Hi Everyone, I'll be in the Orlando area on vacation with a buddy starting Sept.8th and was planning a road trip down to Cape Coral to check out the area with a view to purchasing a house at some point in the future. Does anyone have any general info on the area? What appeals to me is the fact that the majority of houses in southwest Cape Coral are backed onto canals with easy access to the Gulf and from what I've read, seems to offer a real laid back lifestyle. Although I'm a Brit myself and have a place not far from Orlando, I want to get away from the all the Brits in that area and Cape Coral appeals to me and from what I've been able to find out online, there are some nice houses for around the 850k mark, although it also appears that there are alot of plots of land in the area which havent been built on yet. Is anyone here from that area or have any first hand experience of the place?
I am not sure of Cape Coral, but Homossassa is getting to be pretty popular for the laid back crowd. It is about an hour north of Tampa and is still reasonably priced (as Florida waterfront goes). Good luck with the search! BT
Cape Coral was developed back inthe late 1960's. Its just now getting really hot, some of the lots were purchsed but never built on in all of that time. You have to personally check it out, there are some good areas, and some that have become run down due to age. I hear there are actually tear downs at some prime locations. Closest "big city" is Ft. Meyers, which has a large airport. In the long run, virtually anywhere in the southern part of Florida is a good investment. Just make sure you get proper insurance and put up hurricane shutters/windows.
There's some good info here. Keep it coming guys Looking on some realtor websites, I can't help noticing some really rough looking places that look more like mobile homes. Is that what's referred to as a "tear down" meaning if you were to buy it you'd most likely pull it down and build a new house in that location? Does anyone know approximate house building prices in the area are on a square foot basis, or is that too general a question? When I go down there in the next couple of weeks, if I like it I'll probably then rent a house for a few weeks to get a better feel for the area and lifestyle. I'm looking to purchase initially for my own vacation use and staying there up to 6 months of the year on a Visa, with a view to living there more permanently in a few years time if I can get a Visa by setting up a US division of my UK company. While I'm not there, I'd like to try and rent it out to help pay the mortgage. Any info on what there is to do etc in the area would be most gratefully received. I'm 29 so I'm not looking for a retirement community
For typical new home construction you should plan on spending about $150-$180 / s.f. of living area. That price would include the typical covered patios / garage / landscaping. So if the house you want is around 4,000 s.f. plan on spending about $600k building it. This is a great generalization, but is an average for the nice new homes. You could probably find a small builder (who works out of their truck and is their own superintendant) to build for around $100 / s.f. and you could also find a custom builder that will put more money into fixtures and finishes who thinks that $250 / s.f. is a good base number. Information is from contractors that I know and friends that have had homes built recently. BT
Well my wife grew up in cape coral and her parents happen to be selling their house. Personally, I kind of find the place a little geriatric and boring but definitely low key and pretty. PM me if you need further info. _nate
Echo everything above. Great if you are a boater - cheap deepwater canal lots. I considered going there about 4 years ago, but it was "too laid back" for me. Regret not buying anything for investment, as would have doubled by now. My best freind owns an Arco gas station with a Subway shop inside. It's located on the main exit off the freeway. He opened it 7 years ago and has been offered 5 times what it cost him to build / open. Tremendous growth rate and if you buy anything, you will not lose money down the road. You are doing the best thing by spending some time there and seeing it first hand.
Thanks for all the info guys. I've been speaking to quite a few people and the general impressions I'm getting is that Cape Coral is a great vacation area and a property there would be a good investment, but it's perhaps not a great place to live as there's nothing really to do. I'm still going to try and take a trip down there while in here in FL to have a look at the area for myself.
