What do first-home buyers do here?!? Nobody will sell to us! (Fort Myers: rental, condo)

[FloridAussie]

Originally Posted by Sweetbottoms

Honestly we gave up and are leaving the state. We tried for forever to buy a house (in Naples). We had $70,000 cash down and were fully approved. Couldn't find a freaking thing. Any offer we did put in was beat out by cash buyers/investors by $40,000 over asking. The highest house we offered on was just under $300,000. For a freaking starter!!! It needed a new roof that we were even willing to pay for. The taxes on it were almost $3000 a year. That's high for SWFL considering. We saw those prices in New England. Lord knows what insurance would have been on it.

By the time we had had enough the market got so high we couldn't afford a single family anymore. Moving to Nc where my down payment is just less than half the price of a beautiful 3/2 two story without my neighbor up my butt on either side. I was looking at a mortgage around $1500+ a month here and around $700 up there. It's a no brainer.

So sorry Naples didn't work out for you. NC does sound really nice though, so all's well that ends well?

Originally Posted by cfbs2691

It's insane and I know where you're coming from.

I recently watched a documentary on the state of Florida.
It went back to the early 1900s.
It's always been the state's goal to attract wealthy people who can afford to own more than one home.

Us "average Joes" were/are never part of the equation.

It's so odd here; there are practically two Floridas, co-existing but mostly separate: "Glamourous Florida", the international tourist destination full of beaches and retirees, and "Old Florida", which is basically the furthest edge of the South, full of trucks, live oaks and families have been here since the whole state was a huge swamp full of mosquitoes, with no air conditioning. Totally different cultures, too, right next to each other!

[Mr Cape Coral]

No matter what part of the country you live in, the best and least stressful approach to finding suitable housing to buy is by using the services of a knowledgeable real estate agent.
They can help you narrow your search without driving endlessly. They can set up showings for homes that may fit your needs.
An agent should be able to provide a good Comparative Market Analysis for the house you would like to put an offer on. Then you will know what the market value is rather than what ever a seller is asking.
The agent should be skilled in negotiations and would assist you in getting the home for the best price.
Your agent would be able to guide you to Lenders who have products that fit your financial situation.
Your agent represents you through the entire process of the transaction.
When people do not use an agent they are more than likely going to go through great frustrations and often leave money on the table.
An agent that represents the Buyer is paid by the Seller so it makes no sense to not use a good agent.

[chiluvr1228]

Originally Posted by FloridAussie

We have asked her if there's anything else we should be doing; mostly, she just says, "we'll keep looking, something will come up."

The only thing she's suggested that we haven't tried yet, is she thinks we should consider the area around City of Palms Park, directly south of downtown, because places stay on the market much longer there, and sell for much less. We've gone to look at some houses there, but we're hesitant because we're still not sure how safe that area is.

On the crime maps, it says, "high crime" (higher than anywhere else except Tice and Dunbar); on these forums, I've seen the area beside the stadium on the east discussed as a 'no go' zone at night; and every local we've asked who isn't trying to sell us a home has said it's a bad area. We haven't lived there ourselves ever, so we don't really no for sure, though.

Is the area south of City of Palms Park reasonably safe now? Is it good to own a home there?

NO, NO & NO!!! That area is where most of the crime occurs and is only blocks away from Dunbar. Avoid it like the plague. Parts of Fort Myers in that general area also flood during a heavy thunderstorm, imagine if we had a hurricane? Stay away from Lehigh Acres, Harlem Heights and parts of San Carlos also.

[FloridAussie]

Originally Posted by chiluvr1228

NO, NO & NO!!! That area is where most of the crime occurs and is only blocks away from Dunbar. Avoid it like the plague. Parts of Fort Myers in that general area also flood during a heavy thunderstorm, imagine if we had a hurricane? Stay away from Lehigh Acres, Harlem Heights and parts of San Carlos also.

Thanks for letting me know. Our realtor is increasingly pushing us toward that neighborhood (south of City of Palms Park, around Canal St) as our 'practical', 'realistic' option, basically because if we put an offer on one of the places there, it's waaaaaay more likely to be accepted, for some reason.

Whereas the other options I want to look at are small multi-families (duplexes and rooming houses), esp if we could turn them back to single-family later; mixed-use properties (the ones we can get financing on, anyway; many have to be bought using commercial loan, not mortgage); condos; etc.

Also, we've looked at places in the area along the river, east of downtown, right above Palm Beach Boulevard. There are some nice places riverside, of course, but the neighborhoods change fast. I'm honestly not sure if I'd want to walk up to Palm Beach Boulevard for errands, because I've seen some sketchy stuff going on when I've driven through there.

My in-laws keep telling us to move to Lehigh, even saying it'll be a great investment... somehow, they've never quite managed to convince me.

[NoSnow4me]

"My in-laws keep telling us to move to Lehigh, even saying it'll be a great investment... somehow, they've never quite managed to convince me."

Your in-laws clearly hate you. Sleep with one eye open when you're at their house.

Being serious though, Lehigh is a very risky investment. The lowest prices are there, but Lehigh has the least likelihood in the region for improvement, except for the bad areas of Ft. Myers. If the place ever turns around and runs the dregs off, you might get higher return on investment because everything's so cheap now, but it's at least as likely that gang-bangers are going to make your life miserable there and that will get worse, and your investment will be a disaster.

[Tman46544]

Originally Posted by CindyRoos

Wow.....that is really shocking to know!!

You think that is cheap compared to Florida. $604 a month with everything es-crowed. 2500 sq ft, two story, 2.5 garage, tall tree line along the back, 2.5 bathrooms and 5 bedrooms on a 1/4 acre in Indiana. You would pass out if seen some of the prices I have seen in Kentucky.

[FloridAussie]

Originally Posted by NoSnow4me

Your in-laws clearly hate you. Sleep with one eye open when you're at their house.

Lolol. And here I thought they were finally warming up to me!

Originally Posted by NoSnow4me

Being serious though, Lehigh is a very risky investment. The lowest prices are there, but Lehigh has the least likelihood in the region for improvement, except for the bad areas of Ft. Myers. If the place ever turns around and runs the dregs off, you might get higher return on investment because everything's so cheap now, but it's at least as likely that gang-bangers are going to make your life miserable there and that will get worse, and your investment will be a disaster.

Thank you for articulating this. I had a similar feeling about the place, but didn't quite know how to put it. Mostly, when I look around Lehigh, I don't see any of the type of places I've worked for/with my whole career! I guess that points to bigger problems, re what kinds of employment and industry are in the area. I saw a lot of big box stores that have mostly low-skill-low-pay jobs, medical/education/govt jobs that every place has to have, but few businesses that would be bringing money into the area. It mostly seemed like a dormitory suburb that doesn't empty out during the day any more, so people find trouble for something to do.

Downtown FM has potential to improve. Florida has such a strong brand internationally for tourism that any FL city with something interesting / different to offer can do well. Plus there are 600,000 people in Lee County, who could be congregating downtown when they have money to spend, if there's appealing things there for them. The City is pouring money into fixing up downtown, because services are cheaper to provide for a compact population than a spread out one (and I imagine also because City staff have to work there!) In particular parts of downtown, every vacant lot is now owned by either a multi-outlet business, a developer or a land bank investor. So there's people smarter and richer than me banking on the area improving.

So thanks again for the advice about Lehigh; I hadn't quite put my finger on why I've always felt so strongly, "do not go live here!" when I've visited.

I'm still hoping to find the perfect little sliver of FM where property is still cheap now because the area looks bad, but it's got good stuff and will improve... but isn't everyone??

[NoSnow4me]

Although you seem convinced already, I realized that it isn't as helpful to just say that Lehigh is unlikely to improve as it is to give some input on why I wouldn't be optimistic. I'll concede that I've only lived in SWFL for a couple of years. I pay a lot of attention and have learned a ton about the gears that make the area work, but if anyone reading this knows my info to be incorrect or incomplete, please feel free to rake me over the coals.

Aside from the entrenched bad element that would have to be reformed in order for quality of life and property value to improve, Lehigh isn't a city. It's unincorporated Lee County. Efforts to improve an area are usually driven by city government, but the County is all they have. The county provides law enforcement and maintains infrastructure, but I don't think they have any particular program in place to focus on making Lehigh better. Even if they do, they have the whole rest of the county to deal with as well, so it would only be one piece of a much larger puzzle.

There is a Lehigh Acres Community Council and a Chamber of Commerce that may assume that role somewhat, but only in a very limited community organizer sense. They wouldn't have authority to spend any tax money on projects, for example. I don't know how active they are, but the community council's web site hasn't updated their meeting minutes in over a year, so I'm guessing not much is going on with that. With the county running things, it will be up to the local community to turn things around, but I've never once seen a news clip about either of the above organizations doing anything. Without a strong desire and a lot activism from the people that live there, the county will not likely step in to do it on its own, and fear of retaliation does much to discourage activists from going after the problem of reforming the bad element.

Now, I have talked to people that say that there are areas of Lehigh that "aren't that bad", but that isn't the glowing endorsement I'd look for in a home. When my Wife and I first got here, chatting with the lady who set us up with license plates for our cars, we mentioned that we were going to go look around Lehigh the next day. She lived there and told us that she likes it because they were able to afford a nice big house on a big lot. She just doesn't go outside at night. Problem solved. I wouldn't be ok with living like that, myself.

[JazzmanLI]

Who is doing all of the "all cash" offers? My parents sold a condo in Fort Myers for "all cash" to a snowbird couple up north. I would imagine its the seasonal residents... there is no way the majority of young families have the means to do this.
I will be looking for my first home within the year... doesn't sound like this will be promising...

[FLHfan]

Originally Posted by JazzmanLI

Who is doing all of the "all cash" offers? My parents sold a condo in Fort Myers for "all cash" to a snowbird couple up north. I would imagine its the seasonal residents... there is no way the majority of young families have the means to do this.
I will be looking for my first home within the year... doesn't sound like this will be promising...

Lots of retirees are selling up north, buying houses with cash and moving here full time.