Canal/Gulf Access Home for <$1M? Dream or Reality?

[JPrzybylski07]

Originally Posted by blueherons

In commercial real estate you never get paid when the client signs. It can take years to get paid.

The deals are stupid long.

Commercial real estate isn't cold calls. You spend years cultivating clients. They spend years searching properties.

With your lack of knowledge, I'd go have a long talk with a commercial agent before you jump ship. It's a very long, drawn out process.

It just works differently than residential. Also, you'll need about two years of savings if you want to completely stop selling residential.

Also, the laws are different and different cities have different building codes of which you will have to know.

Good luck!

The broker I spoke with said there’s a data base to cold call to try and get a listing. I’m sure every broker has their own business model and how they find business, this particular one I spoke with said starting out brand new cold calls are the way to go.

You’re right it would take a long time though. Definitely not just jumping ship even though I feel I’ve outgrown residential.. anyways thanks good luck to you as well! Happy selling

[Movingrightalong...]

Originally Posted by rob07002

Is it possible to find a nice, modern home in Naples, or greater Naples area that's on a gulf access canal for under $1M?

2500+ sq ft
4+ bedrooms

Also, I've seen/heard mixed reviews about Cape Coral. Why?

What are some other areas in SWFL that may offer a waterfront home?

Probably not. For the sort of home you describe, figure 200-250 per square foot in construction costs and 250,000-500,000 for the lot.

[SellingNWCape]

Originally Posted by rob07002

Also, I've seen/heard mixed reviews about Cape Coral. Why?

Everyone has an opinion and everyone's opinion is right (in their minds), right? Nothing wrong with Cape Coral and people on the Naples forum are more likely to favor Naples just like people in the Fort Myers/Cape Coral forum are more likely to pledge allegiance to where they live. Cape Coral is definitely no Lehigh Acres, I think we can all agree there.

So it's all a matter of opinion. The better question is to ask yourself what you really want in a new town. If you need a bunch of higher-end shops and restaurants, then Naples is for you if you can afford it. There's real beach and a pier. Nice shopping mall, zoos, etc. Has had a Trader Joe's for years. Heading north, Fort Myers has slightly more going for it than Cape Coral, but less fancy than Naples though they are finally getting a Trader Joe's. No zoo and I find it sometimes questionable to go into the mall there. You can drive to several beaches (Fort Myers Beach with it's white, powdered sugar-like sand or the beautiful beaches of Sanibel and Captiva). And then you make it over to Cape Coral where we have way less stuff going on than the other two and will probably never get a Trader Joe's despite the fact that we are way larger than Fort Myers. We're just not cool enough I guess. But we do have tons of still affordable housing, including a lot of waterfront properties at your price point. No real beach as I don't think the Yacht Club sand really counts. No zoo, no mall, a lot of chains. We do have miles and miles of canals, though. Definitely less touristy than the others, hence less options to choose from for things to do.

So Cape Coral can definitely meet your housing needs, it's just that you need to take into consideration what else you want out of living here that will help guide your choice. Other SWFL waterfront communities to consider include Matlacha, Pine Island, Bokeelia, and St. James City (all accessible by Pine Island Rd in Cape Coral and more like true "island living" as there's only the one road to get there) and a little further north you could also consider Punta Gorda. You'll want to relocate out of this forum to get a more realistic picture of those areas.

As an aside, I do enjoy the agent wars that took over this thread and I agree with Marc that waterfront requires a certain type of agent to help navigate all the little nuances associated with buying on the water. There's at least one real estate agent, he might be on the Punta Gorda/Port Charlotte forum, that knows more about the water and actually takes clients out by boat to help search for properties if I remember correctly.