Shopping for home in Cape Coral, what should I look out for? (Sarasota: real estate, lease)

[Dino1]

My uncle and aunt are thinking of buying a home in Cape Coral (they will retire soon), what should they be careful of? I remember hearing something about having to be attached to citywater or something that will cost about 20 grand. Any advise or cautions from locals would be appreciated such as what areas to avoid, flood zones, etc. Thank you very much.

[RMD3819]

Search this forum.

There are threads about Chinese drywall and the water/sewer assessment.

[firemed]

I think your best deal would be the north end of the Del Prado extension (up town). Its close to US 41 and I 75. If you want to be on the water you can, But its fresh water, You can tow your boat to any fishing spot in the area much cheaper and faster. I won a bet with a friend about going fishing in Boca Grand Pass, I towed my boat and he drove his. I was there about 20 mins before he was and used about $60.00 less in fuel. If you have a sail boat you want a salt water home but it will cost you! The storm surge up town is a Cat 4 or 5. Water is not in that area yet, but what you save on the home will make it cheaper in the long run. The down town and mid area of the cape is very congested to drive. The land is low cat 1,2 or 3. Shopping and medical need are very close to the up town also. Good luck,

[kroeran]

why limit yourself to the Cape, unless you already have history or personal connections there? For sure the Cape is king for boaters, but there is the advantage of trailering, which very much widens your choices and reduces your expense.

There are hundreds of neighbourhoods to choose from in Lee County, and probably thousands if you widen your search to SWF, from Marco Island up to Sarasota. For retiring newcomers, I would suggest serious consideration of a gated HOA, which has a built in social life, which is particularly important when you have all this free time to fill, though you have to pay attention to increased expenses and limits on what you can park outside your condo and where.

The formula is vacation here, pay long visits, start with a short term monthly rental, drive around a lot and figure out what you like to do with your time, then a long term rental, then buy in the off season when you really know what you are doing, if ever.

Renting is the way to go for worry free Florida living...and there are lot of unusual things to worry about if you do not know what you are doing, which almost impossible without first living the life for a period. For example, I did not follow my own advice, and I would be much happier with a different orientation toward the sun, for those cold Dec-Feb jacket days.

All sorts of troubles can visit a Florida neigbhourhood, bad neighbours, bad HOA, bad golf associated course, bad Community Development District, bad builder, bad city, bad county, bad State - imagine having the power to not renew your lease and just move on when or if there is trouble?

Or if you do buy, buy below your punching weight so that if there is trouble, you can afford to dump it on the market and pay the price to get out, or absorb unexpected assessments. Focus on enjoying all those things that are wonderful and free in Florida, and keep your financial footprint as small as you can stand.

[hiknapster]

If you have property in Fort Myers, like kroeran, you can be better off in a gated community, due to the crime rate. Cape Coral, on the other hand, has a very low crime rate. I think it may be second lowest per capita in the state. Cape Coral is definitely more popular than Fort Myers.

[kroeran]

If you are into boating, like the look of and from the canal homes (I do), are raising kids, would like to be free of HOA fees, commuting is not an issue, are prepared to develop your social scene, don't mind the mixed-looking or 70s streetscapes, I think the Cape scores high.

If you are beach obsessed and like the beach town atmosphere and lower cost coastal living (compared to north or south), and don't mind the traffic and smaller sq ftage, FM beach should be considered.

If you are into turn of the century-20s architecture and neighbourhoods, likely are full-time and want the privacy of your own pool and possibly river front, and have deep pockets, McGregor Blvd.

If you want relatively consistent recent (or brand new)-construction gated, near the Bell Tower shops and restaurant strip (most areas are not far from this), golf courses or not, near airport, have deepish pockets, look at Daniels corridor neighbourhoods.

One afternoon of driving around and you kinda figure out where you belong according to your taste and budget, but then you have to consider practical things like commuting, schooling, evacuation zone level, distance from beach etc

The areas are very different from each other. You can probably get a hint from the forum personalities of the people supporting each area! ; - )

[John Buettner]

Try to find one with city water. Wells are a pain in the ass. Always something going wrong or breaking.

[LadyConch]

We moved here a year ago and looked all over. We bought a home in SE Cape. We can bike to the Cape Coral marina, 3 miles. It has a manmade beach, nice when you don't feel like driving to Ft Myers Beach or don't have time. It has a nice pier and restaurant, community center, boat ramp. I like the whole SE cape. It's older, mature landscaping, graceful homes. I don't think the traffic is bad. Of course during "season" the CC (Cape Coral) Parkway and Del Prado are congested, but you can just drive on the back streets like the locals do if you don't like waiting at lights.

We are VERY happy here and we used to live in Naples. This is a relaxed place to live, not snobby or obnoxious. The prices are right. We got a 4-3-2 on 1/3 acre with lanai/pool for less than 130K. We have great neighbors that mind their own business but are friendly.

The night life is limited, but there is live music and stuff to do, you just have to research it and put it on the calendar.

If you want a simple life in a beautiful place with a low overhead, you ought to drive around Cape Coral.

[justNancy]

Originally Posted by Dino1

My uncle and aunt are thinking of buying a home in Cape Coral (they will retire soon), what should they be careful of? I remember hearing something about having to be attached to citywater or something that will cost about 20 grand. Any advise or cautions from locals would be appreciated such as what areas to avoid, flood zones, etc. Thank you very much.

Your aunt & uncle probably chose Cape Coral because of the good values and low crime rates. I think it's a nice place to retire. I wish the NE and NW sections had more trees, however. That's probably my biggest complaint. Well water isn't really that bad. It's very common in SWFL. If the sewer isn't already hooked up, they might be looking at about $15,000 but that is spread out over many years and added to the property taxes. You can get a map from the city that will show you when different areas are expected to get city water and sewer. Most of the SE and SW areas are already hooked up, but you need to check to see if the assessments have been paid by the current owner.

As someone else suggested, you can find many threads on City-Data regarding the sewer assessment. However, if you use a real estate agent, he/she should be able to give you all the information you need.

[rikoshaprl]

Firemed: "You can tow your boat to any fishing spot in the area much cheaper and faster".

What a pain it is trailering your boat to a ramp, getting the boat off the trailer, then parking the trailer and paying for parking. At the end of the day you have to get your car, yank the boat out of the water onto the trailer, drive it home and then clean off the trailer and boat. Don't forget the extra work maintaining the trailer: greasing the axle bearings. maintaining the lights, tires and rollers. And you need a place to store your trailer.In Cape Coral the trailer needs to be in a rear yard. It can be difficult or impossible to move your trailer into the rear yard. And it is an eyesore.
There is no comparison to owning gulf access property.