Cape Coral waterfront property question

"Thanks but a little too far North for us"

For those looking for a winter retreat the FLORIDA you want is South of a line at Stewart and runs thru lake O across to the west coast.

North of that is simply South GA or AL,,,,,it freezes , snows etc.

South of Lake O the freezes are a day long event ,every few years.

The Keys would be best for all winter , but prices are very high , traffic sucks , and the place has to be evacuated for too many summer breezes ,,,Hurricanes.

And shopping is on line or 100 miles away in Miami.

mbevins said:

CC (Cape Coral).
We're in a building that is two story. Four up, four down. End unit with vaulted ceilings. We are on a short tributary (1000') off the River. No locks and such but it is a bit to the ICW area.
Your probably looking to live full time. We're here six months and then back to the Great Lakes for the summer. That's why a condo works for us. Maintaining a house for six months of absence doesn't work.

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We are doing the same thing, only we are planning 8 months in Florida, 4 months in Buffalo on our boat. Florida residency gets you some nice tax breaks. Our condo is not on the water, but very close. We are at the southern end of CC right across from Rotary Park and a short distance to Tarpon Point.

FF you are absolutely right. We used to live in South Miami when (70's) you had to carry a gun and wear a bullet proof vest. We had a time share in Marathon and loved it except for the reasons you mentioned. Moved to Central Florida and loved the hills and lakes (Clermont where the Citrus Tower stands). Bought a 2010 38 foot trawler and keep it on the St.John's River in Astor. Trouble is that it is 60 miles one way to the boat. When we want to use it there is a 3 hour ride to and from the boat. The only place to go and be in paradise is Silver Glen Springs Run. Crystal clear water where you can beach a boat and have 72 degree water (gives me a very high pitched voice) and really enjoy. We sometimes stay 4 days there. If there was more boating aqreas and the travel was much less we won't be looking at CC.

Ronlord, Must be nice to travel each year! Congrats on your new Winter home!

jwinner said:

FF you are absolutely right. We used to live in South Miami when (70's) you had to carry a gun and wear a bullet proof vest. We had a time share in Marathon and loved it except for the reasons you mentioned. Moved to Central Florida and loved the hills and lakes (Clermont where the Citrus Tower stands). Bought a 2010 38 foot trawler and keep it on the St.John's River in Astor. Trouble is that it is 60 miles one way to the boat. When we want to use it there is a 3 hour ride to and from the boat. The only place to go and be in paradise is Silver Glen Springs Run. Crystal clear water where you can beach a boat and have 72 degree water (gives me a very high pitched voice) and really enjoy. We sometimes stay 4 days there. If there was more boating aqreas and the travel was much less we won't be looking at CC.

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So why don't you move to or closer to Astor? There is a lot to be said for keeping a boat in fresh water and you won't have to become familiar with Barnacle Buster. We had considered moving to SW Florida and looked long and hard in the Fort Meyers/Cape Coral/Punta Gorda/Port Charlotte area looking for canal front properties and just didn't find what we would be happy with. So much of the land in that area is very close to sea level which I consider a red flag. Ended up in a gated golf course community in Vero Beach. One of those places that FF calls a Utopian prison. We are now looking to move to north Florida along the St. Johns....if we can get the Vero Beach house sold. Vero Beach is a big time snowbird town. Right now only about 20% of the houses in our community are occupied. For the whole town, about 50% of the population in the winter are snowbirds. Unlike most places, real estate doesn't too fast this time of year but the SW Florida areas are probably similar. If you really want property in CC, look during the summer. Clermont used to be a real nice little citrus town. I lived in the Mount Dora area in the early 60's and loved it.

mbevins said:

CC (Cape Coral).
We're in a building that is two story. Four up, four down. End unit with vaulted ceilings. We are on a short tributary (1000') off the River. No locks and such but it is a bit to the ICW area.
Your probably looking to live full time. We're here six months and then back to the Great Lakes for the summer. That's why a condo works for us. Maintaining a house for six months of absence doesn't work.

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If you don't mind my asking, is your boat on the Great Lakes or in Florida? If in Florida, I'm wondering why you would not use it as your winter condo versus the hassles of actually owning one? We are in the planning stages of a similar strategy. The thought was to use the boat as our winter condo to explore Florida and the Islands, sell the house then buy a condo / cottage in Canada on the Great Lakes to spend the summers. We would also hope every once in awhile to take the boat back & forth between the Great Lakes & Florida.

Capt Kangeroo, what do you do with it durring the summer (hurricane season)? This always keeps us from leaving FL durring the summer for any length of time. To many times have I needed to fly back in a hurry for hurricane prep.

Might work better reversed.

Leave the boat up North where the cruising is grand .
A few days to the finger lakes , or down into NY CT LI Sound or Chessy.

Florida is a sand bar and most of the joy is the weather , hardly the scenery.

Green IS better than 4 ft of snow tho.

Many anchorages so marinas can be skipped to enjoy the breezes.

It only takes 6 months and a day in FL to not be taken by the always watching northern tax hounds.

Unless you were born in the south , 6 months is plenty, IT GETS HOT!!!

1 Nov to 1 May is our choice and we still get stuck in many Aprils hiding inside surviving the hot ,breathing refrigerated air.

FF said:

Might work better reversed.

Leave the boat up North where the cruising is grand .
A few days to the finger lakes , or down into NY CT LI Sound or Chessy.

.

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Our plan exactly! Not to mention that the boating up here is much cheaper. Very reasonable seasonal dockage and winter storage. Cruising dockage is usually free or less than $1 a ft for us. No salt water in the Great Lakes is also a plus. Keeping the boat up North and stored under cover all winter tends to keep them in much better shape then stored in the summer under a hot humid Florida environment.

Donson,
Clermont used to be a small town. Moved there from Longwood North of Orlando in 1991 after lightning burned my house. Back then the BIG DEAL was we got a Dairy Queen now gone. There aren't many citrus trees left after the freeze in the 80's. You can go up in the Citrus Tower and see nothing but rooftops! I am going to think about your comments. Do understand that on the St. John's River there is really only one place to go and swim, relax, and cool off with the 72 degree spring water. Look up Silver Glen Springs off the 2nd largest lake in Florida, Lake George. The river is down right now so with my 3 to 4 foot draft I can't get in there as it is a "run". There is only one way in or out of the Glen so you need local knowledge and a draft of 3 3/4 feet max. I really "slide in' as the sea grass is slimey but the bottom is like beach sand. Once you get to the mouth of the run it ranges 5 to 7 feet.

Roger, I am new to these tropical storms and ignorance is bliss. It made me sick with worry initially but quite frankly I have since given up thinking about it. I pile on the lines before I leave and hope for the best. The boat is Gulf side just off the ICW near StPetes but is far enough inland off the Gulf to provide reasonable protection from winds. Severe tidal surges on the other hand are still a concern.

FF, Ron, I couldn't agree more with all points but the best boating / gunk-holing is Georgian Bay & Superior and the boating season really only boils down to three months of nice weather. Subtract the many days the lakes are too rough to travel & it's depressingly short. I spent a lifetime on the Lakes and I'm really tired of winterizing boats. I agree by comparison that Florida has an acute lack of scenery but our plan is to use it as a springboard to more interesting places like the Bahamas, Cuba & other islands. Incidentally, I like the comment about Florida being a sand bar, I'm finding that out the hard way! Haven't had the boat out yet without grounding it. Unlike the Great Lakes it sucks being limited to the beaten path. Thank god for a mostly mud and sand bottom.

Chester, Check these out.
Sail boat access no bridges.


Pine Island and Matlacha under 350K.... - Jeff Skinner - Matrix Portal
Pine island, Matlacha
Cape Coral gulf access with no bridge under 350K... - Jeff Skinner - Matrix Portal
Cape coral

jwinner said:

Clermont used to be a small town. Moved there from Longwood North of Orlando in 1991 after lightning burned my house. Back then the BIG DEAL was we got a Dairy Queen now gone. There aren't many citrus trees left after the freeze in the 80's. You can go up in the Citrus Tower and see nothing but rooftops!

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When I went to college in the 60's, citrus groves extended almost up to Tallahassee on the west coast. There was definitely a climate change. And Clermont like most of central Florida has become a suburb of Disneyworld...err Orlando. Some of the lakes have dried up also. Small lakes in downtown Orlando are now dry and look like mini sinkholes. I have lived in suburbs of Orlando also but our home for most of the time was in the Cocoa/Rockledge.

jwinner said:

Look up Silver Glen Springs off the 2nd largest lake in Florida, Lake George. The river is down right now so with my 3 to 4 foot draft I can't get in there as it is a "run". There is only one way in or out of the Glen so you need local knowledge and a draft of 3 3/4 feet max. I really "slide in' as the sea grass is slimey but the bottom is like beach sand. Once you get to the mouth of the run it ranges 5 to 7 feet.

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We are hoping to close on a place north of Lake George if we can sell our house. The St Johns is fairly deep there, well over 7 feet.

I have a bias toward more rural areas and just don't find SW Florida to be my dish of tea. If your thing is nightlife, dining out and shopping, well, north along the St Johns isn't so great unless you go to Jax. We just want to be on fresh water in a rural setting.

You might also want to consider Deland or Sanford and keep the boat at those towns.

Donson, All the lakes have come up as we live on the Clermont Chain and it is now normal. Orlando the same. what we do like about Clermont is it has rolling hills and lots of lakes. We have a little twin engine "Speedster" that we can go around 16 lakes that are interconnected. Unfortunately, average max depths are approx. 8 feet but the connecting canals are much shallower. Deland and Sanford are too far from Silver Glen Springs as Astor is about10 miles. Sanford is approx. 45 miles . You will find out that Silver Glen IS the best place on the St. John's. Crystal clear, lots of fish and a pair of nesting Eagles to boot. The state bought it years ago so no booze.
They don't bother you unless stand on your boat and drop your drawers!!

Capt. Kangaroo
The other guys answered your question for me. The big boat stays on the Great Lakes for summer use. We have a condo up here with the boat behind it. Makes for great cruising to Lk Huron,Georgian Bay & North Channel.
Not to mention the other way down to Lk Erie and all it has to offer.
The boat lives in fresh water gets winter stored in a nice 55 deg building. She likes it up here.
That being said we were scheduled to leave on the Loop this summer but issues are making that highly unlikely.
So we'll be back down come Nov.

jskinner30PII said:

Chester, Check these out.
Sail boat access no bridges.

Pine Island and Matlacha under 350K.... - Jeff Skinner - Matrix Portal
Pine island, Matlacha
Cape Coral g

ulf access with no bridge under 350K... - Jeff Skinner - Matrix Portal
Cape coral

Click to expand...

Pine Island really a great place once you get used to it. It's very rural and will stay that way due to local zoning.
I stayed up on the Northern tip. Really nice access to the Sound.

mbevins said:

Pine Island really a great place once you get used to it. It's very rural and will stay that way due to local zoning.
I stayed up on the Northern tip. Really nice access to the Sound.

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Totally agree.

I was there some time back on business, and really fell in love with the place.

While my family roots are Captiva and Sanibel, who the heck can afford it if there's anything available.

Pine Island is still "relatively" reasonable, beautiful and as pointed out, will likely remain that way. It's only a short hop by boat from everything and 30 minutes by car (on a good day) from Ft. Myers.

We have been in Matlacha, Pine island some 20-25 years for the winter. The water in matlacha for the most part is too shallow for a trawler. Pine islands north and south tips have deeper canals. We now are in St. James city in a section called cherry estates, they are manufactured homes with 50' water frontage and prices start at around $125,000. right now I have a 24' pontoon boat but plan on getting a 34'-38' trawler when we sell up north and move down full time. The lay back end of the road quiet of the area is a major + for us.

Yes you're correct about the Matlacha area and the thin water especially in the canal areas close to the main bridge.
We stayed at the Northern end with 4-5 ft in the canal.

Do not come to Pine Island!! There is nothing here!! I strongly advise not even coming here to look...
Well, I tried...maybe it will keep them away...LOL

Thanks for all the comments. I have figured out that we need to win the lottery to move there! The only homes that are near an "exit" that can handle 4 foot draft and compares somewhat with our home we now live in are starting in the $1.5 million dollar range. We did see a foreclosure at $850,000 that needed about $200,000 of work! Oh well, dream on!!!

Well, I tried...maybe it will keep them away...LOL

IF they come on a weekend the traffic will keep them away.

Since the thread has taken it's course, wanted to tap into the brain trust and get your thoughts on Little Gasparilla Island, not from docking a trawler standpoint, just general knowledge?
Thanks!

You would need to bring your own fire truck,

Beautiful beach. The inconvenience of getting off and on the island could be wearing. We have stayed at Gasparilla Marina several times for several months. Have you ever seen anyone loading a refrigerator onto a center console boat? We have seen them carrying everything from air conditioners, to cabinets, the furniture in center consoles. There is a private ferry service you can schedule.

I have friends that live in a condo across Placida Harbor. They have privileges to the beach there. It is spectacular. Fishing is good too.

If you are handy, can do your own work, and have a method to get materials over it could work very well. I also have Canadian friends that got a free season on the island in return for doing some maintenance. They said it was too inconvenient for them, but lovely to stay there.

Thanks Moonstruck, yea kinda noticed the difficulties, also we not the type of people that shy away from doing our own work or we the type that needs the latest in kitchens etc. Basically wanted something that wasn't a condensed cookie cutter development. I use to say I wish there was a place like our Fire Island here in Long Island (no cars etc) and I stumbled across this, was waiting for the Cape Coral comments of something hidden that is not obvious.
Thank you!

Moonstruck said:

Beautiful beach. The inconvenience of getting off and on the island could be wearing. We have stayed at Gasparilla Marina several times for several months. Have you ever seen anyone loading a refrigerator onto a center console boat? We have seen them carrying everything from air conditioners, to cabinets, the furniture in center consoles. There is a private ferry service you can schedule.

I have friends that live in a condo across Placida Harbor. They have privileges to the beach there. It is spectacular. Fishing is good too.

If you are handy, can do your own work, and have a method to get materials over it could work very well. I also have Canadian friends that got a free season on the island in return for doing some maintenance. They said it was too inconvenient for them, but lovely to stay there.

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Marlinmike said:

I wish there was a place like our Fire Island here in Long Island (no cars etc) and I stumbled across this, was waiting for the Cape Coral comments of something hidden that is not obvious.
Thank you!

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Off topic, but my son is in the CG and served at Station Fire Island for a year. We visited once and I have to agree with you that it is a beautiful island.

I've looked at several properties in CC over the past few months and there are still some very good values to be had. My problem with that area is the density. Too many homes in too small of an area. Some waterfront homes are also quite a ways to get to open water through skinny canals and locks.

The Burnt Store Isle area is under developed and there seems to be good value there as well as long as you accept the fact that it may never be built out.

Punts Gorda Isles is a very nice area and the homes there are very nice. There have been some very good deals in that area over the past two years but it looks like most of the really good deals have dried up.

The SW FL real estate market was crushed in the 2008 downturn but it seems to have really sprung back pretty nicely and home values have risen significantly over the past 24 months. Just hope our taxes stay depressed for the foreseeable future.

For anybody interested in Little Gasparilla Island, I would highly recommend renting on the island before purchasing. Over the years, there have been some serious challenges with access from the mainland. Primarily parking and dockage. We've known several that have bought only to regret the decision later due to access challenges. You have to really understand what you're getting in to before making an emotional decision to buy. Water on the island can be tough as well. Drinking water is primarily from your personal rain water capture system and is stored in cisterns. Some folks just can't handle that. This time of year, water is plentiful. During the winter months, you really have to watch your usage.

Mike