Thinking about buying condo in Ft Myers Area - Advice & Suggestions? (Fort Myers: real estate, apartments)

[wjbraden]

Hello there city-data-ers! My father and I are from up North and have tinkered around with the idea of buying a condominium in the Fort Myers area in the next year or so. I am currently living in the area and have been for the past two years (so we already know what the area is like and which parts of town to avoid and such).

The only reason my father has not come down here is because he works for the State and can not move here permanently until he reaches retirement age (which is still a little ways off for him). I am attending College and working part time and have been living in an apartment for the past two years (minus the summertime, when I go back home for vacation).

Anyway, as much as I love the area, the rents here are somewhat high (the apartment I'm living in currently, which is $620/month plus electric, is the cheapest place I could find that wouldn't be miles away from the College). That's not factoring in deposits, applications checks, renter's insurance and other assorted fees. Plus, the apartments here are not exactly the world's greatest, considering the maintence crew only seems to fix things when they get around to it. That is why we have thought about getting a small one or two-bedroom condominium that we could keep year-round and have something to show for the money we keep putting out in this half-rate apartment. I know people in the area who have purchase such units for under $30,000, which would definitely be something in our price range. Plus, my father's brother has expressed interest in coming down here half the year from the North, so we may be able to split the costs of a unit 50/50 when he comes down.

So I ask you fellow city-data-ers, would buying a condo in the area be a viable option for my father, uncle and I? What kind of fees and taxes would we be looking at? We have done some basic research, but it would be nice to get a full breakdown of what estimated costs might be, from fellow users.

Thanks in advance!

[Florida Paradise]

Not sure you have the right information regarding the prices for condos. 30 grand? Maybe During the height if the recession 6-7 years ago? Or in the middle of the ghetto?

You need to take a look at the local listings within an area you are looking to live. Most of the 2 bedroom condos the getter areas hi for close to 100,000 these days.

[wjbraden]

^ Sorry, I meant to type, "$30,000 for one bedroom, $60,000 for two bedroom" in my original post, I just wasn't able to edit it to make it clearer.

I personally know somebody who bought a condo just last year in the downtown area for around $30,000, but he got an extremely good deal and had his eye on it for a long while.

I've done some research on zillow and realtor.com and see what you mean by a lot of the two bedroom condos in the area being over the $100K range, but we have already spotted a few that sold recently in the $50,000-$60,000 range, namely in an area near Constitutional Blvd (haven't heard too many bad things about this area, but feel free to chime in if any of you guys have heard anything I haven't).

So we know there are a few good deals out there occasionally, you just have to have some time and patience (which we have, since this is still kind of a "in the works deal").

Thanks for the advice so far!

[Kim in FL]

Originally Posted by wjbraden

^ Sorry, I meant to type, "$30,000 for one bedroom, $60,000 for two bedroom" in my original post, I just wasn't able to edit it to make it clearer.

I personally know somebody who bought a condo just last year in the downtown area for around $30,000, but he got an extremely good deal and had his eye on it for a long while.

I've done some research on zillow and realtor.com and see what you mean by a lot of the two bedroom condos in the area being over the $100K range, but we have already spotted a few that sold recently in the $50,000-$60,000 range, namely in an area near Constitutional Blvd (haven't heard too many bad things about this area, but feel free to chime in if any of you guys have heard anything I haven't).

So we know there are a few good deals out there occasionally, you just have to have some time and patience (which we have, since this is still kind of a "in the works deal").

Thanks for the advice so far!

You're still way off on your prices. Where exactly in downtown Fort Myers is this condo? Just so you know...one mile in any direction from downtown is the ghetto. You'll find all sorts of cheap homes there.

I've lived here a long time and I can't seem to place Constitutional Blvd in Fort Myers. Where exactly is this?


EDITED TO ADD:

right after I posted the above I remembered where I saw this street. It's San Carlos Park. Not a great place..not a ghetto (yet) but homes are cheap and rents are cheap.


Are we talking about the same st? It's right off S 41?

[wjbraden]

Originally Posted by Kim in FL

You're still way off on your prices. Where exactly in downtown Fort Myers is this condo? Just so you know...one mile in any direction from downtown is the ghetto. You'll find all sorts of cheap homes there.

I've lived here a long time and I can't seem to place Constitutional Blvd in Fort Myers. Where exactly is this?


EDITED TO ADD:

right after I posted the above I remembered where I saw this street. It's San Carlos Park. Not a great place..not a ghetto (yet) but homes are cheap and rents are cheap.


Are we talking about the same st? It's right off S 41?

The condo in question is across from Caloosa Harbor. It's a nice little one bedroom place, in an older, yet maintained old apartment building. I know the further east you go from there, things get a little dicey.

Yes, the Constitutional Blvd I'm taking about is off of Rt. 41, and is a part of San Carlos Park, as you mentioned. I've heard it's a pretty decent area from some people who have lived there, but I'm open to hearing more about it.

[Kim in FL]

Originally Posted by wjbraden

The condo in question is across from Caloosa Harbor. It's a nice little one bedroom place, in an older, yet maintained old apartment building. I know the further east you go from there, things get a little dicey.

Yes, the Constitutional Blvd I'm taking about is off of Rt. 41, and is a part of San Carlos Park, as you mentioned. I've heard it's a pretty decent area from some people who have lived there, but I'm open to hearing more about it.

San Carlos Park is not a 'pretty decent' area...far from it. It's more an 'ok' area. I personally wouldn't live there nor would I allow my children to live there, but that's me. I've know quite a few people who have lived there and they all got out because of the crime and general decline of the area.

If you want cheap, that's the place to go. Just remember it's cheap for a reason and will probably always stay cheap unless the county goes in and cleans it up.

That whole area by Caloosa Harbor is dicey. When you said downtown I assumed you meant proper downtown not the outlying areas (which are all quite dicey). You get what you pay for...I suggest you take some time and drive around these areas at different times of the day and night.

[GreggT]

Also when you are doing your budget I saw you failed to mention HOA fees (which can take a big monthly bite), taxes, insurance, utilities, plus maintenance.
Like the others I rather doubt your 30K pricing............

[wjbraden]

^Thanks for your help!

But good area/bad area aside, do you think our idea of buying a condo is a good idea? It just seems that $600+utilities for a shabby apartment is a racket, and that in the long run we would be saving money, especially with my uncle contributing to HOA feesn, taxes, insurance, utilities and maintenance costs.

[Kim in FL]

Only you can answer that question.

The price you're looking to pay is going to land you in a less than desirable area. If you don't mind living in the hood or quasi-hood, go for it.

That $30k condo is more than likely going to cost you $600 a month and that's without the mortgage payment. I'm assuming you're paying cash because it's hard to mortgage such a low dollar amount. The average HOA/Association fee per month is roughly $350..and that's on the low side and then add all your other condo expenses.

Take some time off and visit down here for a few weeks. Spend time in the areas you're looking at...drive around them during the day and at night and different days of the week. Stop and talk to any LEO you see in the area...they will tell you straight up if it's a decent area or not. LEOs will be honest with you...real estate agents will lie thru their teeth to make a sale.

Good luck

[wjbraden]

^Thanks for your help, really appreciate it! We still have a lot more research to do, but we just kind of wanted to put our feelers out there.