Pine Lakes & Del Tura communities (Cape Coral, Fort Myers: cul-de-sac, for sale, rent)

[cardinal14]

Can anyone give some comments about Pine Lakes & Del Tura communities? My wife & I are in or 50's & are considering these 2 place to retire to. Any help?? Thanks, Barry & eileen from NJ

[justNancy]

There have been other discussions about on these communities, so you might want to search for them. However, I'll give you my personal opinion, since I've been in both communities.

Don't buy a mobile home in SWFL if you are only in your 50s. Both of these manufactured home communities are very nice, but the monthly lot fees run as high as $800 a month, depending on the location of the home. You can buy a very nice house for a lot less. Sure, the mobile home will initially seem cheap, but every year the lot rent increases by about 3 or 4%. So how much will it be when you're 75? These homes also depreciate in value as they age. A combination of high lot rents and decreased home values is why there are so many mobile homes in FL selling for under $20,000. The owners can't give them away. Over the past 5 years, the lot rents increased as the land value decreased. Even if you get an inside lot, it will cost more then $7,000 a year just for the lot. So if I were you, I'd consider buying a small single family home, townhouse or villa in Cape Coral or North Fort Myers. In a few years you'll be a lot better off IMHO.

I want to add that there are some homes in Pine Lake on owned land AFAIK, but I still don't think they're a good value. However, only you can make the final decision on what is right for you and where you'll be happy. Good luck!

[Samiamnh]

If you want to really live on the cheap in a nice safe park.....try Sun'n Fun on Palm beach Blvd just east of I 75. I sold my place there a few years ago and there is no rent because you own your own lot. maint. fee's were only $125 mo at the time.You can get a trailer on a canal with access to the river for somewhere around 25k in the lower section and if you want a larger manufactured home there are some nice ones for sale in the upper section from 50 to 100k approx.Nice pool,huge open areas for practicing your golf swing,garbage pick up........not bad,really.Also,it's far enough from the "hood' so that it is quite safe.It is resident owned so it will never be sold out from under you to a developer.
I only left to get closer to the gulf and bought in Cape Coral

[justNancy]

Originally Posted by justNancy

There have been other discussions about on these communities, so you might want to search for them. However, I'll give you my personal opinion, since I've been in both communities.

Just to clarify, I never lived in either community. By "been" I only meant that I've spent a little time visiting each park. I did, however, live in a manufactured home for several years, just not around here.

[nomoresnow]

Cardinal, I live in Pine Lakes and have been here for 3 years. Much of what Nancy told you is right. However, things have changed a bit. Yes, houses here are going for very low prices. It is a manufactured home community with an HOA and all the rules that go along with it. The lot rents for someone buying in will now range from $600-$1200/month, depending on where the house is located. Houses in the center of the cul-de-sac are generally the lowest priced and the highest would be those located on a "lake" and overlooking the golf course. We look at our lot rent as land taxes and maintenance fees because that's basically what it is. BTW, you can write off a certain percentage on your federal income taxes that do relate to the land tax portion, even if you don't itemize. I've heard of homes going for very low numbers - anywhere from $15,000 to $25,000 for some nice places, some even fully furnished.

I find it to be a fairly quiet area, close enough to Cape Coral and Ft. Myers, but away from the hustle and bustle and crime.

Nancy mentioned that some folks do own their land. There are certain areas we call the estates, such as Eagle Trace Court, where they do own the land. However, to participate in any of the amenities (pool, clubhouse, etc.), one must pay a monthly fee also. I believe (please don't hold me to this) that this fee is app. $200/month. It does include garbage pickup, street lights, etc. Houses in the estates are currently going in the $120,000 to $135,000 range. Naturally, some higher, some lower.

It's a nice place to be. The pool area is quite nice and well maintained, as are the grounds and the clubhouse, which has recently been redecorated. We have a bar/restaurant called the Pub. It's not as fancy as a lot of the places around here, but it works. Prices are reasonable and the fare is decent. There are also tennis courts, bocce, shuffleboard, horseshoes, and - you may have heard of this little game - golf. In season, there's always something going on - concerts (sometimes by professionals, sometimes locals), plays (by our local group), dances, dinners, community affairs, etc. You can join bowling teams, softball, card games, bingo, etc.

We are connected to a sister community called Lake Fairways. Has a lot of the same amenities (both are owned by a co. called ELS), but it's about 10 years older than ours. If something goes wrong with our pool, we can go use theirs and vice versa.

Del Tura. I looked at homes there when I bought here 4 years ago. Nice community, but I wasn't as impressed with the amenities. They have several pools, but I didn't find them as nice as the one pool here. Now, this may no longer be the case, but we noticed that a number of homes there at the time had a termite issue. We saw several that were under white tents with signs that said "Quarantined". A lot of the homes there have a stucco exterior with wooden accents, so that may be a problem. At the time I looked, the lot rent was in the same range as our place.

I was not real impressed with the sales person who showed me around. We were driving around the community and I noticed an odor, which turned out to be the water treatment facility. I mentioned it to him and he joked about having sold a house right next to it for a good amount of $$$. Then he showed me a house that was right next to Rt. 41 (the main highway around here, after I75). I said, no way did I want to live next to such a busy road. "OH, you get used to it within a month." Nope. Don't think so.

So, anyway, those are my views. If you have any questions, please feel free to DM me.

Whatever you decide, best of luck to you.

[nomoresnow]

Oh, I forgot to mention...our lot rent increases are tied to the CPI. If it goes up 2%, our rent goes up 2% that year. We had no increase this past year because it went down. Unfortunately, they never decrease it.

[sliding glass door]

hmmmmm I see they are not showing my post regarding the lot fees del tura fees are off the chart that is why everyone will give the place away just to get rid of a 1980's trailer just say'n