Looking for a Cape Coral Canal House with Sailboat Access (Lee: for sale by owner, new house)

[nhkev]

Originally Posted by Mike Hammer

Thanks for reply. If $120 a foot is too low for new construction, what is the florida figure you would use?

you can get $120 sq ft but it is not "high end" construction. it would be builder grade construction

[Mike Hammer]

Another option is to find an old house in a good location being offered at a good price and then completely gut the house and start over ...

[redsox1026]

After sailing for a number of years in the waters from Long Island sound to Cape Cod, I moved to Cape Coral with my 32 foot Ketch in 1988. Eventually I moved to power boats since I got serious about diving and the speed of my ketch was impractical.
I have also been a realtor in the Cape since 1988. The south/east end of the Cape is the best suited for sailboats because it is the part of the city closest to the Gulf of Mexico. You are right on about the age of the homes, because this area was where the construction started and many of the homes are smaller and older. There is quite a variety of homes in this area and teardowns are not uncommon. As you move toward the southwest section of the city, the homes will get newer and access is still excellent and you might find something suitable. Mast height is important as there are controlling heights on power lines and bridges. Generally water depth is not a problem and about 200 miles of the canals are saltwater accessible. In the northwest you will find newer homes, as this is a where there has been a spurt in new construction, but central utilities are not available and there is an ongoing discussion as to replacement of a boat lift which, if done, will affect access.
There are a few canals in Ft Myers and Ft Myers Beach. They will be more expensive and you will want to be careful about water depth.
If I can be of any further help, feel free to email me at DavidHeadd@gmail.com or call my cell at (239) 340-9153. As I mentioned I am a realtor with Century 21 Sunbelt Realty and am quite familiar with Lee County and the surrounding waters. I particularly enjoy Cape Coral because of its vitality, excellent infrastructure and safety.

[nhkev]

Originally Posted by redsox1026

After sailing for a number of years in the waters from Long Island sound to Cape Cod, I moved to Cape Coral with my 32 foot Ketch in 1988. Eventually I moved to power boats since I got serious about diving and the speed of my ketch was impractical.
I have also been a realtor in the Cape since 1988. The south/east end of the Cape is the best suited for sailboats because it is the part of the city closest to the Gulf of Mexico. You are right on about the age of the homes, because this area was where the construction started and many of the homes are smaller and older. There is quite a variety of homes in this area and teardowns are not uncommon. As you move toward the southwest section of the city, the homes will get newer and access is still excellent and you might find something suitable. Mast height is important as there are controlling heights on power lines and bridges. Generally water depth is not a problem and about 200 miles of the canals are saltwater accessible. In the northwest you will find newer homes, as this is a where there has been a spurt in new construction, but central utilities are not available and there is an ongoing discussion as to replacement of a boat lift which, if done, will affect access.
There are a few canals in Ft Myers and Ft Myers Beach. They will be more expensive and you will want to be careful about water depth.
If I can be of any further help, feel free to email me at DavidHeadd@gmail.com or call my cell at (239) 340-9153. As I mentioned I am a realtor with Century 21 Sunbelt Realty and am quite familiar with Lee County and the surrounding waters. I particularly enjoy Cape Coral because of its vitality, excellent infrastructure and safety.

there is no ongoing discussion regarding boat lift in the nw. I spoke to the DEP personally , no way it is going back in. the discussion going on today is whether to tear out the lock in the SW spreader, utilities coming to the gulf access areas in the NW starting in 2016

[jnpittman9]

Originally Posted by Mike Hammer

Thanks for the reply. Why is that area tough for a sailboat. Problem with depth of canal or river?

That listing has the canal right out to the river and the current owner seems to have a sailboat. When I searched for your price range and year of home there are a few listings that match. It says gulf access but will take you forever to get to more open water and or small bridges that the mast won't fit under.

[PonceDeLeon]

Originally Posted by Mike Hammer

Thanks for the reply. Why is that area tough for a sailboat. Problem with depth of canal or river?

For that address, ... 1310 SE 23RD PL, CAPE CORAL, FL ... that area is quite a bit upriver, and will take a LONG time for a sailboat to get to the Gulf of Mexico. Also, it is NOT true sailboat access. Some sailboats, yes, but not all. There are still 2 bridges to clear downriver on the way to the Gulf of Mexico. ... the Mid-Point Bridge and the Cape Coral Bridge. Yes, those are somewhat higher bridges, but there are many sailboat masts that don't fit under. They are not even as high as the standard ICW minimum bridge clearance, which is 65-feet. The vertical clearances of those 2 bridges are each only 55 feet. Even a mid-size sloop, such as a 36-foot Hunter, has a mast height a bit taller than 55'. This can be a real concern to serious sailors.

Best luck in your search.

[Mike Hammer]

Originally Posted by PonceDeLeon

For that address, ... 1310 SE 23RD PL, CAPE CORAL, FL ... that area is quite a bit upriver, and will take a LONG time for a sailboat to get to the Gulf of Mexico. Also, it is NOT true sailboat access. Some sailboats, yes, but not all. There are still 2 bridges to clear downriver on the way to the Gulf of Mexico. ... the Mid-Point Bridge and the Cape Coral Bridge. Yes, those are somewhat higher bridges, but there are many sailboat masts that don't fit under. They are not even as high as the standard ICW minimum bridge clearance, which is 65-feet. The vertical clearances of those 2 bridges are each only 55 feet. Even a mid-size sloop, such as a 36-foot Hunter, has a mast height a bit taller than 55'. This can be a real concern to serious sailors.

Best luck in your search.

Thank you for the reply. Sounds like NE is far away from Gulf unless we switch to a powerboat.

If we were to buy an older home in SE to renovate, how strict is Cape Coral building/zoning about changing an outside wall, i.e. to put an addition on bedroom or master bath?

[nhkev]

Originally Posted by Mike Hammer

Thank you for the reply. Sounds like NE is far away from Gulf unless we switch to a powerboat.

If we were to buy an older home in SE to renovate, how strict is Cape Coral building/zoning about changing an outside wall, i.e. to put an addition on bedroom or master bath?

If you buy an old house sometimes when you go to renovate they will make you bring the whole house up to todays codes which could include elevation. that is why people tear down and start from scratch

[Mike Hammer]

Originally Posted by nhkev

If you buy an old house sometimes when you go to renovate they will make you bring the whole house up to todays codes which could include elevation. that is why people tear down and start from scratch

Yikes ... so what has been the experience for how long it takes to build a new house on a lot in Cape Coral?

My Brother in law just had a house built by a developer in New Hampshire. It was seven months from contract to move in.

Someone said Florida takes much longer. Is that true?

[Sun-Dog]

Not sure how much I can help here but I'll give it a try. We moved to the SW section (unit 64) four months ago, to a house on a canal.

There are some some houses under construction on nearby streets. I estimate that they will be approx $600k - $800k properties when done. Unfortunately, they appear to be progressing extremely slowly. A section gets completed and then they sit for weeks waiting for a crew to work on the next section. Seven months is starting to look pretty optimistic for these projects! There have been a number of news reports regarding the shortage of skilled construction labor in the area. On the other hand, there are several $3million+ homes going up near Tarpon Point that are moving right along!?!

We have direct gulf sailboat access (no bridges) from our dock. Located a couple of blocks south of Cape Coral Pkwy, it takes us about half an hour to exit the canals. However, the water is all very shallow inshore, so to reach the deeper, open water of the gulf for safe sailing (I don't sail), you probably need to go another half hour. Pay close attention to those gulf access times and question what they really mean - to the gulf?, to the river?, to ?