Boating / real estate opinions Florida

Well... I'll disclose that I own a house on a canal down in Port Charlotte and I still don't know what you mean by "amenities"... Let's see... they have several shopping malls, movie theaters, bowling allies, bars, chain restaurants, a few Home Depots, Wal-Mart, gas stations, auto parts stores, car dealerships, several big hospitals... So I don't get it. They don't have a state college or a sports team (although they do have a nice big ball park with some minor league action)...

2 Things

Does it have a Lift?
If Yes can I use it?

haha

Also you forgot to mention there is a Airport in Punta Gorda and SkyBus (skybus.com) has flights from NC to there for $10 each way per adult.
 
ok I'm going to go look for something on the water. Where's my hat?
 
you could look for something around fort myers/cape coral. There are so many foreclosures right now you could walk away with something huge on a canal very cheap. Average 2000sq ft homes on a canal have been going for in the lower-mid 200k, also i hear the fed is dropping the interest rates again sometime soon. good time to buy!
 
My friend lived in Cape Coral and got out right on time before it fell apart. He decided to leave prior to this due to the lack of maint on the canals(silting in) and of the lifts(broken for months on end). Apparently larger boats were getting stuck in their slips and some stranded. When I visited him we had to go down to Ft.Myers to do anything nice restuarants etc.,the town left alot to be desired and the beach/park area was lacking, Unless your in the high rent district dont expect much, especially anything for 200k
 
that's interesting. Was cape coral always in trouble? Or was this something that has been happening in just the last 5 years or so?
 
Well... I'll disclose that I own a house on a canal down in Port Charlotte and I still don't know what you mean by "amenities"... Let's see... they have several shopping malls, movie theaters, bowling allies, bars, chain restaurants, a few Home Depots, Wal-Mart, gas stations, auto parts stores, car dealerships, several big hospitals... So I don't get it. They don't have a state college or a sports team (although they do have a nice big ball park with some minor league action)...

I appologize, I didn't realize you were from Va.!:smt043:lol::smt038:smt043
 
that's interesting. Was cape coral always in trouble? Or was this something that has been happening in just the last 5 years or so?


The problems are strickly a factor of the last 24 months and the real estate "crash". Cape Coral is a good place if you want to keep your boat in the back yard. Caution, you should check out the area carefully to see if you like the life style there. Second, you get what you pay for. In the $200,000 range you may only be on a freshwater canal. Saltwater canals probably go for more. The price goes up as you get closer to the river.
The negative to the cape is that the traffic is a killer, there is a lack of building controls in the area and there are no Amenities!! If you are retired, boating is the center of your life, and you don't care whether your neighbor mows his lawn, then the cape is for you.

Just be careful. :wow::wow::wow::wow::wow:
 
You're a good sport even though it appears that some of the folks here don't give you a lot of slack. Humm, I wonder why? :smt101
 
The problems are strickly a factor of the last 24 months and the real estate "crash". ...... The negative to the cape is that the traffic is a killer, there is a lack of building controls in the area and there are no Amenities!! If you are retired, boating is the center of your life, and you don't care whether your neighbor mows his lawn, then the cape is for you.

Just be careful. :wow::wow::wow::wow::wow:

"Crash" In one of the trade web/blog sites they were saying it had gotten so bad in the Cape Coral area that the county had to hire yard people to clean up some of the abandoned/vacant homes yards, trying to keep the values from falling even more in certain neighborhoods. They had also canceled/put on hold construction on some new schools since all the construction/development working families with kids have left the area since they could not find work. Is it as bad as they are saying??
 
Cape Coral has more canals than Venice Italy. Housing is not that pricey, and plenty of Gulf Access House or Vacant Lots. Key West in 5.5 hours from our house. We explore Sanibel, Captiva, Cayo Costa about an hour from our house. Look up Cabbage Key, Useppa, Ft. Myers Beach.
 
"Crash" In one of the trade web/blog sites they were saying it had gotten so bad in the Cape Coral area that the county had to hire yard people to clean up some of the abandoned/vacant homes yards, trying to keep the values from falling even more in certain neighborhoods. They had also canceled/put on hold construction on some new schools since all the construction/development working families with kids have left the area since they could not find work. Is it as bad as they are saying??

Well it's not Flint Michigan but it's pretty bad. The area is hard hit becuase there was a lot of medium affordable homes. Say 300-600,000 and you have water access. Unfortunately those homes were owned by people from the construction trades and there is no building going on right now. The big question is how long will it take to absorb the number of homes placed on the market. My guess 5 years. That places them out of most people's investment range. But for the boater that wants to retire here, it may make lots of sense especially in a planned community. Plus to be fair there has been a lot of retail and commercial building going on in the area.
 
Fishnut,
Thanks for the update. I did not think it was as bad as they were saying. Sound like what I always try to tell my clients. Real Estate needs to be treated as a long term investment not a short term day trader/ flipper investment.
 
How's that saying go...."There's no bad times to buy realestate....just bad times to sell!!!"
 
I use only one indicator to know when to sell or when to save my pennies to buy, my fedex guy. When he starts talking to me about stocks, or real estate as investments or a great way to make money, I know it's time to get out. Or wait about 5 years after everything has burned to the ground and go pick up some deals.
 
How's that saying go...."There's no bad times to buy realestate....just bad times to sell!!!"

Great :thumbsup: You made my day, had not heard that one in a while.
 

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