Del Tura Country Club (Cape Coral, Plantation: for sale, lease, insurance)

[SteveLbellmawr]

How is the area around Del Tura? We are thinking of retiring there. How is the area as far as shopping, medical, safety etc? Is the housing there as nice at the web site shows it to be?

[justNancy]

Is this still a mobile home community? When I drove through there several years ago, I thought it was very lovely. However, mobile homes lose value and in this economy, you can buy a house for the price of the homes in Del Tura.

I apologize if I'm thinking of someplace else, but when I was in North Fort Myers, I remember the homes and they were listed for well over $100,000. I bought a mobile home once and it was the worst decision I ever made, although it wasn't in Florida. I couldn't sell it for half of the original price.

On the other hand, one reason I looked at Del Tura is that I've often thought of living in an over 55 community where all the amenities are provided and Del Tura has a lot to offer its residents. Just make sure you want to live there forever. For the past few years the number of preowned mobile homes for sale in North Fort Myers has skyrocketed.

[nomoresnow]

Del Tura is a pretty community. They have manufactured homes there, not mobile homes. The outside part is usually a stucco type w/a wooden frame around it for decorative purposes. When we looked at homes there 3 years ago, there were a number of homes with white termite tents around them and little "quarantined" signs. That did not impress me.

They have 3 or 4 pools around the community and a nice looking golf course (I don't golf, so I can't tell you about that). They also seem to have a lot of activities for the residents, much like any other similar community.

Shopping here is ok. There's a Publix just across 41 from Del Tura and several shopping centers in the area. Walmart is close by, as are Home Depot, Lowes, Bealles, Sears Grand, BJ's, and Target, to name the big guys. If we need anything from other stores, we go to Ft. Myers, just across the bridge, or Cape Coral.

I have no complaints about medical. Ask around, people are always willing to share the good, bad and ugly stories about their doctors. I have a friend who volunteers at the hospital, so she was a good source there. The problem is snowbird season. It's virtually impossible to get a doctor's appointment or get into an ER this time of year. Hospitals and dr's facilities are very poorly understaffed for that. If you or your spouse is a veteran, there's a terrific VA outpatient clinic about 15-20 minutes away in Ft. Myers. They're building a brand new one in Cape Coral within the next year or two.

I hope that helps. Feel free to DM me if you'd like.

BTW, we really enjoy it here - we live in Pine Lakes, which is close to Del Tura. The homes are also manufactured, but more along the lines of what I think Nancy is referring to. Yes, they do depreciate, but we plan on staying here for a long time. You can find very good deals right now, thanks to the housing problems. Best of luck.

[justNancy]

I also think if you own your own land it makes a big difference too. I'm going back several years, way before the current housing crisis, and I remember lot rents in the nicer N. Fort Myers communities were as much as $700 a month. I was under 55, but some communities had so many listings they were willing to bend the rules.

I've spent some time looking at homes on MHVillage.com and they have some listings at Del Tura and other nice communities.

RE: Mobile vs manufactured. Just want you to know I lived in a singlewide mobile for 7 years in NH, so I'm not being a snob. It was a 12 x 60 Landola. Back in 1987 when I purchased it, some of the newer doublewides were selling for over $100,000. I always thought mobile & manufactured were synonymous, sort of like housekeeper and domestic engineer.

I just looked up the words and, according to HUD

What are manufactured homes?
Manufactured homes (formerly known as mobile homes) can be a great alternative for first-time and other homebuyers.

Manufactured (Mobile) Homes - HUD

It doesn't really matter. All that does matter is that you are happy, healthy & safe wherever you live!

[nomoresnow]

That's true, Nancy, and I'm sorry if I implied snobby-ness, I had no intention of doing so.

Manufactured and mobile homes have distinct differences which have evolved over the years. In our community, which started 25 years ago, our homes have survived Hurricane Charley which did minor damage to lanais and carports. I think that says a lot for how they are made these days.

You will find some nice communities in this area and you'll find some dumps, too. You have to discover for yourself, I guess.

Our community has Leased properties (where I live - the community owns the land, we own the home) as well as Owned properties. I wanted to get away from land taxes, etc. However, we do pay monthly "lot rent" (I forget what the owners call it - like Nancy indicated, it's all semantics) which ranges from $500/month to over $1000/month, depending on whether you live on a lake site, golf course site, or otherwise.

Suggestion: Visit. And, if at all possible, come on down and rent for at least a season, maybe a year or so, to see if that's where you want to be. Believe me, people are very willing to rent these days if they can't sell.

[Mrs. P]

Originally Posted by justNancy

Is this still a mobile home community? When I drove through there several years ago, I thought it was very lovely. However, mobile homes lose value and in this economy, you can buy a house for the price of the homes in Del Tura.

I apologize if I'm thinking of someplace else, but when I was in North Fort Myers, I remember the homes and they were listed for well over $100,000. I bought a mobile home once and it was the worst decision I ever made, although it wasn't in Florida. I couldn't sell it for half of the original price.

On the other hand, one reason I looked at Del Tura is that I've often thought of living in an over 55 community where all the amenities are provided and Del Tura has a lot to offer its residents. Just make sure you want to live there forever. For the past few years the number of preowned mobile homes for sale in North Fort Myers has skyrocketed.

I've also been looking at Del Tura. There are homes from 180,000.00 to 24,000.00 I don't think you can buy a house for 24,000.00 anywhere.

As far as retirement parks, and I've been researching for 2 years, this place seems to be pretty good, sidewalks, pools, shuffle board, tennis courts, their own bar, classes galore, pools galore, etc. etc. However I am unable to find out the monthly rent. I assume it's higher if one faces the golf course, but since I don't golf and never will, I wouldn't want to be near it anyway.

I just wrote to Del Tura requesting info, and tomorrow I may call them.

[nomoresnow]

Good luck, Mrs. P. I hope you like it. Yes, prices down here have gone down significantly. FYI - as Nancy had mentioned, prices on pre-owned homes are a lot lower than new homes. 3 years ago, lot rent at Del Tura was around $500 for a home not on the golf course. That's what they quoted me, anyhow.

[justNancy]

FYI, I just received an email with a quote of $890 a month for the lot rent for a home I saw listed. I hope I wasn't misunderstood before. Every person has an idea of where he or she wants to live, but I've been house hunting a lot and I can get a mortgage on a 3 bedroom pool home in Cape Coral for less than just the lot rent at many mobile home parks. Of course I won't have all the amenities offered. So it all depends on the lifestyle you desire. If I could pick an over 55 community in SW Florida, I'd probably choose Lakeside Plantation in North Port. There are beautiful villas listed from about $140K to $169K. But when I add the mortgage, the monthly association fee, the property tax, insurance and the CDD together, it's a little out of my price range.