Cape Coral, FL. (Sarasota, Naples, Captiva: for sale, city hall, insurance)

[NYBill]

BTW ..Cape Coral is a 163 square miles also, forgot to throw that one in there.

[Bill T]

We live in Punta Gorda and often dine in Cape Coral. You will find the Cape Coral growing and increasingly expensive. The costs of insurance is increasing by about 35% per year and the deductibles are increasing. Ours is now $12,000.00. Alternatively, it has culture, ambiance and lots of find dining near by. The fishing is great and the boating excellent, provided you are used to shallow water and constant crab traps.

[bamboosmom]

Oh wow, your insurance is high. Our insurance is a little over $1,000 a year.
Boy we are lucky compared to the $12,000. Bill T is paying.

[NYBill]

Originally Posted by Bill T

Ours is now $12,000.00. Alternatively, it has culture, ambiance and lots of find dining near by. The fishing is great and the boating excellent, provided you are used to shallow water and constant crab traps.

Are you sure that's is the right number? That's just for insurance?

[Milabs]

NYBILL...I grew up in Cape Coral and lived there for 24yrs..I do know what I am talking about. I only left 5 yrs ago. You forget to mention the list of ordinances the Cape has

[NYBill]

Originally Posted by Milabs

NYBILL...I grew up in Cape Coral and lived there for 24yrs..I do know what I am talking about. I only left 5 yrs ago. You forget to mention the list of ordinances the Cape has

Things have changed in 5 years and for the better I feel. If things where left status quo there would be no room for improvement


They do have ordinances for sure but nothing you can't live with. If your reffering to keeping your boat off the street or front driveway I happen to agree with that. If I wanted to live in a marina I would.

[NYBill]

Originally Posted by LeeAnn1492

Please, anyone who knows anything about Cape Coral Fl. Please let me know. I am thinking of moving there and don't want to make a mistake. How is it different than anywhere else in Florida? I understand if has lot's of Canals. Does Cape Coral have a Beach? Are Hurricanes bad there? I appreciate all of you and your post will be so helpful. I am new here and do not know how to PM, so I need to learn my way around the forum.

I am from KY.

I hope to make some good friends here that I can rely on for advice.

LeeAnn

Well there is enough info for you here but no responce? I even sent you an e-mail with these replies

[Connie PIO]

First, let me introduce myself. I am the Public Information Director for the City of Cape Coral. Obviously, I would take issue with the "corruption" comment about City government. It simply is not true.

I also would advise one to read the information on the News-Press and its forum with a healthy dose of skepticism. The paper has proven time and time again that it is incapable of printing fair and balanced articles. Their goal is to "inflame" rather than "inform."

As for the information posted, I believe I can clarify. It is expensive to live in Cape Coral. Our market values have increased by unprecedented amounts the past 4 years. However, Cape Coral is not unique. All of Florida is experiencing the boom. All of Florida also is experiencing the sticker shock of two consecutive active hurricane seasons. Homeowners insurance has gone up considerably, although the $12K amount Bill T mentioned probably was referring to the deductible and not the actual premium.

Another byproduct of the hurricane seasons, and the damage inflicted, is that the cost of building materials has soared. This partially explains why costs have increased for utilities extension. The cost for building materials in Florida is "insane," as one national building publication described.

The current amount for water, sewer and irrigation lines is about $18K for a typical, two-lot site (the typical single-family building site in Cape Coral...you cannot build on one lot). The price initially was about $22K, but the City and construction manager created some savings due to redesigning the project and changing the methodology for calculating the amount that large parcels pay. There also was savings from using lesser-quality materials on some parts.

You have several options for paying these assessments. There are three assessments -- water, sewer and irrigation. You can pay one or all of them upfront. You can finance one or all of them for a 20-year period. The annual amount for debt service on this option is added to your property tax bill and collected each year. You do not have the choice of not paying any part of your property tax bill, or the County issues a tax certificate on your property. The third method is to defer one, two or all of the assessments for 20 years. You can pay whatever amount you can afford each year toward the debt, and the entire amount has to be paid should you sell the property at any time. The drawback is if you choose not to pay anything because the the deferred amount does accumulate interest. This can balloon into a large amount over time if nothing is paid toward the debt.

There is a big misconception out there that people are being forced out of their homes; however, we have no reports of anyone being "forced" out. Some people may choose to move to avoid the assessments, but that is a choice. There is no reason why anyone should lose their homes, especially with the deferrment option.

The areas that still do not have utilities are in some parts of the southwest Cape and all of the north Cape. The expansion project is scheduled to continue through 2017. We always encourage potential buyers to purchase or build in areas currently served by City utilities. It just makes more sense. But if the north Cape has more attraction for you, then please prepare for the costs associated with utilities extension.

As for the Nile monitor lizards, we do have some in Cape Coral. They were an "introduced" species, and the City is working with the State to try to eradicate the animal.

The beach at the Yacht Club is a nice, little beach. However, it is a beach that abuts the river, so the you are not getting the blue-green saltwaters of a Gulf beach. The water is brackish, but not like the beaches at Ft. Myers Beach and Sanibel. Plus, there are several beaches in Bonita Springs and Naples about an hour away. If you want to have some fun, plan a weekend each month to travel to some of the many beaches up and down the west coast of the state. Lots of nice ones.

The crime rate has NOT skyrocketed. Cape Coral has the 3rd lowest crime rate in the state of Florida for cities with populations over 100,000. We are adding police officers and continue to work on policing methods that help protect the citizens.

To correct a number NYBill put out there, Cape Coral is about 116 square miles, not 163 miles.

Just like any city, Cape Coral has ordinances. Some people dislike some of them (like the boat trailer parking) and other people love them. They are not out of line with other communities.

That wraps it up for me. Let me know if you have other questions.

[pslOldTimer]

Welcome, Connie. It's always good to get information straight from the source rather than wonder if the second hand information is accurate.


Cape Coral is similar in many ways to Port St. Lucie, where I live. We're about the same size. If you're up to 116 Sq miles, I think you might have edged us out, again, I think we were at 115 Sq miles after our last annexations, but maybe someone annexed a few acres since then and we edged you out again. Cape Coral and Port St. Lucie are the two largest cities in land area in Florida, after Jacksonville, which is only larger because all of Duval County is also in the city of Jacksonville.

For years, Port St. Lucie and Cape Coral have been vying for and swapping the title of safest city in Florida for their size, and both also rank very high (I believe 24th and 25th) in the nation among all cities. I don't see how it could get much better, because up at those levels, the differences are almost too tiny to measure.

Both have been vigorously installing water and sewer systems. Cape Coral began first, and I believe is installing a gravity sewer system. Port St. Lucie observed, then chose a pressure-fed sewer system with a "grinder" installed at each house to begin the processing and then pump the effluent through smaller pipes. This has cost less in initial cost and is faster to install, but experts differ over which will be better and cost less in the long run. Cape Coral will never have to face maintenance of the grinder units (like an extra-large garbage can buried in the yard with a grinder and low-pressure pump).

You mentioned, "The annual amount for debt service on this option is added to your property tax bill and collected each year." Is there interest on this amount? I noticed there is interest building up on the deferred amount. I believe Port St. Lucie has worked out a an interest-free way to collect the amounts and wondered if Cape Coral was doing the same.

Thanks again for taking the time to supply the information.

[carnac]

Update cape Coral publishes a newsletter about the Cape and has done so for 30 years.

They have a dvd that has all issues going back to 2001 plus a series of hundreds of aerial photos of the Cape from 2003, 2005 and 2006. In addition there are some vintage photos.

You can buy for $39

Update cape Coral
PO Box 100070
Cape Coral, Fl. 33910