

[nhkev]

Not all canals are equal. My lot the canal is 130' wide and avg 17' deep and has a couple sections that are 28' deep. I hav heard of some canals they can only take their boats in and out at high tide. The city is suppose to dredge the canals on a maintainence program to keep them @ 4' during the lowest tide.

Palmetto bugs, ditto to what the others have said.

Mosquitos. Seem to have been worse this year than previous, but mostly early evening was the worst.

[rikoshaprl]

No smell at low tide in my SE CC canal/basin. Mosquitoes were not bad at all this summer for us, even though many say it was the worst year in two decades. About once every couple of months I find a dead palmetto bug in the house. I don't know how they get in. I saw one a couple days ago in the toilet. I wonder if they get in from the sewer. Some of the canals are shallow right at the edge. My neighbors lift, that sits under his boat, sometimes hits bottom at the lowest low tides.

[CCRESI]

Barking Dogs: If you see anyone with a dog chained up, I would call and complain. That is animal cruelty, especially in the summer. Luckily I haven't had any issues.
Lee County Animal complaints:239-432-2083

The canals in Cape Coral are part of the storm water management system and are periodically dredged to maintain a depth of 8 ft. at mean tide. It just depends on the canal, and the last time it has been cleaned out.

The bugs in Florida take some getting use to. As a NE transplant, where bugs often die in winter months, FL seems to keep everything alive. I recommend having your home treated for pests. Keep your plants/trees trimmed and away from the home. Keep your food airtight and kitchen clean. If they find no food, they look elsewhere. If you have your home treated often, I have mine every 3 mths w/ Tony's pest, you will not have a problem. I tried to skimp out for a treatment to save $35 to see if we "really" needed it....and I saw some action. 2 palmetto bugs the size of my foot made it in my home. YIKES!

The mosquitos were quite annoying for me this spring/summer. I called to see about having our neighborhood sprayed. They came right out. This area is experiencing an all time high mosquito count this year. Some people are more prone to bites. The past few years it hasn't been an issue for me. This year we saw a lot of love bugs too! Google those. Pretty annoying lil things.

Hope this helps

[alfbroker]

If you not an avid boater now, this is the pattern that usually happens (but not always of course).
1) You buy a home for your boat. This home will be nowhere as nice as the home you could have gotten for the same price if you have bought a non-waterfront home.
2) You buy a boat. It will be the wrong kind. You will love it and use it a lot, at first. Within 2 years, it will almost never leave the lift, just like most of the other rusting depreciating boats up and down the canal.
3) You'll eventually sell the boat for pennies on the dollar. The second happiest day in a boaters life.
4) Palmetto bugs are giant roaches that came here from Asia aboard ships. The giant developers that sold swamp land in FL long ago, named them palmetto bugs to make them seem less disgusting. They don't eat, live in or have anything to do with the Palmetto Plant.
5) If you must buy waterfront, use an agent that is a waterfront expert. Anyone can put expert in their ads, but if they can't show you waterfront homes from their own boat in the canal behind the home, you have a landlubber, not a waterfront specialist. They can also give you good advice on what kind of boat to get for what you want to do, before you go to the boat dealer.

[CCRESI]

You don't have to be an agent with a boat, to know our waterfront market. The most important thing to know is how far to open waters, price, location, condition of property.

Quick Gulf access is located south of El Dorado Pkwy and Cape Coral pkwy, or East of Del Prado/ South of Veterans. Check out unit 67.

If you want a Gated Community in Cape Coral, with Gulf Access, look at Cape Harbour.

There is also Freshwater Canals in Cape Coral, they are located in the innermost part of the City. Some of these canals connect to lakes.

Make sure to get a map from your agent as well.

Happy house hunting! How exciting

[rikoshaprl]

For waterfront property you may also be interested in the waterview. That will be better on a wide canal, intersecting canals, basins(very wide intersecting canals) or looking down a canal from the lot on the end. Also, if you like watching boats go by, pick a canal that has a lot of boats upstream so they will pass your home on the way to open water. Be careful of low bridges if you are not on a sailboat access canal. The heights at high tide vary between 8ft and 11ft 3in. That is a big factor in the size boat you can have. Lastly, be aware of locks and lifts that can cause delays in your trip out to open water.

Map of Cape Coral Florida

[CCRESI]

Originally Posted by rikoshaprl

For waterfront property you may also be interested in the waterview. That will be better on a wide canal, intersecting canals, basins(very wide intersecting canals) or looking down a canal from the lot on the end. Also, if you like watching boats go by, pick a canal that has a lot of boats upstream so they will pass your home on the way to open water. Be careful of low bridges if you are not on a sailboat access canal. The heights at high tide vary between 8ft and 11ft 3in. That is a big factor in the size boat you can have. Lastly, be aware of locks and lifts that can cause delays in your trip out to open water.

Map of Cape Coral Florida

Very good sound advice Riko!