Cape Coral, FL. (Fort Myers, Country Club, Iona: real estate, housing, rental)

[rlavin]

I am looking at waterfront property in Cape Coral . I am coming in from New Jersey Dec 28-29 . Could you send me the info you refered to ? Thanks.

Originally Posted by NYBill

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

[hairxpert44]

Originally Posted by rlavin

Looking for some "gotchas " when looking to purchase property in Cape Coral . Coming in from New Jersey DEC 28-29 looking at waterfront property in Unit 58 and unit 59. Any helpfull hints or preliminary questions I should ask ?

We moved to Cape Coral a year and a half ago and wished we were told about the water problem (salt water that is). We had to dig a whole new well AND get a whole house reverse osmosis system because our salt ppm was so extremely high. That was over $10,000 to do. I imagine that was mainly the fault of our realtor which is why he kicked in 2000.00 after the fact. The other thing is that when city comes to hook up with water/sewer, we HAVE to hook up when right now we are told we could bottle our water and sell it!
So check your situation out. Do not buy a "frame "home.
Things have been sitting, and going down in price for along time now, so offer low. You just may get it for what your offering.
You don't really want to be at the end of a canal. There tends to be alot of "build up".
Check the height of the bridges when you are buying gulf access.
Meet with some of the neighbors if you decide you like a certain neighborhood. We met some of ours at Halloween and i can't tell you how nice they were. We picked a great neighborhood. We love the NW area-it's a bit newer than the rest of Cape Coral. In general, the people here are friendlier than the people in Naples(we lived there our first year in Florida). At least that's what we've found.

[rlavin]

Thank you I appreciate it. What I am looking for is a waterfront lot. Saltwater , Gulf access.

[FedUpInFtMyers]

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

Stay away from SW FL and Lee County in general. Cape Coral is TOO CLOSE to Ft Myers to be even remotely pleasant. Housing is still high, taxes are terrible, jobs that pay a living wage are few and far between, crime is growing in leaps and bounds, and people just don't make any sense in Lee County. Go to St Pete if you can or any other neighboring city there. People on this board have said it is expensive there, but it is a whole lot cheaper than here, and I am going back there ASAP even if it means continuing the mortgage here while renting there. If not there, it will be somewhere else permanently so that I can get on with the business of living my life again. Everything here is so difficult, and that is not just my opinion. I have a lot to compare it to as I was born and raised in the Midwest and moved to St Pete when I was 30 and foolishly came down to Ft Myers to be with my fiance. I naively thought it would be just the same here as it was in St Pete. Boy, was I ever wrong!!! If you are moving to improve your quality of life, please do not come to Lee County. I have met very few people here who love it. It is more of a tourist, seasonal, and retirement location. And that job growth stuff they boast about in addition to the low unemployment rate is smoke and mirrors. It is jobs in hospitality and food service, also skilled medical professionals. I have been in the workforce for 20 years with a specialization, and employers have had me come to interviews to offer me what I was making when I was 18 years old. Part time jobs in the Tampa. St Pete areas pay more than the full time jobs here. Look at the popular job sites online before coming here. Then compare the job listings to that of St Pete Tampa areas, even Sarasota. I so hope you heed my advice. I wish you much luck in your decision.

[dreamofmonterey]

Originally Posted by FedUpInFtMyers

Stay away from SW FL and Lee County in general. Cape Coral is TOO CLOSE to Ft Myers to be even remotely pleasant. Housing is still high, taxes are terrible, jobs that pay a living wage are few and far between, crime is growing in leaps and bounds, and people just don't make any sense in Lee County. Go to St Pete if you can or any other neighboring city there. People on this board have said it is expensive there, but it is a whole lot cheaper than here, and I am going back there ASAP even if it means continuing the mortgage here while renting there. If not there, it will be somewhere else permanently so that I can get on with the business of living my life again. Everything here is so difficult, and that is not just my opinion. I have a lot to compare it to as I was born and raised in the Midwest and moved to St Pete when I was 30 and foolishly came down to Ft Myers to be with my fiance. I naively thought it would be just the same here as it was in St Pete. Boy, was I ever wrong!!! If you are moving to improve your quality of life, please do not come to Lee County. I have met very few people here who love it. It is more of a tourist, seasonal, and retirement location. And that job growth stuff they boast about in addition to the low unemployment rate is smoke and mirrors. It is jobs in hospitality and food service, also skilled medical professionals. I have been in the workforce for 20 years with a specialization, and employers have had me come to interviews to offer me what I was making when I was 18 years old. Part time jobs in the Tampa. St Pete areas pay more than the full time jobs here. Look at the popular job sites online before coming here. Then compare the job listings to that of St Pete Tampa areas, even Sarasota. I so hope you heed my advice. I wish you much luck in your decision.

wow- fedup- where you are sounds the same as ALL of south florida- Dade/Broward/PBC and now I am sure areas like Jupiter/north of West Palm will follow suit. West Palm was "booming"" too- yeah- booming with highways being built and housing developments they erected in West Palm, all the way up to PGA Hwy. People don't realize that, unless they are retired there is no future there.

[firemed]

Originally Posted by rlavin

Thank you I appreciate it. What I am looking for is a waterfront lot. Saltwater , Gulf access.

do you know how long it will take to get to the gulf from Cape Coral ? For the price Check out Pine Island.

[NYBill]

Haven't been here for a while and it seems that there a lot of nay sayers here. Simple, don't like it move, See ya don't let the door hit you in the behind on the way out.

The News Press is a rag, end of story, they just want negitve things to print and blow things way out of proportion.

I bought my home here in March of 2002. I have a 100X125 lot that is 20 minutes to the River which is also sailboat access, no bridges or lifts. I did my homework spending months on a computer looking at prices, areas, what is coming up in the future etc. Here is one item I found, granted it was from 1999 but when I was looking it started out in the end of 2001.

http://www.feasinomics.com/news/may99.htm

All of a sudden everyone heard the Cape was a hot investment, and just like the rest of the country we too a hit last year, mostly becuase of all the property specualtion going on. Ok we hit a mjor bump but we also appreciated 46-48% a year for 3 years running after I bought. Not a bad investmtent if you ask me. For the people that where looking for quick turnover they got hurt, but greed usually does that to people eventually.

Now with interest rates leveling out you will find real market value, not just here but across the entire country.

Sounds like sour grapes to me for those that got caught up in the last 12-18 months when they purchased and now have to ride out the storm. I could think of a lot worse places to ride this out, be here is not one of them. I guess they thought the real estate market wasn't going to collapse the way it did. In reality it couldn't keep going the way it was.

If you are thinking of buying now and 6 months from now would be the best bet. Sailboat lots (80X125) are still available for around 400K in my area. Or beter yet 2 Bedroom tear downs are going for about 429- 469.

Everytime I ride down Bimini Canal there is always another older home being torn down and some monster homes being put up, over 3500 square feet and beautiful homes.

The redevelpment of the downtown area is slowy getting under way with some projects already completed. All though I don't tlike the N/Press it was stated the other day that the commitiee is pushing the city to get this moving. Both the city and the investment groups agreed to expedite the modifications of , trafic, water, strom water drainage and building codes.
Once these projects are done, including 2 12 story towers, reatail on the bottom and condos on top you would be wishing you bought, or stayed and rode out this little ruffle we have. IMHO~ Knee jerk reactions are always the worst thing and usually will cost you down the road.

[NYBill]

Originally Posted by rlavin

Thank you I appreciate it. What I am looking for is a waterfront lot. Saltwater , Gulf access.

If you want e-mail me and I'll send you to someone that will help you out.
She was my real estate angent and friend now belive it or not, and went far beyond what most agents do.

[Southside Shrek]

rlavin
if you're pursuing waterfront, saltwater and Gulf access, have you considered Sanibel? I just returned from Sanibel and it was truly paradise.

[hairxpert44]

Originally Posted by rlavin

Thank you I appreciate it. What I am looking for is a waterfront lot. Saltwater , Gulf access.

That's actually what we have. Ours is up for sale. We are looking for a 4 br because we have kids and have a 3br/3ba now.