Lehigh- anyone like it?

[hiknapster]

It was suppose to be a great investment in the 1950s. Fifty years passed before the developers really started to build, and even then, it didn't take off, and that was in the middle of an enormous housing boom in swFlorida.

Lehigh Acres has always been the last resort in Lee County. It was the place to go when you couldn't afford anything else.

Here's the thing. It's on the other side of I-75. It can be an hour or more to get to Fort Myers Beach. There is still plenty of land on the west side of the highway. Heck, Cape Coral and Estero have lots of room left. And lets not forget all the empty houses that are over there, let alone the staggering amount of homes in Lehigh, many of them never lived in before.

Will it never take off? Never say never. But in ten years? I would be surprised.

Here's the math I always wanted to do:

If you bought a lot in Cape Coral for $3,000 (?) in 1960, and you never built on it. Never used it but paid the taxes and you sold it during the boom in 2005 would you have come out ahead and by how much.

Okay, Kev, have at it.

[movetoflorida]

Originally Posted by nhkev

open land is always a tough investment. Ask yourself this,, if you took your $3000 and bought stock in a good company and didn't have to worry about paying property taxes over the next 10 years or any special assessment like city water and sewer to the property which could run 20k, and have to pay the realtor fees when you turn around to resell it, transfer fees and title fees, capital gains etc. I would probably bet there are much better investment opportunities than open land. If you were able to get a steal on a property that was going to be sought after then it may be worth it, but with the price to build a house compared to existing it may be a long time before open land has any value. The other is if you wanted to build a house yourself it is a good time to secure the right piece of land at great prices if you're not ready to build til ten years out.
Case in point : My father bought a piece of land in Maryland for $6000 35 years ago sold finally for $19k when you add up all the property taxes and taxes he broke even, had a piece of land in NH almost identical situation.

I agree. Waterfront or commercial lots would generally have a faster rate of value gain. Both my father and grandfather owned commercial lots with beginning values around $100,000. Hotels came to town and needed the properties for more parking space and they were able to hold out for prices near 1/2 million. Of course, that was back in the good ol' days of the good economy.

[JBMallory]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

It was suppose to be a great investment in the 1950s. Fifty years passed before the developers really started to build, and even then, it didn't take off, and that was in the middle of an enormous housing boom in swFlorida.

Lehigh Acres has always been the last resort in Lee County. It was the place to go when you couldn't afford anything else.

Here's the thing. It's on the other side of I-75. It can be an hour or more to get to Fort Myers Beach. There is still plenty of land on the west side of the highway. Heck, Cape Coral and Estero have lots of room left. And lets not forget all the empty houses that are over there, let alone the staggering amount of homes in Lehigh, many of them never lived in before.

Will it never take off? Never say never. But in ten years? I would be surprised.

Here's the math I always wanted to do:

If you bought a lot in Cape Coral for $3,000 (?) in 1960, and you never built on it. Never used it but paid the taxes and you sold it during the boom in 2005 would you have come out ahead and by how much.

Okay, Kev, have at it.

an hour to get to the beach from lehigh? i live in south lehigh granted, but i can be on fmy beach in less than 35 minutes

[nhkev]

Originally Posted by Islanderguy

Hey, thanks you opened my eyes about land buying. Doesnt seem worth it when you really look at the numbers, but people do it alot it seems.

It can be worth it. Let's use this analogy.... in march the stock market was down to levels around 650 on the s&p 500. You wouldn't want to go out and just buy any companies stock. Case in point Lehman bros, bear stearns, indy mac , washington mutual, But if you were selective and bought a good company , that was dragged down with everyone else due to panic and forced selling ,then you've got yourself an investment. land is somewhat of a commodity and supply and demand reigns supreme. So if you feel there will be a strong demand for the piece of land you are looking at then the price will reflect it. There will be a demand for gulf access, lots with ocean views, close proximity to the beaches, close to shopping, already established well sought after areas, and commercially zoned properties. But keep in mind a house you can rent out to cover expenses and maybe have some cash flow, and typically has shorter selling times than land making it a little more liquid, you can also section 1031 exchange it when you sell to potentially avoid capital gains.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by JBMallory

an hour to get to the beach from lehigh? i live in south lehigh granted, but i can be on fmy beach in less than 35 minutes

Oh, yeah. Definitely one hour. That's the center of Lehigh Acres to Fort Myers Beach. Now if you are on Immokalee Road, then you are looking at about 47 minutes. Google map it and see.

Now, how fast YOU are driving is a different story, JB!

[JBMallory]

never more than 6 over.... I can hit the bridge to FMY beach in 30 minutes. Daniels to 6 mile to the beach.

[nhkev]

I think a lot has to do with traffic and maybe lack of it compared to 5 yrs ago when you were there hik. I timed from cape coral tolls to sanibel island tolls and it was only 17 mins of normal driving.