Lehigh Acres??? Please let me know!!! (Tampa, Cape Coral: real estate, for rent, insurance)

[lizziep]

Hello. Moving to Lehigh Acres, in about 3 weeks and would like to know everyones comments! We have friends from here who absolutely love it!
Looked up everything I can online but still want to know more straight from the source. Interested in knowing about:

schools
bad/good parts of town
insurance rates (will be renting though)
JOBS/WAGES *is Fort Myers the closest big city or somewhere else??*
daycare expensive


Have a special education daughter 6th grade and two elementary boys
We spend time in the Carribean frequently and are not homebodies.

We are a young couple, easy going, make average money and probably won't be buying a home for quite sometime.

ANY help you all can give, please send it our way! Thanks!

[hiknapster]

Lehigh Acres was the last of the Fort Myer's areas to experience the housing price boom. There is a reason for that. It's well inland, and away from the rest of the area. It consists of flat land with a mish-mash of houses. There is really no town center. In other words, it's a no-man's land.

However, it is only about 15 minutes to Fort Myers.

I have friends that live there. Many people lived there quietly for years.

When the housing prices skyrocketed in Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Bonita Springs and Naples there was nowhere left to go.

A lot of people headed to Lehigh Acres. Not all of them were nice. There has been a huge gang and crime issue there since.

My daughter was in the Lee County school system. They have school choice. What that means is the county will TELL you where your kids will go. I have no information regarding the Lehigh schools, though.

My biggest concern is that you will not own your own home. SW Florida is not for renters.

You said you are moving in three weeks? Are you moving in with your friends? Do you have jobs?

I would be very concerned about moving there.

[lizziep]

My biggest concern is that you will not own your own home. SW Florida is not for renters.

You said you are moving in three weeks? Are you moving in with your friends? Do you have jobs?

No, we have friends there, but we are looking for a house to rent. Seems to be plenty of new construction available for rent. Very reasonable prices, compared to lots of places. My husband has a job waiting there and I was looking at Fort Myers for work. We were just trying to decide between Lehigh Acres or Wesley Chapel/Lutz area. Hard to make a choice from such a distance. We live in the DC Metro area now.

[hiknapster]

Lehigh Acres and Wesley Chapel are 155 miles apart. Where is his job?

[lizziep]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

Lehigh Acres and Wesley Chapel are 155 miles apart. Where is his job?

We were there until last Friday, it was 102 miles from Lehigh Acres to Lutz/Wesley Chapel area where we were staying.When we were leaving, it took us one hour and 1/2 to get from Lehigh to Lutz (not too much traffic) My husband is self employed, independent contractor so he can live in either area, but Lehigh Acres would make things so much easier. More of the work is in that area. But if the area isn't right, Tampa would be the second choice.

[Prichard]

Lehigh Acres is not anywhere near Tampa, or the Tampa Bay area. No one commutes from Lehigh Acres to and from Tampa. Probably because there is no reason for this. Lehigh Acres is a relatively "cheap" area to live. In fact, you can find parcels in Lehigh Acres being auctioned off on Ebay regularly. If you need a cheap place to live near Tampa, there is no shortage. Plant City, Branden, Lutz, IMHO, would be comparable to Lehigh Acres.

[lizziep]

Thanks for your input. I didn;t say commuting from Lehigh to Tampa or vice versa. We have a choice either/or.
I wouldn;t commute that distance with traffic, that'd be awful. Just don;t hear much about Lehigh acres. We were looking around the Lutz area beforehand. Thanks for your information.

[knuckle]

Well I see your getting a taste of the ignorant Floridians can be.
I moved down from NY 10 years ago. The first 6 years I lived with friends in SW Lehigh Acres. Up until 2003, Lehigh was a sleeply area. There were many "rednecks", cheap housing, and lower income family households. However, Cape Coral was the same way. Has real estate escalated in value over the last 5 years, Lehigh was the last to see appreciation, however, it is no longer the longer the laid back area it was.

There are many beautiful homes in Lehigh now. Lehigh Acres is still unincorperated (not for long though), but it is becoming its own city.
I do not know much about their school system, other than the new high school is less than 10 years old. The western part of Lehigh is the more desirable area being it is close to Ft Myers. SW Lehigh is close to the International Airport. There is also a small airport in Ft Myers.

Lehigh Acres is close to I-75 and 25 minutes from Ft Myers Beach or Bonita Beach. There is shopping galore if that is your thing with in a 30 minute drive, in Ft Myers and Bonita.

If your planning on staying for any amount of time, you many want to look into buying a home. Real estate has come down in price and there are many investor needing to sell, some at a loss. 2007 will be the best year to buy since 2004. At least find a lot in an area you like and buy for future if you think you might stay. You will definitely be happy with the investment, even if you sell later for a profit.

I made the mistake of not buying 8 or 9 years ago. I just didn't know what I was going to do. But 10 years latter and 100% appreciation later I'm still here.

Good luck with your move.

[LeavingFlorida05]

25 minute drive? I think you're using a best-case scenario, there. In season, you'll be lucky to make that drive in an hour, and it could be as much as 2-3 hours. On a typical day, a 25 minute drive just isn't going to happen, unless you're speeding the whole way, running red lights.

[jthomas247]

Anyone know where the fairly safe/good area's of Lehigh Acres are? This is for long time investment, I am not planning on moving or built anything down there anytime soon. I used to live in Naples years ago, but I left and moved to Atlanta. However I still have friends and family in Naples. I figured since I grew up In the Naples area, I was thinking I should come back to own a pierce of lot there, just in case I decide to come back to live there again one day. I was talking to an old friend of mine, he told me about Lehigh Acres. Please if anyone know the best area to invest in Lehigh Acres where it's near the highway or schools please feel free to share, thanks.

jthomas247@hotmail.com