Cape Coral Real Estate nowhere near recovery....... (Fort Myers, Lee: sales, renters)

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by Angelala

That's not what I have seen, we drive around the neighborhoods regularly and there may be one or two empty home's here and there but that's it. I have found the SE and SW areas very nice with people jogging, walking and walking their dogs.

But you just flipped a house and are looking to do it again. Perhaps your glasses are a tinge of rose.

[bberman]

FWI - as stated, we looked only in NE/NW CC. Did not venture south. Our range was 150 max. It was not so much the houses we saw because with some additional expense it could turn out, but the entire feel of the area was unsettling, someone said eerie. I fear CC will take some time to recover, and now there is this assessment issue? See you later, gator!

[chaotix]

Originally Posted by yoko

" Statewide, Florida will be slower coming out of the recession than other parts of the country, and it will likely take most of 2010 before the state will find anything resembling an economic bottom, Fishkind said.

Some hard-hit areas of Florida may not be able to return to anything approaching normal activity anytime soon, he said.
"There may be parts of Cape Coral and Lehigh Acres that won't recover," Fishkind said. "It could be that 10 years from now, they are still having problems.""

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20100122

I agree that some areas will take some more time than others to recover. However, I don't see homes losing significant value as from previous years. hiknapster mentioned in an earlier post that homes that were going from 200K-300K several years ago, were selling at a bargain price of 67K, I don't see this 67K losing any more value, except those that are overpriced.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by chaotix

I agree that some areas will take some more time than others to recover. However, I don't see homes losing significant value as from previous years. hiknapster mentioned in an earlier post that homes that were going from 200K-300K several years ago, were selling at a bargain price of 67K, I don't see this 67K losing any more value, except those that are overpriced.

agree. Homes that are under that price are no great prize, at this stage of the game.

[twobums]

To be fair, Cape Coral is just one area in Lee County that has been so severely impacted by the housing bubble implosion.... The NYT article addressed CC but it could've applied to just about anywhere in Lee.

Recovery in 10 years seems hopeful at best ~ but let's hope for the best and prepare for the worst.


More declines expected in SW FL markets | Florida Real Estate Journal (http://www.frej.net/news/southwest-florida/2009-12-15/more-declines-expected-sw-fl-markets - broken link)

[twobums]

Get out those rose colored glasses ~ Lee County FL is not the worst!!

Scroll down to view the top 20 negative equity RE markets:


The Nation’s 20 Worst Housing Markets « HousingWire

[hiknapster]

Yeah. To be fair, the NYT's had a big article on Lehigh Acres. I think they used the word "despair" in their headline.

Yep. That list has been discussed before. Lee County is third worst. The county directly to the north of them, Sarasota, is just a little bit worse. Wowie. It's kind of like figuring out which mud pie is homelier.

[Angelala]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

But you just flipped a house and are looking to do it again. Perhaps your glasses are a tinge of rose.

Not necessarily looking to flip, if it doesn't sell we will be happy to keep it. It doesn't hurt to put it out there and see what happens, if we get the price we want the houses are still low enough to find another one that might need to be finished or redone. We will either keep this one or move it on down to the next one.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by Angelala

Not necessarily looking to flip, if it doesn't sell we will be happy to keep it. It doesn't hurt to put it out there and see what happens, if we get the price we want the houses are still low enough to find another one that might need to be finished or redone. We will either keep this one or move it on down to the next one.

I understand.

[yoko]

Originally Posted by bberman

as stated, we looked only in NE/NW CC. Did not venture south. Our range was 150 max. It was not so much the houses we saw because with some additional expense it could turn out, but the entire feel of the area was unsettling, someone said eerie. I fear CC will take some time to recover, and now there is this assessment issue.

Thank you for your honest posts. Have you seen the below letter?



This letter was published by Cape Coral Daily Breeze on June 27, 2009

To the editor:

It's been a long hard road to this point -but we're outta here.

After nearly 30 years in Southwest Florida we moved to northwest Cape Coral in the hope of a new beginning, wanting to be part of the exciting growth and development. So it all crashed. I've stopped kicking myself for moving my family out here, apparently nobody saw this coming.

But I've had it with the City of Cape Coral kicking me and everybody else when we're down.

Like everybody living up here, I just received the notice of assessment for the future potable water system. Unlike most, I own the lot behind our home so my kids and dogs would have more room to play. So on top of the $3,000 a year we pay in taxes, we now have an assessment for $12,000. Unlike most, I was a small builder who carried mortgages on several lots as building sites... yeah, I had hopes of building something in the Cape, and they're assessed at $8.000 combined (we're not counting the lake lot in SW4 with a $19,000 assessment, we're in the process of giving that away and losing $20,000).

We're upside down on our home and lots - like almost everyone up here - and, well, the addition of over $20,000 of debt for something that officially won't be needed for a decade is pretty much the proverbial straw. So, goodbye Cape Coral and thanks for taking what little equity we had. The bank can have our house, the taxes, and the $12,000 assessment. They can have our lots that no-one wants because of the assessments, hook-up fees, and taxes.

The Cape can have it all, except of course the taxes we pay, their stupid mowing fees, money we spend, and the support we gave our schools and businesses - we'll take those with us - because we're getting the H out while we still have the shirts on our backs.

Roland Barron

Northwest Cape Coral


Cape Coral Daily Breeze