Outlying communities? (Sarasota, Fort Myers, Naples: 2013, HOA fees, homes)

[jnpittman9]

Were you looking to live in a community or residential. What are things that are important to you as in location? Estero, Bonita, Gateway are some nice areas to look into. Many new communities being built in those areas. Best of luck on your search!

[elston]

Originally Posted by NekkidFish

Is Gateway a community, or a city?

Gateway refers to communities on Gateway Avenue (which runs off Daniels) There is one community called "Gateway Greens" but there are several others offering single family and duplex homes, town homes, apartment homes.

This is a very nice and safe area.

[FireStation46]

I visited many areas around Gateway and liked them all. I stayed within new home developments due to personal preferences. There are some good deals on existing homes in the area. We just prefer new over existing homes.

Always visit each area when you can.

Always good if you can cover the AM and PM commute on one of your days off if you will go to work from any of these areas. Also drive around to the other areas you will need i.e. supermarkets, other stores etc. to see what it is like there.

I am fortunate as I will be retired and can avoid crunch times as much as possible. Not always will I be able to avoid traffic but I anticipate I can avoid rush hours often enough not to loose my mind

I have had commutes from hell over my career and I an so done with it!


Try the WINK news app. You will get news the Realtor or builder may not have mentioned, intentionally or unintentionally.

For example, I found this from WINK and had posted it elsewhere on the forum on impending traffic impacts i the area:

Busy road

It is a trade off as areas become popular more folks move in as to thr “best” area. Thankfully, the bad areas are fairly well covered and explained and less of them than the good spots.

Where you want depends on so many personal issues i.e. school/kids; employment opportunities; commute to work at your work hours; access to medical facilities; PD/FD/EMT coverage/response; recreational access. The list goes on. We can not guarantee perfect answers for everone’s inquiries on this informative ( and sometimes opinionated forum) but we hope our input provides enough data for your final decision.

Still, I know I will enjoy Florida where it just warmed up to 15F here.

[LifeIsGood01]

Originally Posted by NekkidFish

Is Gateway a community, or a city?

I would call it a section or area of Fort Myers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gateway,_Florida

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ga...7!4d-81.750361

It goes from just off the airport to rt 82 east of I-75 around Jetblue Park.

I would take into consideration any airplane noise, although I did grow up a mile from a major International airport and the planes were routed so the noise did not affect us.

[wjj]

Originally Posted by LifeIsGood01

I would call it a section or area of Fort Myers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gateway,_Florida

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ga...7!4d-81.750361

It goes from just off the airport to rt 82 east of I-75 around Jetblue Park.

I would take into consideration any airplane noise, although I did grow up a mile from a major International airport and the planes were routed so the noise did not affect us.

Gateway is not part of Fort Myers (except for Pelican Preserve). It is a Planned Unit Development and is governed by a Community Development District Board of Supervisors. It is not subject to Fort Myers ordinances (again, except for Pelican Preserve) and does not rely on Fort Myers services (e.g., it has its own water utility, its own municipal services organization, and is covered by the Lee County Sheriff and not the Fort Myers Police). It is like a suburb more than anything else. It assesses its own taxes through a CDD charge included in property tax bills.

Plane noise is not a problem most of the time. The runway at RSW runs east/west and Gateway is directly north of the airport. Landing aircraft never fly over Gateway and only rarely, when aircraft take off to the east, will they clip the edge of Gateway if they need to turn north immediately to avoid a storm or something similar.

[FireStation46]

I forgot about the CDd fees. They can be another item, plus community fees.

[NekkidFish]

Originally Posted by FireStation46

I forgot about the CDd fees. They can be another item, plus community fees.

What are those fees? How are they different from HOAs?

[FireStation46]

Many developments in Florida were funded in part as Community Development Districts. These funds helped to pay for the required infrastructure for the development (like water, sewer, roads, etc.)

CDD fees are paying back a limited life "bond" - one CDD may be a 20 year, another might be 17 years to fully pay it back. Because a specific amount is assigned to each lot on the development destrict it is not affected by foreclosures or short sales. In fact, CDD fees are billied on your annual real estate tax bill and for any property to be transferred to a new owner, the tax bill must be paid to provide "clear title."

CDD fees are not billed to you by the neighborhood association - they are included in the total amount due for your real estate taxes. A nicer name than “impact fees”when builders started the trend in the early 90’s.

[NekkidFish]

Thanks Firestation!! I appreciate the explain!!

[ourtime4fun]

We're buying in the Buckingham area of Ft. Myers in a Lennar gated community. This is the home we're purchasing but they have some a little less expensive:

https://www.lennar.com/new-homes/flo...-homes/oakmont

We are 25 minutes from the airport and less than an hour from a beach and no more than 90 minutes from Sarasota, Naples etc. So all in all, a nice location for our needs.

Check them out and tell Stephanie that Sam C sent you!