Boating / real estate opinions Florida

searaycruisn

searaycruisn

New Member
Nov 10, 2006
242
Old Saybrook, CT
Boat Info
2000 380 Sundancer
Engines
CAT 3126
I am interested in purchasing a home in Florida. I would like some opinions on location.

I want to be able to have my boat (currently 38' Sundancer) either at my home (on a canal?) or at a very close by marina. I want close access to the Bahamas, and the Keys, and good local cruising.

What are some Florida cities or locations which I should look at? I am hoping for some help in narrowing my search....
 
I'm actually beginning my search for a "snowbird" house myself as retirement gets closer. I've been searching in the Punta Gorda Isles area. Seems to be a nice area. Depending on your needs, a modest house on a canal, with no bridges and a short ride to port Charlotte will run from a low of $450K to approximately $850K...more if you want bigger home with better views....

Not sure about access to the Bahamas, but the Keys are certainly in your range from there.

Try this site... http://www.liveonthewater.com/
 
I currently live in southeast Florida and have a 350 DA. I live in the Lauderdale area, in this area the prices for a home on the water, that is NOT an hour run from the Intracoastal waterway, are pretty high. Anything decent anywhere near the ICW is over 1 million. In the lauderdale area a 3000 sq. ft. home within 1/2 mile of the ICW, you're looking for prices starting at about 1.5 million. Boat slips in the Lauderdale area seem to run from about $500/month moored behind a home to 700-1000 per month in a nice marina. Again that is for a 35 foot Sea Ray.

I have a second home up the coast in Vero Beach(120 miles north of Lauderdale), very quiet and on the water. I can throw a rock to the ICW. That area does not have the congestion and population density of the Palm Beach/Ft. Lauderdale/Miami area(a plus for me).In contrast I have a home with room for 2 boats, a pool, and a 4000 sq ft house in a great neighborhood. Prices in Vero within 1/2 mile of the ICW start around 600-700k.
 
I live in Fort Lauderdale, on a deep water canal, with no fixed bridges to the ocean. Easy access to the (50 miles to Bimini, about 90 to Grand Bahama) Bahamas, the Keys etc. Depending on how close you are to the ocean and intracoastal has a bearing on the cost. I'm further west off of the New River, where there are a lot of older homes that people (myself included) bought and gutted and renovated, added on. Again, depending on the area, you could find a house from $400,000 up to the millions for new construction where they knock the house down and build a new large home on wider water right on the new river or intracoastal. If you get down here, let me know and I'd be happy to take you around on my 320 to check out some of the areas.

happy Thanksgiving,

Barry
 
Similar story in Palm Beach county. Home on the ICW would be multi millions. Older one-story on an inland canal with access to the ICW would be 1 million and up. If you dont keep the boat on a canal, the marinas would be about $700-1000 per month.

Bahamas are only about 60 miles away though.
 
What are the issues with docking a boat on a canal? Do you need to have a lift? What do people do to prepare for storms? Do you make arrangements to have the boats pulled out of the water at a marina? I read somewhere that in Punta Gorda (thanks for the web site in the above reply) that the bulkheads are owned by the town. Is that true in other parts of Florida?
 
I live on a deep water canal in St. Pete and love it. From my dock I see the downtown lights and skyline. Updated 2500-3000 sq ft ranch type houses go for around $750-800 in my neighborhood, with an occasional "fix er upper" for around $625. I have 91' of seawall and keep my 380DA right out back!

The Tampa/St. Pete area has a much slower pace than the East coast of Florida- and that I like. The cruising is great- all of Tampa Bay, the entire West Coast, and of course the Keys are only about a day or so away. I would not live anywhere else- truly PARADISE!

Brian
 
in my neigbrohood homes start in the 350K and up for 2400 Sqft +. I keep my boat on a lift behind the house as do most folks except for a few blow boaters who let their boats float year round. I think where we are is about as low as you will find for a water front home since we are also the farthest up Tampa Bay as you can get here in OldsMar; but it's only a 1 mile run through the canal (at full speed) to get into the open bay and a 30 mile run to the gulf of Mexico.

I agree with brian. you couldn't pay me to live on the east coast. they get too much bad wheather compared to the west coast. plus we normally don't have much wave action near our beachs so you can get a big boat pretty close with no worries.

the long an short of it is you will get more bang for you're buck on the west coast.
 
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Mystic Dreamer said:
I live on a deep water canal in St. Pete and love it. From my dock I see the downtown lights and skyline. Updated 2500-3000 sq ft ranch type houses go for around $750-800 in my neighborhood, with an occasional "fix er upper" for around $625. I have 91' of seawall and keep my 380DA right out back!

The Tampa/St. Pete area has a much slower pace than the East coast of Florida- and that I like. The cruising is great- all of Tampa Bay, the entire West Coast, and of course the Keys are only about a day or so away. I would not live anywhere else- truly PARADISE!

Brian
Click to expand...

I keep mine at a marina on the Manatee River. Thirty minutes from the marina to the Gulf side of Egmont Key.

You are describing my dream though. We bought our boat from a guy who was right on the water in Bradenton. He had a custom lift that he pulled this thing out of the water with for 14 years! It was a 20,000 lift with a custom dock that wrapped around both sides of the boat. Perfect. I would rather put my money into a mortgage on the water instead of a marina. Some day...

We boat mostly during the week and almost always have the entire bay to ourselves. Egmont is usually deserted and we can explore anywhere we want with nearly no traffic. I love the calm water of the Gulf side. Easy access to a ton of great destinations.

FWIW - Marco Island to Key West Bight is about 4 hours at 20Kts in smooth seas, about 5 hours in 2' to 4' at 18Kts with a head wind ;-)
 
As a comparison, a 2,400 ft home in Northern Wisconsin would be in the low 200’s. A seasonal slip rental including power and water is about $1,450. I’d tell you what I spend for a year’s boat insurance but it’s so low you would not believe me anyways.

Oh, and the occasional January low temperature of -20F helps keep the rift raft out.

If you don’t include the days when the packers loose, spousal abuse is extremely low. :grin:

We take the money we save and toss it into an empty room in the house. When you feel envious of someone living in Florida with their warm weather we go into this room, roll around on the money and say “ahhhhhhhh”
 
Yeah, but it' in the 80's here today- what's it like now in Wisconsin?

My therapy bills would be far more than the cost savings of living up north!

Brian
 
You also might want to look into Fort Myers/Cape Coral.

With a boat your size you could easily get to the Keys with one stop in Marco Island, and if you wanted to go to the East Coast once a year, the intercoastal goes straight through the state of Fl via the Caloosahatchee river and Lake okeechobe.

I agree that the conditions on the west coast are usually much better. In the summer time with winds out of the east the gulf is always nice and flat, and allows for anchoring close to the beach.

This area also has the best fishing and best beaches for boaters if you ask me. Look up Cayo Costa state park, Captiva Island, and Cabbage key for some info.

Homes right now in Cape Coral are also very reasonable again, as the RE market has pretty much crashed down hear, and now is the time you can get great deals, and Cape Coral has over 400 miles in canals.

I have my 260 sundancer on a lift behind my house, and would not have it any other way.

Good luck in your search.
 
Wow...lots of great information and input...

As soon as I empty my house of my extended family, and finish off all this turkey, I will get on the internet and research some of the areas you all mentioned.

I ask again....why the boat lifts? And do I need to factor that in if I buy a house on a canal? A boat lift for a 380 Sundancer can be $$$$?
 
I used to keep my 290AJ on a lift since I did not want to have it bottom painted (and it had BIII drives). My 380 I keep in the water- it just adds a little expense like a bottom job every two years or so, a diver service, zincs, etc.

Brian
 
I keep my 320 in the water as the expense of a lift for that weight would have been a lot, and the way my dock is it would have taken up too much space.. I did purchase a "mooring station" called a Boat Bunker. Its the 2nd one I've owned (had one for my 25' doral with an i/o) and it's pretty cool. With my Doral, I didn't want to paint the bottom as a boat that size would have been worth a lot less with bottom paint. With the boat bunker you open a gate at the end, drive it in, close the gate, and since no oxygenation can take place, nothing grows. It's relatively new (saw them 3 years ago at the Miami Boat show) but seems to do the trick.
 
searaycruisn said:
Wow...lots of great information and input...

As soon as I empty my house of my extended family, and finish off all this turkey, I will get on the internet and research some of the areas you all mentioned.

I ask again....why the boat lifts? And do I need to factor that in if I buy a house on a canal? A boat lift for a 380 Sundancer can be $$$$?
Click to expand...


The boat lifts keep the bottom clean. In the summer the barnacles go crazy in all the hot water (90 degrees). I left my dinghy in the water for 2 weeks and lived to regret it.

A lift for a boat your size could easily run over 20k installed (based on surfing installer websites last year). Most of the houses that already have a lift have one for about 24' or less.

Be sure to check on 2 things when hunting for water front property in Florida: 1)homeowner's insurance - tough to obtain along the coast and costs a fortune 2)yacht policy - nobody in the state is writing for anything over 30' or a hull value > $100,000, especially in the more desirable locations :-( I've heard of policies for your size boat running between $3k and $7k per year. Mine is closer to $3k.
 
Cruising Grounds:

If you are in the Ft. Myers to Naples area, you can make Key West in a day, Bimini in two. North Florida ports are more inviting as the run to KW is a long haul. Most SR won't have the range for a direct Gulf crossing to Texas or Mexico so a coastal circuit is the ticket.

From on the FL East Coast, Vero to West Palm, you lay West End on Grand Bahama in a day, the northern Abacos in two. Key West, two to two and half days.

West Palm to Miami, you lay any port in the Westen Bahamas in 4-5 hours, KW is a 12 hour run from Ft Lauderdale in open ocean in fair weather & seas, longer in the ICW.

Hosuing prices on canals without fixed bridges south of West Palm will run about 8-10K per foot of canal seawall plus the house.

Best Bang for the Buck on the water Lighthouse Point (Pompano) on the East coast, West Coast, ask FrankW
 
Cruisn, We currently have our home for sale in Atlanta, Ga. Soon as it sells we are buying in Punta Gorda Isles. Have done our home work and been down there 3 times. 2500 ft 3-4 yr old home on the canal list price 500-750,000 with 5 to 12% off asking price. Taxes around $5500 to $6500. Boat sits in back yard for free.Same price as boat slip so taxes don't hurt as bad. Homeowners insurance around $2400 per year with $5000 deduct for hurricane ins as well. Most homes has boat lift but most around 10,000 lbs. Our 340 needs 18-20000lbs. Talked with boat lift people they say you can beef up a smaller lift and will not cost arm and a leg. What we like about Punta Gorda Isles is it is deed restricted meaning no big for sale signs no boats in the driveway no extra cars laying around. A very nice community. Hope this helps. Today in Punta Gorda 82 degrees, here in Atlanta 55 I think for the high. Go figure.
 
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It seems like the Fort Myers area still is offering the best bang for the buck, along with great boating opportunities. I had a deposit on a condo in Fort Myers and recently backed out of that deal due to delays in construction, and financial problems for the developer....so I know the area fairly well.

I guess I am still considering the east coast because I want to have access to the bahamas with the boat...however, I am still some time away from retirement, and would be trying to rent the property out for now.
 
No offense to anyone wholives in Ft Meyers, but I would definitely spend some time there before you decide to buy. There is a whole lot of nothing around there and while the beaches are gorgeous, they tend to attrack everybody in the trailor park who can afford to travel. Just been there twice, but it was not my cup of tea. The people did not seem to match the natural beauty, but then again, I am way to ugly for my gorgeous fiance too.

briman
 
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