Cape Coral - cost of home ownership (how much, houses)

[NJ~LuLu]

Originally Posted by palewaly

Bill, I was recently looking at homes in Cape Coral, off Pelican and then 52 st. Canal front, end of canal make a right down the main canal to open water. Is this a good place to be for a boater? I am originally from LI myself. I do not want bridges, locks or long runs to open water. Any concerns with the areas off of 52 street?

Hello, saw you post, IIRC this is a very nice area by the Rose Garden? I think there is a Marina back there in fact brand new condo built completely around. A friend of mine lives on SW 52 terr off of Aqualinda on a canal and there you have to go through the lock by Rumrunners. Still very nice. Check online for some maps of the canal system in the Cape you may be able to google your area. Hope this helps.

[lb01]

Originally Posted by njkate

Good grief, how much lower can some of these homes go?
I've seen decent homes listed as short sales for under $80K

Just bought a 3 br/2 fulls bths for 66K, and the value is already going up. Great Time To Buy!!!!!

[NJ~LuLu]

Originally Posted by lb01

Just bought a 3 br/2 fulls bths for 66K, and the value is already going up. Great Time To Buy!!!!!

Wish you best of luck! Before the real estate boom 159.00 was a going price for 3/2 homes, waterfront of cource about 350 and up. Tis a shame what happened, but the whole country was affected, not just florida. Job market down there really bottomed out. When I built my home in SW had to wait almost a month for inspections (2006), but we are still OK in value.

Cheers.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by jlawrence01

I have NO skin in the game regarding Cape Coral as we do not live there and have no intention of moving to Florida. (Our eventual destination will be Southern Texas or middle Tennessee). We were doing some investigative work in Cape Coral a couple of weeks ago.

The home prices in the Cape Coral area are fantastic. There are few places in the US where you can purchase a 1800-2400 square foot home for $60-100k and have a selection that you will in Cape Coral. The homes are reasonably well constructed although obviously, you need a home inspector for ANY home purchase. Many homes in the NW section may or may not be fully completed. Make sure that you know what you are getting into.

Do realize that the NE and NW sections of Cape Coral resemble an inner city area; that is, out of 20 homesites, there may be 5-7 homes. There are homes that are partially constructed and the builder has walked off without completing. There are homes that are REOs - and you can tell because even though they have no real estate sign, there is a key box.

If you are planning to stay for 8-10 years, there is a decent chance of significant price appreciation in that the purchase price is less than the cost of building. If your job will move you in two to three years, DO NOT BUY. You may lose your butt even at the lower prices.

I did not see the usual signs of a high crime area - huge alarm signs, bars over the windows. Some partially completed homes were boarded up. If I bought into the area, I would sign a contract with an alarm company.

Before you make any decisions, YOU need to fly down there and look at the area to see if you feel comfortable. The area will be attractive to some and quite scary to others.

That's it!!!!!!!!!

Follow these directions very carefully.

[merillo5]

I currently live in New York City and want to buy a home in Cape Coral.From what I understand I should buy in SE or SW area that these are the better areas.This will be my 1st purchase so any pointers would be appreciated.Also I do have 2 children in grammer school so what is the best school areas to buy? Do I have to hire someone to do my lawn or am I allowed to do it myself ? Has Cape Coral ever had a tornado and if their are no basements where do people go ?

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by merillo5

I currently live in New York City and want to buy a home in Cape Coral.From what I understand I should buy in SE or SW area that these are the better areas.This will be my 1st purchase so any pointers would be appreciated.Also I do have 2 children in grammer school so what is the best school areas to buy? Do I have to hire someone to do my lawn or am I allowed to do it myself ? Has Cape Coral ever had a tornado and if their are no basements where do people go ?

The SE and SW areas of Cape Coral are more developed, a bit older, and far more developed. There are homes on most lot. They are also a lot closer to the action and have more access to the water. The NW and NE sections of the city are LESS likely to be fully developed. If you want to see the difference, go to the GOOGLE MAPS street view and pick some areas to "virtually walk" through.

You can do your own lawn.

I don't think that there is an enormous risk of tornados in SW FL. Hurricanes are very possible.

[merillo5]

JlawrenceO1 I am taking it that you live there ? What is the best public grammer school ? Are there gangs there ? If so I will just stay in N.Y.

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by merillo5

JlawrenceO1 I am taking it that you live there ? What is the best public grammer school ? Are there gangs there ? If so I will just stay in N.Y.

I don't live there and I don't send children to public schools so I am not the best one to ask that. I hit 20-30 states a year in my travels and just spent a couple days in the Fort Myers area.

If you think that you are going to move anywhere in the world where your kids will not be exposed to gangs and drugs, you are naive. Whether you live in rural Nebraska or the southside of Chicago, any kid looking for trouble will find trouble.

[vman650]

Originally Posted by jlawrence01

I have NO skin in the game regarding Cape Coral as we do not live there and have no intention of moving to Florida. (Our eventual destination will be Southern Texas or middle Tennessee). We were doing some investigative work in Cape Coral a couple of weeks ago.

The home prices in the Cape Coral area are fantastic. There are few places in the US where you can purchase a 1800-2400 square foot home for $60-100k and have a selection that you will in Cape Coral. The homes are reasonably well constructed although obviously, you need a home inspector for ANY home purchase. Many homes in the NW section may or may not be fully completed. Make sure that you know what you are getting into.

Do realize that the NE and NW sections of Cape Coral resemble an inner city area; that is, out of 20 homesites, there may be 5-7 homes. There are homes that are partially constructed and the builder has walked off without completing. There are homes that are REOs - and you can tell because even though they have no real estate sign, there is a key box.

If you are planning to stay for 8-10 years, there is a decent chance of significant price appreciation in that the purchase price is less than the cost of building. If your job will move you in two to three years, DO NOT BUY. You may lose your butt even at the lower prices.

I did not see the usual signs of a high crime area - huge alarm signs, bars over the windows. Some partially completed homes were boarded up. If I bought into the area, I would sign a contract with an alarm company.

Before you make any decisions, YOU need to fly down there and look at the area to see if you feel comfortable. The area will be attractive to some and quite scary to others.

I fully agree with what you said. If you are going to live in the house for 10 years, you cannot lose. On the other hand, buying and hoping to turn a quick profit may not work. It is just as likely that prices will remain flat as they are to go up. With flat prices, taxes and maintenance will eat speculators up unless they can rent. Snowbirds who plan on buying a second home need to have deep enough pockets to afford the upkeep on two residences.

[cribseller]

I live in the nw cape, beautiful homes in this area but far from everything, if you are looking for peace and quiet this is the place to be, most of the nw cape is on water with access to gulf, average prices for gulf access is $300.00 to 380.00 just did a comparative market analysis for a client and that is the going price, now you may find forclosures for $270.000 or $290.000 if your lucky and have money to pay for it you can get a gulf access fixer upper for $250.000 I am a realtor I know what I am talking about when it comes to the nw cape, I LIVE HERE I have an access home. Want to sell but I can't sell right now for $300.000 have to wait until prices go up or I will loose my rear end. And the assessments are coming now is the time to buy if you don't want to pay more than 4800.00 for water if you pay by November otherwise is 16000.00 buy now or don't buy at all in the nw cape.