Moving to Cape Coral?? (Fort Myers, Port Charlotte: fit in, homeowners insurance, condo) - Fort Myers - Cape Coral area - Florida (FL) -Lee County - Page 3 - City-Data Forum

dnlytn1050 · 02-26-2009, 05:06 PM

Hello This is my first time on the site and I'm excited to hear so much about Foty Myers and Cape Coral. My husband and I sold our business last month and are interested in moving to the area. Moved from PA 14 yrs ago to NC. Like it here but have a daughter in Miami (too busy for me) and another one moving to Florida for law school. Spent a few days in Punta Gorda and Vennice in January but we are leaning to Cape Coral area. We want to be on water with gulf access. Any areas to avoid? We are also considering purchasing some smaller houses as rentals because the prices are too good to pass up. We have never owned rentals before. Any suggestionsor info would be appreciated.

nhkev · 02-26-2009, 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dnlytn1050

Hello This is my first time on the site and I'm excited to hear so much about Foty Myers and Cape Coral. My husband and I sold our business last month and are interested in moving to the area. Moved from PA 14 yrs ago to NC. Like it here but have a daughter in Miami (too busy for me) and another one moving to Florida for law school. Spent a few days in Punta Gorda and Vennice in January but we are leaning to Cape Coral area. We want to be on water with gulf access. Any areas to avoid? We are also considering purchasing some smaller houses as rentals because the prices are too good to pass up. We have never owned rentals before. Any suggestionsor info would be appreciated.

If gulf access was my number 1 priority I would go for the southeast section as close to the river as you can get . As far as rentals, high unemployment levels could mean a lot of non paying tenants, and low occupancy rates.

dnlytn1050 · 02-27-2009, 09:39 PM

Thanks for suggestions. Spent a lot of time today researching the prospect of doing rentals and have decided not to go that route. We are looking for a 3 or 4 bedroom home (7 yrs or newer) about 2200 sq ft with pool and cage and on water (no sailboat but want fairly quick access to river or gulf) in todays foreclosure rate of around $250. We have 4 grown daughters and six grandchildren. As I said earlier we just sold our business (childcare for 198 children), husband ready to retire and I still want to work in child care. I am pursuing some possible opportunities instructing and/or monitoring childcare centers that elect to follow ITERS/ECERS and improve the quality of their centers. (NC is a leader in developmentaly appropriate quality care and Florida lags far behind). Based on all this and the fact that the potential employment is in Fort Myers can you suggest a particular area to look at? We plan on heading down in the next few days. Appreciate any info.

mrcoolmrcool28 · 02-28-2009, 08:21 AM

Hey!! I've been in child care for many many years too!! Sold my Center in 2007. I currently work at "The Registry" in Madison, WI, which records and qualifies child care workers. We recently bought a vacant lot in Port Charlotte and hope to move down and build a house on it SOMEDAY!!
mrs.cool

dnlytn1050 · 02-28-2009, 12:39 PM

Small world, isn't it? How familiar are you with the area? Do you boat/fish? We moved to NC from PA to get away from the cold weather and still have the 4 seasons. We live on lake Norman right outside of Charlotte. Went down to Fort Myers/Cape Coral area last month but actually spent most of our time looking in Vennice and Punta Gorda. It will just be my husband and myself and we don't know anyone in the area but we will be closer to 2 of our daughers than we are now and actually have more opportunities to fish and spend time outdoors. The prices seem too good to pass by and we have listed our home in NC for sale. Fortunately we can buy before we sell if we can find the right house. I worry a little about owning a property and being so far away because I have read about some homes for sale (with vacant homes) that have had pool equipment etc stolen....

mrcoolmrcool28 · 02-28-2009, 03:01 PM

We've been down a few times, and absolutely love it. We met people from down there at Harpoon Harry's in February, and they are as nice in person as they are on this board. Check out my "Woo Hoo Here we Come" thread to see pictures of our meet up. There's more posted on the Sarasota Englewood thread too. I think it's called City Data Meet Up. We are boating fiends, we wanted a place on a canal with easy quick access to the Harbor and Gulf. We couldn't find a house down there we liked that was on a good canal, so we ended up buying a vacant lot on a great canal in Port Charlotte. Under the Edgewater bridge and we're out. We too were worrying about having an empty house, trying to rent it, and managing it from way up here. This option seemed to be the best way to go, you're right, with the prices the way they are it makes no sense to wait, most think they won't go much lower, if at all. We love Punta Gorda and PGI too, but PC is more affordable and has great canals too.
We can't move yet, we can't afford to retire, so our land will just have to wait for us to be able to build on it and move down. But when you find that great job in the biz, I'll come work with YOU and we'll be able to afford to move!!!

We are just the two of us too, our daughter lives in New York City.

Twobeach · 05-18-2009, 09:30 PM

OK,, I am a NY'er born and raised,,,what is up with this Picture of ugly you folks are painting of this area? OK this is the deal,,when the folks from the North relocate we bring revenue into the area. We dream of a better, warmer, nicer folks, reasonable cost of living and a nice place to raise our children. People have been moving around in this country since 1492 AD. Why would you not want nice folks to bring funds and children and their hopes and dreams into a struggling area to help save it? Why paint this horrible picture of Cape Coral, do you want to only have a Poverty and super Weathly Class of folks to rub elbows with? Do you wish you neighbor to create a grow house and deal day and night? Becareful of the images you toss out to people who are not familiar with the area, Be Impartial, as you are suppose to be in a Courtroom, Look at the situation from both sides of the Coin. To deter folks from relocating will cause more harm than good, no new industry, businesses and hope will all fade into despair. Times are tough all over the USA, welcome new blood and $$ this will keep a good Class of people in the area, who,wish to have a desireable place to call Home.
I spent all last summer with my family down there and the month of April,,My family also has been there for years and had no problems, well just one. Navagating your way around gets a bit tricky. We Shopped local..Ate local, ran to the Beaches at Sanibel and swam with the Dolphins. Had dinner in a Nice Cafes & Bob Evens, my kids love this place. Sometimes you hear a car with the music cranking, not unlike here in NY. Its a beautiful area with loads of potential and hope to God! Yes God that good people are not swayed by these untrue statements and still flock to the area to help revive it! Cheers, hope to see you in the Cape!

dreemcatcher · 05-19-2009, 04:56 AM

Twobeach~

Thanks for your post and those others who are showing some of the positives of the area. I just got a good job offer and plan to move there this summer. Most of us moving to the area are not bright eyed 18 year olds who have little life experience. I think most of us realize that paradise can be ANYWHERE-it's what you make of a place.

I am glad that there are many transplants to the area. Having living in military towns for most of my adult life, I realize the value and richness of having people from other areas of the country/world in one place.

Again, I am thankful for the postings of the good and the bad about the area, but some people do seem totally negative.

nhkev · 05-19-2009, 12:14 PM

part of the reason you'll hear a lot of negative is a lot of the posters have lived there when times were better. They were there when cape coral was voted #1 in fastest growing cities and everything looked up. Then they watched it get overbuilt , a lot of people that really weren't deserving of buying a house moved in , crime started to go up, traffic and construction everywhere, and when the bust hit all the jobs were linked to real estate and constuction and then it all left. To someone that was there in the 90's it was a different place than it was in 2005-2008. now it is going through a transition, the rest of the country started going through the bust and hikes in unemployment. I have an optimistic outlook for the area because I think that the reasons why it was desirable before will make it desirable again and maybe this time around the people that are buying actual have the money to afford it. But I will agree with some of the pessimists on some of the issues... unemployment is high, if you don't have a job and will depend on one it doesn't matter how cheap it is to buy or rent if you have no income. and never mind the potential disaster of the chinese drywall issue. For me it was a great decision to buy I had the ability to pay cash , had a long term renter lined up, and I like boating, fishing, kayaking, biking,atving, and going to the beach. I like the feel of the place from the time I step off the airplane. I'll probably make it home someday but because it is going through a transition it's not clear how things are going to turn out, I hope for the better but the worst case scenario is not off the table. So I wait.....

hiknapster · 05-19-2009, 01:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nhkev

part of the reason you'll hear a lot of negative is a lot of the posters have lived there when times were better. They were there when cape coral was voted #1 in fastest growing cities and everything looked up. Then they watched it get overbuilt , a lot of people that really weren't deserving of buying a house moved in , crime started to go up, traffic and construction everywhere, and when the bust hit all the jobs were linked to real estate and constuction and then it all left. To someone that was there in the 90's it was a different place than it was in 2005-2008. now it is going through a transition, the rest of the country started going through the bust and hikes in unemployment. I have an optimistic outlook for the area because I think that the reasons why it was desirable before will make it desirable again and maybe this time around the people that are buying actual have the money to afford it. But I will agree with some of the pessimists on some of the issues... unemployment is high, if you don't have a job and will depend on one it doesn't matter how cheap it is to buy or rent if you have no income. and never mind the potential disaster of the chinese drywall issue. For me it was a great decision to buy I had the ability to pay cash , had a long term renter lined up, and I like boating, fishing, kayaking, biking,atving, and going to the beach. I like the feel of the place from the time I step off the airplane. I'll probably make it home someday but because it is going through a transition it's not clear how things are going to turn out, I hope for the better but the worst case scenario is not off the table. So I wait.....

Great post!

I'd give you rep points but apparently I have to spread the love around, first!