This City isn't very Young-people friendly, is it? (Cape Coral, Fort Myers: appointed, fit in)

[Danielle89]

My fiance and I moved down here for work about three years ago now, and have lived in Gulf Stream Isles for the better part of it (beforehand we were staying at a vacation home on Sanibel).

We have been searching on and off for a house to call our own. This is proving VERY difficult.

It seems that the only things available in Fort Myers that are worth looking at are only allowed to folks over 50. I've also noticed there is an absurd amount of prestigious gated neighborhoods that I personally would not fit into well at all - Reflection isles, Botanica Lakes, Darnforth Lakes, and so on (honestly is there a single house that ISN'T in one of these places?!)

And when I do find a house I love...it's actually a huge condo, or in a gated community, or both. We refuse to live in a condominium complex or a gated community, reasons being:

-If we bought the place with our own hard earned money we shouldn't need to follow apartment-style rules. If I want a dog, I'll get one, if I want a cat, I'll get one, if I want a fence, I'll put one up - we've spent most of our adult lives living in places where we couldn't do certain things so if we are going to actually own something we should have freedoms with it.

-I really, REALLY hate nosey and stuck up neighbors. Already lived in a gated community style setting and I hated how two-faced everyone was. Not planning on ever doing that again. I'm a very private person and it is highly irritating to have someone knocking on my door telling me my bushes aren't trimmed properly as if they own my lawn or something.

-I hate the random fees that are associated with living in these places. I can maintain my own lawn, take out my own trash - I am not interested in paying 200 extra a month for "services". I've also been warned that the complexes reserve to right to raise their maintenance fee at any point. No thanks, lol.

All that we want is a nice little house in a non-crime infested neighborhood where our neighbors leave us alone regardless of whether or not our grass is the exact same length as the whole street. We're sick of trekking up three flights of stairs every day (it's killing my poor man's knees), the rumors of break-ins, the weird people who feel the need to have a screaming match at 2 AM outside, and most of all we are sick of living in complexes, sharing houses, and having neighbors that don't know their boundaries.

Is there just NO place for a young couple that enjoys privacy in this city? I used to live in the middle of nowhere and there were more viable housing options in the country than there are in this huge bustling city, honest to god, lol.

As pretty as it is, we can't live in cape coral; we work in Fort Myers, and it just seems silly to need to pay money just to get across a bridge to go to work, especially with how bad gas prices are. We want our move to be cost efficient, not the opposite. Also the houses in cape coral are WAAAAAAY out of our price range, if we had a million dollars we wouldn't be in Gulf Stream, LOL.

[dualie]

Pine Island!!!!

[Samiamnh]

Totally agree with you about endless community restrictions and nosey neighbors....and there are always the self appointed condo inspectors that walk around day and night to make sure you haven't planted a tree or painted a fence.
Anyway,Danielle....you definately need to give CC a second look.
You can still find a nice 3/2/2 with a pool for 100k-150k.Find a house on a dead end street with a canal but on the other side of the street where prices are cheaper.Our neighborhood has a nice mix......lots of kids of all ages and some retired.Everybody is friendly and minds their own business.We have cats that run free because there is little traffic on a dead end st and the canals are a buffer so they don't wander too far.
Also,very littlecrime.......if you do your homework,you can find a great place

[meekocat]

There are a lot of houses in Cape Coral with pools that are affordable. We've been looking out here as well, but that's now on hold if I get hired for a job I interviewed for in Naples. Unfortunately one house we were eyeing went up 27k in price...the season is starting and most of us full timers will soon be priced out of the market. AGAIN.

[hiknapster]

Cape Coral is going to be your best bet and worth the drive over the bridge. Also, if you come through North Fort Myers, you won't have to pay a toll.

Meekocat, as much as I really like CC, I would never, ever work in Naples and live there. Sorry, but that commute is crazy. You can find affordable homes in Naples and they have a lot of very good schools if you need them. I prefer the gulf in that area as well, far less issues. So do yourself a favor and look in Naples. The only people that do that commute are those that are desperate (already live in CC and can only find a job in Naples) and change jobs or locations as soon as possible. I've had relatives that have lived through that. You are looking at a minimum of an hour each way.

Bear in mind, this isn't a swipe at CC, but with that commute, she or he will be far better off.

[Florida Paradise]

Unfortunately, you missed the low during the housing crisis... Now single family homes are starting to skyrocket. A fixer upper I looked at 2 years ago in South Ft. Myers (pretty nice area) went for 54,000 not a very nice house) and now the same house is 154,000 (renovated). And even though it is a nice area, the homes (in general) in this particular neighborhood aren't the greatest.

There are some single family homes out there, but you are right there are more gated and HOA communities. Of course these communities wouldn't be there if there wasn't a demand for them. Everyone has a different needs. Whereas you want to get a dog whenever you want, I wouldn't want to live next to someone (with a shared wall and property) who had a dog. So I am willing to pay to ensure some sort of peace as well as someone taking care of all the lawn work and outside maintainence. (even though I cringe each time a pay that damn HOA fee)

What is your price range? Depending on that I should think that with due dilgence and some help from people who know the area, you should be able to find a few single families without having to move out to Lehigh Acres (which you don't want to do)

[luvtobewarm]

Also the houses in cape coral are WAAAAAAY out of our price range, if we had a million dollars we wouldn't be in Gulf Stream, LOL.
Not sure what you mean by the million dollar comment. We bought a nice 3BR/2BA home with family room and two car garage and pool for $125,000 in CC. Our neighbors include a firefighter and a person who works at Home depot. Nice people. Quiet neighborhood. BTW - that was 6 months ago and the value has risen by $7000 according to Zillow - if that can be believed.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by luvtobewarm

Also the houses in cape coral are WAAAAAAY out of our price range, if we had a million dollars we wouldn't be in Gulf Stream, LOL.
Not sure what you mean by the million dollar comment. We bought a nice 3BR/2BA home with family room and two car garage and pool for $125,000 in CC. Our neighbors include a firefighter and a person who works at Home depot. Nice people. Quiet neighborhood. BTW - that was 6 months ago and the value has risen by $7000 according to Zillow - if that can be believed.

God, I hadn't noticed that.

OP, how long have you been living in the area? Why do you have that impression? Cape Coral has always had a reputation of having affordable homes - one of the reasons it was called the land of the newly wed and the nearly dead.

If you Realtor told you that, I'd question their ability to understand the area.

What the heck is your price range?

[Danielle89]

I was browsing homes on Trulia.com and the only house on the map (that was loading) in Cape Coral that is currently available was 1.6 Million dollars o.o. BEAUTIFUL but out of our reach for sure. I saw a few others that were 300 some but that's really out of our budget too for now at least.

We'd like to stay under 100k, the lower the better. He has his own business but we aren't rich yet, I have a very well paying job but the paychecks go away fast to bills and the like. Another problem is we only have one car and our current living situation makes it so I can just walk to work, which is wonderful - if I could stay within at least biking distance of the Best Buy on Cleveland that'd be so awesome. HOWEVER I am putting lots of money away so that I can finally have my own car so that problem won't be permanent of course.

If I had my own car after all we could live anywhere we felt like in the city really. My only other problem with Cape Coral is how confusing the streets are, though I'm not a native to the city so that's probably why (West 10th street, East 10th Street, etc, I wish they just had unique names hahaha! I got lost there real bad once )

We were honestly considering buying a plot of land and building our dream home, it seems like it'd be easier, hahahaha.

[luvtobewarm]

I just searched on Zillow for 75,000-100,000 and found 110 homes. I will send you a message with the name of the realtor we worked with. She is very good. If you call her and explain your position, she may be able to help or give you ideas.

The streets can be confusing, but once you take a good look at a map and understand it, it's pretty simple.