Looking to buy a condo in Ft.Myers (Fort Myers, Port Charlotte: short sale, real estate)

[Lesio]

Hi everybody. I'm Canadian looking to buy a condo in west coast of Florida. My first pick was Ft.Myers, as I was over there a year ago. However, I was in motel, saw just the beaches, restaurants, but have no idea how the life and daily living looks like. Another questions rose when I was on the net looking for properties. Unfortunately, I can not find answers to some basic questions.
1) Insurance. What is the best to buy in terms of insurance - townhouse, apartment, or the house. What are the average prices. Do I have to buy insurance once I pay cash for the property and take no mortgage ?
2) HOA/condo fees. Can not find this info when looking for property. Have no idea what kind of $$$ condos mgmt charges monthly, as well, what is included in the fee.
3) What areas are good, and what are not recommended to buy. Real estate agents will not tell, as this is against their rules.
4) What is a definition of rental property ? Do I need to do anything to rent it in terms of law, taxes ? Are they any restrictions coming for condo mgmt, Florida law ? Are my relatives or kids consider to be a tenants ?

Will appreciate if somebody living in Ft.Myers area, or somebody who went thru the process of buying property answers my questions. Thx in advance. Lesio

[justNancy]

Every condo has its own rules and regulations. There is also no "average" HOA fee. It depends on the community. If you live on a golf course and have a lot of amenities (clubhouse, tennis, pool, etc.) then your monthly fee will be more than a development without those benefits. Also, a condo with a gate & security guard usually charges a little more for obvious reasons. I've lived in condos that include cable TV and water/sewer. Some include high speed internet in the monthly fee. It varies. Regarding rentals, that is completely up to the individual condo association. Some will let you rent out a unit weekly and others restrict rentals to once or twice a year.

You will first need to mention your price range before anyone here can offer helpful advice. There are some condos selling for under $30,000 and others for over $250,000.

RE: Insurance. Don't confuse mortgage insurance with property insurance. If you pay cash, you do not have to buy mortgage insurance. That is only to protect the loan. Property insurance is a different story. You'd be out of your mind not to have it. Many condo associations include building insurance, since you are living in a multi-unit dwelling, but you will have to check the HOA rules to see exactly what is covered by your monthly fee. Still, you need to insure the inside of your unit including your personal belongings. I looked at a home that was not covered by the HOA because it was a free standing villa. I hate to sound redundant, but each case is different.

Since you are not living here at this time, I suggest you find a good real estate agent you feel comfortable with, since you have so many unanswered questions. Florida has a sale tax on any unit that is rented for less than 6 months. However, it varies by county. I paid 11% in Indian River County. As an American taxpayer, you would need to pay income tax on every rental income, but you're not. Kroeran is Canadian, so maybe he can advise you about taxes.

Again, each community has different restrictions. I had to go through an extensive background check to rent a unit last year. The better communities will often require this for the protection of its residents.

[kroeran]

there is so much to learn, you really should follow the method....visit a lot, drive around a lot, rent,
buy only after getting to know a specific neighbourhood. No one does this of course, but everyone realises after, that they would have done things differently if they had known the neighbourhood.

I would have located on the other side of my quad, facing south rather than north. In January you want to catch the warmth of the sun, not hide from it.

If you are a high net worth dude, pay attention to non-resident death taxes on real estate, which can be wicked. There are ways to deal with this. As general advice, never buy a second home unless you are paying cash. Visit an HOA meeting to find out all the dirty laundry.

Of course, with the dollar near par and prices still bouncing on the bottom, its pretty attractive. Just think about the risks...the developer going under, the HOA going under, the golfcourse going under, the city going under, the state, the country

if you are planning on spending a lot of time in Florida, an annual lease can cost the same as three months in high season. Use your capital to pay down your mortgage up north or top up your rrsp/tfsa. Shop in the off season.

Pay close attention to availability of direct flights and availability in the off season.

If you are younger, buy wreck of a house with good bones for the cost of land and put in some sweat equity cleaning it up on your vacations, or pick up a lot in Port Charlotte and hand build a stilt cottage.

As a Canadian you face the same tax treatment as any American or Floridian who owns a second home. Note that you can rent for 2 weeks and the IRS does not care. There is of course the state and maybe county rental taxes, HOA fees, needing insurance that covers rentals (Cypress). My HOA has a month minimum, but enforcement is lax if your tenants dont cause trouble.

Contents insurance does not require house minding if the condo is gated. Minding when you are away runs $40 per month for weekly visits.

I agree that SWF is the place to be, Naples to South Fort Myers band.

check out crime stats map on police webpage...rule of thumb is stay south of Page Field.

sorry for the rambling

[Lesio]

Nancy, Kroeran, thx to both of you for all tips...Lesio

[krktoday]

There are some beautiful condo's in the 249,000 range overlooking the river. Recently built with granite counters, stainless steel appliance's. They used to be closer to 500,000 but price's fell. I don't know who sell's them but they are called North Star and Vision One has some that are seasonal rental's. That is the best way to see if you would like it. Rent something for a month and look around. If you don't have to have a job to survive this is a great place to live

[bellaterra]

I just bought mine in Estero Fl. We got the keys a months ago...I LOVE IT!!!!! we are in Bella Terra....insurance is around $500, we have a 2 plus den around 1400 sqft and we bought ours from under 100k!! It is an amazing area.....***MOD CUT*** is our site.
We live outside Toronto, and plan to visit our place a few times a year...and rent it to cover our costs.
When buying walk around the community see who lives there first...talk to a few people out and about...get there thoughts...make sure the community is not in trouble....lots of forclosed and short sale places that are not paying the hoa fees....so can be past on to the owners that are.
We got an awesome deal!!! we just got back from furnishing our place...have i mentioned how much i love it!!!! lol If you head down and want a place to stay send us an email via the website.....i can get you in touch with our agent..she was amazing!!
Good luck....it can be a long road but well worth it!!

[Florida Paradise]

We recently bought a townhome in South Ft. Myers. It doesn't have very many amenities besides a pool, but HOA fees include "outside" insurance (will re-build the unit but will not build inside) cable, pool maintenance, lawn care, street light, & road maintenance. $380.00 (which is on the high end) What can I say, we loved the architecture of the place. Since we paid CASH, we do not have to maintain property insurance, but we do anyways for piece of mind.

I highly recommend not buying north of Colonial nor east of 41... Just my preference for the Ft. Myers area, but I did do my research, including flying down a few times to check out the area. Also, i have family who highly suggested the above for safety and resale.

I do rent out my place according to our associations HOA rules. This includes... a minimum of 3 months, a management company back ground check and the 11% tax that we are required to collect and submit. Our friends and family use the place (rent free) for a week or two at a time and I just inform the management company when they will be there and the license plate of their cars.

Finally... before and during the process of buying (although I did have an agent) I used listingbook.com to find the places I looked at and subsequently bought. It is an MLS listing site.
Hope this helps.