Moving to Cape Coral?? (Fort Myers, North Fort Myers: appointed, new house, landscaping)

[Different Drummer]

Just a quick question...is Homeowner's Insurance very high in Cape Coral? (flooding, hurricane, etc) and does it increase if you have a home on a canal? Thanks!

[NJ~LuLu]

Hello to all, We bought in the Cape 1988, the place was quite different then. You basically had to go over Cape Coral bridge or Ft. Myers bridge to shop. Things have changed drastically, Total influx, from all over US and germany as well. Infastructure was Key word for many years, the council just could not handle the boom or the RE taxes. So more roads, sewer/water projects as we spread out from SW to NW and SW expansion. Veterans Blvd. did not exist until the Mid Point bridge was built. Phew, thought it was going right throuh our property. All and all, we still love it, we have benifited from investments, renters, even Hurricane Charley took us totally out, we rebuilt, sold at a profit in 05 and started building our home in SW cape. We love it and agree with a few posters on the negatives being those who might still want a cattle town back in the 1800's. We have traveled all over FL and chose the Cape.
It is what it is as they say. The crime I read about is mostly domestic, dwi and unfortunately loss of your alum. gutters/air cond. coils. Our neighborhood watch keeps a keen eye when we are not there. I am not afraid to spend time by myself if Hubby can't for some reason and have done it often. We pay approx. 2200.00 for homeowners insurance, We are not on a canal, 12 ft. elevation. Our home approx. 3200 sq, maybe less. Our children are adults, just doggies and parrots now, so not a concern for schools. Compared to zoo Jersey, paradise to me.

[tcp]

nhkev,

Hey.... that was nice!! :-)

[Twobeach]

NJ-Lulu,,question if I may~ Hurricane Charley were you in the Cape for this destruction? Or in Punta Gorda ect? My family has had a Gulf Access home in CC since the 80's, and no loss w/ storms except some shingles. Were they extreamly lucky? I am on Long Island, we get Hurricanes every Blue Moon,,were due actually~ um The storms follow the warm waters, which Port Charlotte is huge and I always believed Pulled the storms away from the Cape? Any other input folks?
> I totally agree w/ you on he crime issue. Violent Crimes according to Stats are commited by someone you know~ We have to highlight the good things otherwise majority will rule and it will turn into a sewer. Honesty is good mind you,,for us whom do not know or reside in the area and really see all that is going on, we do wish to know what we are walking into. However I was there all summer and stayed in was in SW, nice neighbors, people, quiet, I felt safe. Note to the Residents, Listen I hear ya! How I wish Long Island was the LI I grew up on, we do here. How heart broken we are having to leave all we know and all we are to start over like the Pilgrims, its just exhausting here. I rather relocate and do something 24-7 ,,,that I love than stay on this treadmill and die bitter and broken & destitute. I am going to be one of those stories of we used to do that but now we do this and Love every moment of it! We saw the bitterness in Arpil 07, we got off the plane on a friday night ,,ran into Ft M. Walmart proceeded to the Ck out with 2 overflowing baskets of baby gear, food and HH items,, ect and you could see, people were getting the bare essentials, TP and Milk. These folks were a bunch of angry Beavers, what was happening to them was happing to us up North. We had to find a place to survive finacially and they too were forced to Relocate due to the Skyrocking cost of Living. This was really the only negitive experience so far. Needless to Say were skipping Walmarts on Fridays~ As you can see,,were still skoochin by here on the Island, and ready once more to try to sell~ we only have work until Sept, winter is looking quite bleak, we need to get out now.....Cheers, All..love ta meet ya's when we get there!

[NJ~LuLu]

Hi Twobeach!
Actually we were in NJ when Charley made that turn into Cape/Punta Gorda, yeah looks like he just went up Charlotte Harbor. Our neighbor called us and said better get here your roof just blew off into the canal. We tried to get a flight out but rates were outrageous. So we hopped in car, loaded up ice, lunch meat, water and pillows. We drove through torrential rains all the way down along with whole caravans of power companys on their way to help. Very surreal, sat in gas stations, those that had power, waiting on tanker deliveries to get there. No power in most of south florida, traffic lights out, not a light in sight for miles. Took us over 28 hrs. We got to the cape, and yep, the roof was gone on 2 story TH, Country Club Blvd. With all the rain it just collapsed into the first floor. We were able to salvage some belongings. But the thing I remember most was all the neighbors who we had never met coming over to help us, those losing food due to loss of power set up grills and cooked.
We were finally able to get a room a quality inn which was half soaked but it was the Ritz to us with a hot shower and a comfortable bed. Finally got a hot meal few days later at Perkins. People were in their PJ's, or only the clothes on their backs. The red cross set up food stations but way over in Ft. Myers, everyone was trying to conserve gas and driving was very hazardous to say the least. Thankfully they gave out free ice off of Coranado Pkwy. So the adjuster came, cut us a check for complete loss and promptly cancelled our policy. Some experience. Glad to hear no damage to your parents home. No hurricanes for over 25 years and then boom, ya gotta pay for paradise I guess. Here in NJ they are thinking we are love overdue as well.

[ChrisA70]

Originally Posted by hklauber

Hi! My husband and I are moving to Cape Coral. We are going down in two weeks to look at houses. I am getting a little nervous because I am starting to hear horrible things about Cape Coral. Some people say it's slummy and ugly there? I don't know the housing market seems to be a lot better than it is here in WI. Does anyone know what the furniture sales market is like there at Ashley or at Baer furniture??? Just curious I would love any and all info good or bad to help me make my decision. We have an 8 month old baby so I'm a little curious about the school system and activities for a stay at home mom in the area.

Trust me, I will stay right here on the cape. I work in Fort Myers, and I am so happy every day when I cross that causeway back here to the cape. It is not ugly, I live off Pelican Blvd, and I love this area.... Don't listen to some of the weenies on here, those are our negative nellies anyways. Believe me, the cape is a lot better....

[NJ~LuLu]

Does anyone remember back in 80's/90's people would nail their old license plates to mailbox posts? I got such a kick out of that, very easy way to strike up a conversation. Even in certain restaurants plates from NY,NJ,MI,OH,PA.... Guess too many borrowed them and the trend ended LOL Cabbage Key everyone hung money with the past home states written, they donated all that money IIRC. Tis all a state of mind.

[yoko]

Cape Coral has no economy to rely on.
There is no future planning to steer it in any direction.
Only for couple of years it was relying only on "growth" in construction.
Then there was the hope that tourists can move this city to any direction. But tourists who cut cupons or hang around all you can eat buffets could not be driving force to persuade any one to open new stores, restaurants, etc. No matter how strong their Euro is, the habit of being cheap cannot be changed even for the sake of their vacation in "paradise".

Thousands of homes are built with super cheap hazardous material. "Energy Efficiency" is a foreign word. Who cares if the global warming will raise the water level, as long as I have air conditioner and pool heater for my cheap "villa".
I am "happy" about wearing my sandals all year around and decorate my pool area with christmas lights. I am humble..just give me electricity so that I can watch T.V. as I have no place to walk around. I do not want to go out to help clean the yard of abandoned homes, no matter how one comfortable politician persuades me to do for the benefit of improving the "image".

Many journalists ("Reuters", "The Economist", "The New York Times" "The Time", etc.) have come to Cape Coral and repeated the same statement: Cape Coral is a waste land.
A fantastic Florida historian, Prof. Gary Mormino, has written a book, a paper (Apocalypse Florida) and has many published interviews explaining why
Florida is "ponzy" state. Cape Coral is the jewel of Florida crown.

I remember reading how one reporter, after his negative report about Cape Coral was published, started to receive hate and death-threat letters. I read in this Forum how couple of under cover "realtors" show their baseball bats to scare away the ones who take their time to write the truth about Cape Coral. We, along "those lying reports", have no benefit from warning people not to board a sinking "boat".

[Kuota]

Cape Coral is a beautiful place to reside, just check out these stats how they are improving.
Males: 76,097 (48.5%) Females: 80,884 (51.5%)


Median resident age: 41.6 years Florida median age: 38.7 years
Zip codes: 33904, 33909, 33910, 33914, 33915, 33990, 33991, 33993.
Cape Coral Zip Code Map

Estimated median household income in 2007: $53,026 (it was $43,410 in 2000)

Cape Coral: $53,026 Florida: $47,804

Estimated median house or condo value in 2007: $259,100 (it was $106,500 in 2000)
Cape Coral: $259,100Florida: $230,400

Mean prices in 2007: All housing units: $326,696; Detached houses: $340,803; Townhouses or other attached units: $235,731; In 2-unit structures: $137,500; In 3-to-4-unit structures: $203,865; In 5-or-more-unit structures: $185,650

[nhkev]

Originally Posted by Kuota

Cape Coral is a beautiful place to reside, just check out these stats how they are improving.
Males: 76,097 (48.5%) Females: 80,884 (51.5%)


Median resident age: 41.6 years Florida median age: 38.7 years
Zip codes: 33904, 33909, 33910, 33914, 33915, 33990, 33991, 33993.
Cape Coral Zip Code Map

Estimated median household income in 2007: $53,026 (it was $43,410 in 2000)

Cape Coral: $53,026 Florida: $47,804

Estimated median house or condo value in 2007: $259,100 (it was $106,500 in 2000)
Cape Coral: $259,100Florida: $230,400

Mean prices in 2007: All housing units: $326,696; Detached houses: $340,803; Townhouses or other attached units: $235,731; In 2-unit structures: $137,500; In 3-to-4-unit structures: $203,865; In 5-or-more-unit structures: $185,650

I like that you are looking for the positive, but I'll say it before hiknapster gets you on this... those stats are two years old and a lot has happened in two years. The association of realtors is putting out april's existing home sales May 27th i'm expecting a continued positive trend, but for the last 4 months the median home price has been around 95k and I'm sure with the difference in unemployment both florida and cape coral's median income has come down.