Lee County has some of the highest rental increases in nation

[Mr Cape Coral]

Understanding real estate and all the details that go into making an informed decision can be a daunting task.
I know many would like a short list of steps that they could work from. However, that is not a good solution. Every buyer has a different set of circumstances.
Some are looking to pay cash, some need a mortgage and some need a mortgage with a low down payment.
In each case there are many questions that need to be answered before tackling the task of finding a property.
If it is a cash purchase, you will need to know and be able to verify how much cash you have available. That will help you determine what price point you should look at.
If it is a mortgage purchase, you should start by getting Pre-Approved, again to determine what price point you will qualify for.
Then you need to answer questions such as: What size home do you need? What are features I MUST have. Does the house need to be within a certain distance of_____? If you want to be in an HOA, whether single family or Condo, what are the fees for that place. The fees will impact what the Lender will qualify you for.
For example: if the Lender says you can purchase a property up to $300,000 with a max payment of $1800 per month, you would need to know you can purchase that priced home and keep your total payment, mortgage payment, taxes, insurance and HOA fees within the $1800 per month.
You may not be able to purchase in an HOA because the fees would put your monthly payment over the limit.
These are only a few of the issues you need to determine BEFORE you start looking at properties.
It can be highly frustrating to have in mind a certain priced property and look at several of them only to find out you do not qualify for that price. It will not be easy to go down in quality of size after finding places you really like but could not afford.
On line searches can be very difficult as many sites are not current in price and even have homes that are not for sale.

Buyers in LEE County many times do not want to use a Real Estate Agent because they think they can save money. What many do not understand is that here the Seller pays the agent, not the Buyer.