canal lots with boat access near Port Charlotte (Edgewater, Englewood: real estate, rent)

[beach43ofus]

I currently live North of this area near Wellen Park, & the Braves stadium.

I've noticed an area near Edgewater Drive & Harbor Blvd where there are lots of homes on ~.29 acre lots that have boat access canals behind them. some of the boats are large, and the canals wide, so it must be pretty deep water.

I'm driving down later today (Wednesday March 31st) to look at a few lots.

Can you have a boat on a lot even though there;s no home on the lot?

Is there an HOA for that community? Is it a community al all?

Who governs what you can and annot do? I've seen large motorhome busses parked in driveways, so it seems there's no HOA.

Does Charlotte County regulate all of this?

Can I run electricity and water to my dock if no home there?

Can I park my car on the lot while I go out on my boat?

What else do I need to know? I'd be paying cash.

Are there realtors who are experts at these particular waterfront lots? Do I need a realtor to buy a lot?

Unchatered waters for me..pardon the pun.

Please help.

[SellingNWCape]

Beach - reach out to Harbor Hopper. He's a real estate agent and I think he could help you out with a lot of the different waterfront & boat-related questions you have. Doesn't look like he's been on CD for a bit but here's a link to his FB page: https://www.facebook.com/sunshinesandbars

Updated to add that you never need a real estate agent to buy a lot or even a house if you're comfortable going it alone. But they are great to have working on your behalf if you have a lot of questions or want a professional opinion on things.

[twowilldo]

Originally Posted by SellingNWCape

Beach - reach out to Harbor Hopper. He's a real estate agent and I think he could help you out with a lot of the different waterfront & boat-related questions you have. Doesn't look like he's been on CD for a bit but here's a link to his FB page: https://www.facebook.com/sunshinesandbars

Updated to add that you never need a real estate agent to buy a lot or even a house if you're comfortable going it alone. But they are great to have working on your behalf if you have a lot of questions or want a professional opinion on things.

Agree... Harbor Hopper helped us find a great house in PGI but before we settled on a place, we looked everywhere from Englewood to Pirate Harbor to Burnt Store. Kept him 'hoppin' that's for sure but we can verify that Jerrid is very thorough and knowledgable. Also a no BS guy.

Beach, you're in Florida already so it helps to easily travel down to view properties. We were 2,000 miles away (yikes).

I cannot answer your questions about the specific area you are looking but I can tell you that a house that was under construction a few doors down used a generator to power the new lift on their new dock. There was no electric drop (contractors all used generators) until the house was pretty much complete. There was water pretty early on though from what we could see. The new owners had a tritoon on the lift long before the house existed.

[ranchonodinero]

It doesn't sound like it is in Punta Gorda or Punta Gorda Isles. Check to make sure though. Punta Gorda has plenty of "nos" in their municiple code. It's like HOA regs but put into a municiple code so they have teeth. What ever water front or canal front lot you are looking at, I'd suggest you rent a boat for half a day and drive it. See what it is like to get to the place from the water. See what the lot looks like from the water too. It will make a difference in how you evaluate the property. We looked at some beautiful lots only to determine that it would take 45 min at an hour at no wake speeds to get back to the dock or open water. EVERYONE is a realtor down here.

[MrTaz]

Originally Posted by ranchonodinero

It doesn't sound like it is in Punta Gorda or Punta Gorda Isles. Check to make sure though. Punta Gorda has plenty of "nos" in their municiple code. It's like HOA regs but put into a municiple code so they have teeth. What ever water front or canal front lot you are looking at, I'd suggest you rent a boat for half a day and drive it. See what it is like to get to the place from the water. See what the lot looks like from the water too. It will make a difference in how you evaluate the property. We looked at some beautiful lots only to determine that it would take 45 min at an hour at no wake speeds to get back to the dock or open water. EVERYONE is a realtor down here.

I agree on what you said. My wife and I bought a house in PGI July 2nd 2020. The first place we looked at was 20 minutes at idle speed to open water and had bridges to open water. which wasn't too bad compared to most homes in PGI. We got outbid on that house and continued to look. A couple days later we found another house that was on what they call a sailboat lot, meaning no bridges to open water. This house was 5-6 minutes to open water at idle speed. We put in an offer that was accepted within a day. Right now in PGI it seems to be a seller's market and patience will be needed to find the right deal. The only lots I would avoid if I was in the market for a lot would be the ones next to a bridge and the ones at the end of a canal. The reason for the later is the ends of canals tend to silt up and become shallow and the owner is responsible for paying for dredging to deepen it. I hope the OP is familiar with lot prices in PGI if that's where they want to be, if not they be in for sticker shock. The average asking price for a lot that's not next to a bridge is about $325,000. The lots next to a bridge is a little less because of the traffic noise.


To answer a few of his questions that you didn't address.
From my experience of almost a year living here:


1. Does Charlotte County regulate all of this? As far as PGI goes. The city of Punta Gorga enforces regulations in PGI like a HOA, although there are no mandatory HOA fees. You can join the HOA if you like but don't have to.


2. Can I run electricity and water to my dock if no home there?I have seen multiple lots without a house on them that had a boat lift with electric and a boat on the lift. I can't say if they had water to the dock. When I saw the lots it was from the water with me passing it in my boat.


3. Can I park my car on the lot while I go out on my boat? I don't think parking a car on the lot while using your boat would be an issue. They do have restrictions on parking a boat and trailer or RV's on the lot in PGI. With a no cost permit that is required you can park a boat/trailer on the lot for up to 48 hours. I believe that also applies for RVs.

4. Are there realtors who are experts at these particular waterfront lots? Do I need a realtor to buy a lot? If you're interested in the PGI area there are plenty of Realtors in the PGI area that you can ask questions about the do's and don't s. If you are buying, some of them will try to charge you an admin fee for their help in handling your purchase. I got them to waive the fee and pointed out that they were getting their commission fee from the seller. If you can get the Realtor (buyer's agent) to wave their fee I thought it was worth it to have a Realtor involved and looking out for my interest, especially if you are not familiar with the way Florida requires real estate transactions to be handled.



I hope I was able to pick up where you left off with some of his questions.