One of the reasons we chose Cape Coral was our excitement about the long-term vision of the Cape Coral Redevelopment Agency (CRA) for the downtown area of the Cape. While we are frustrated that the CRA’s progress has been slower than anyone would like, we are glad to see them dogging it along and making some progress.

The mission statement for the agency is that it “will facilitate the emergence of a vibrant urban village where people of all ages will live, work, shop and be entertained.” The master plan adopted by the CRA and City Council designed the Downtown as a compact urban village.

The primary goal is to create a high-intensity pedestrian friendly urban area with open spaces and a system of both pedestrian and traffic circulation so that visitors, employees, and residents alike can easily find their way, park, and enjoy their walk to their destinations. And the CRA aims, through development incentives, to assist in the development of plazas and covered pedestrians walkways that improve access to waterways and the riverfront.

Visit the Cape Coral CRA website.

Normalcy is returning to South Seas Island Resort.

A year after reopening on a limited basis, the Captiva resort pummeled by Hurricane Charley in 2004 has undergone an estimated $140 million makeover.

“It’s a rebirth,” said managing director Craig Schwan. His biggest challenge, Schwan said, “is really getting the word out that we’ve reopened.”

To that end, owner LXR Luxury Resorts will throw a grand reopening celebration tonight for about 250 local movers and shakers. A separate party and open house for neighboring Captiva residents is planned for April or May. After the VIP party, Schwan will go to New York City to meet with key travel publications.

Schwan estimated 1,600 to 1,800 people will stay at the resort this week. That’s about half the population Schwan’s predecessor said filled the resort during a weekend in the high winter season before Charley. Schwan said the pre-Charley estimate probably included non-overnight guests who used to be permitted on the property to shop and dine. With weather up north still chilly, this week is one of the most desirable and pricey.

Accommodations range from about $300 a day at the Harborside Hotel to $1,300 for a three-bedroom condo at Seabreeze overlooking Pine Island Sound on the resort’s north end.

About 529 out of 579 lodging units in the resort rental pool are restored and ready for use, Schwan said. The rest, all privately owned condos, are close to completion, he said.
With about 700 workers on the 330-acre property, the resort is close to pre-Charley staffing.

New owners, new look
Owner LXR is an affiliate of The Blackstone Group, which bought South Seas and nine other Florida properties in early 2005 for $367 million.

LXR took over South Seas in the middle of post-hurricane repairs and injected its ideas into the evolving plans. Choice property along Pine Island Sound was stripped of damaged and outdated meeting spaces and a couple of older pools.

In their place: The Pointe Restaurant & Grill and two pools ringed with cabanas that are soon to have LCD and plasma TVs as well as high-speed wireless Internet access.

With the exception of the clubby old King’s Crown restaurant — now reserved for private social functions such as weddings — group meeting space is concentrated away from the water and closer to the public Captiva Drive. In January, LXR “privatized” South Seas. That means only overnight guests and community members of the resort’s club are able to dine and shop behind the security gate.

Schwan said privatization is working out better than he expected.
“It provides exclusivity, and allows us to provide the best service possible,” he said.

Memberships for people who aren’t property owners start at $500 a year for access to all restaurants and shops and the on-resort trolley service.

A second level at $2,000 adds use of the fitness center and golf course. A $3,000 premium membership includes all available amenities such as a private stretch of beach with comfy chairs and beach toys.

Steep adjustment
Michigan resident Edward Thomas said he doesn’t mind privatization, but noted there aren’t as many dining options as before and “the food prices are high.” “Four dollars for one scoop of ice cream, $10 for a hamburger. I can afford it, but I don’t need to pay $10 for a hamburger.”

As he watched his 21Ú2-year-old grandson, Carsten Melbye, play in one of the new swimming pools, Thomas said he’s most impressed with the new landscaping.
On the golf course alone, that included adding about 200 coconut palms, 330 sabal palms and 7,000 shrubs, along with 5,000 aquatic and dune plants.

Thomas has been coming to South Seas for more than 30 years and especially prizes “the relaxed atmosphere, the weather and meeting good people who have become friends.”

This is Thomas’ first visit since Hurricane Charley because he couldn’t bear to see the resort in tatters. Plus he had health problems to overcome.
Now, he said, he’s well and the resort is, too.

“Some things have a different flavor, but that’s all right,” Thomas said. “I just hope the prices don’t drive away the families.”

From the News-Press, March 2007

We would not want to live in Key West, but we sure are glad it’s any easy trip to get there. With our freinds visiting from Stillwater, Minnesota, we boarded the Key West Express ferry boat at Salty Sam’s marina on Fort Myers Beach for a short weekend trip.

The big twin-hull ferry boat impressed us both in comfort and speed. Once we got on the Gulf of Mexico, we cruised at about 45 mph and could hardly notice any movement nor did we see anyone get sea sick. Our morning cruise was about half capacity (capacity is about 500 people) with a wide variety of passengers, from boomers like us to seniors and toddlers.

During the journey, we roamed about the three decks for different vantage points and alternating between sun and wind (the upper open-air deck, at 45 mph is very windy) and the calm of the air-conditioned interior on the main level.

About 3 1/2 hours later, we were in Key West, armed with cameras and comfortable shoes and ready to play our roles as tourtistas. True to our roles, we took the Conch Train for a guided tour of the island’s rich history, then headed out to the famous night spots for some drinking, dancing, and good food. (Our 60-something friend won the hula-hoop contest on the dance floor, and even though she was the only contestent, we still think her technique was the best. In fact, later that evening she was giving hula lessons to touristas from Germany.)

After contributing to the local economy on Sunday afternoon with lots of shopping, we boarded for our trip home Sunday evening. By midnight we were tuckered out and glad to be tucked away for the night.

Next time we head that way, we plan to travel there in our own boat and stay longer so that we can tour more of the area and take advantage of the fishing, water sports, and wonderful sights. 

One of our favorite local spots for a stop off when we are boating is RumRunners at Cape Harbour. But it just got better. Now there are two more restaurants at the marina.

The Joint has the look of a hip South Beach bistro and open kitchen, with gourmet pizzas and more. The outdoor Cabana Bar sits facing the marina, has large televisions for sports viewing, and live music on Tuesday nights. A third restaurant, Run Agrounds, serves coffee, gelato, and pastries.

UPDATE: We hopped on the boat Tuesday night to check out the live music at the Cabana bar, a spectacular blues band that had eveyone tapping their toes and a few of us dancing. And it’s already a popular spot. Here are some snaps.

If you are interested in purchasing property in the Cape Harbour Development, we can help. Contact us to get started or learn more or visit our site to learn about this and other communities. Here is a link to the location.

SageRealtor Group welcomes Shane Ball and Sandra Avant as contributors to our SouthWest Florida Blog. Shane and Sandra recently relocated from Bakersville, California to Cape Coral, Florida. Shane will be joining SageRealtor Group as a sales agent this month. Sandra works in Public Relations.

Now living their dream, they share their experiences exploring SouthWest Florida and becoming immersed in the Florida lifestyle in this “SouthWest Florida Living” series of posts.

Not a beach lover? No problem. You don’t have to like sand between your toes or water splashing against your feet. Walk in your shoes, jog along the shore or even ride your bike on Fort Myers Beach. Take your pick – sunrise or sunset. I guarantee you’ll keep going back for more.

Still feel safer on dryer land or maybe you just can’t swim. Then just hang out in Fort Myers, Cape Coral or some of the other surrounding cities like Punta Gorda. The area is filled with beautifully landscaped homes, friendly neighbors and merchants and interesting sites such as the homes of Edison and Ford. Oh, and if you love to shop like me, it will take you months to visit all the conveniently located malls. That’s a good thing.

Shopping and site seeking are bound to make you hungry. So don’t forget to eat out a lot. Southwest Florida has some of the best restaurants that offer a variety of mouth-watering foods. Just name the cuisine that stimulates your palate. I love all kinds of food, but two of my favorites are hot wings and down-home cooked vegetables like turnip greens. Within weeks, I had located one of the best hot wings restaurant and of course “Cracker Barrel.” Chose a seafood restaurant, an Italian deli or eat pizzas that make you drool.

To go along with those delicious meals, you’ll find a load of hospitality and customer service the good old fashion way. It doesn’t matter whether the cooking originated from New York, Georgia or Germany. It’s all good. I may never cook another dinner.

Sincerely,

Sandra Avant

Two sailboats passed my line of sight, gliding through an intersection of shimmering water cast by the midday sun at Fort Myers Beach. A boy no more than 8 years old dug hurriedly, creating a huge mound of sand, which he later dived onto like the pelicans soaring above the water before me.

The temperature felt perfect at “Junkanoo” restaurant, where I sat eating delicious grouper nuggets. Golden sunrays covered my feet – a balance to the slightly cool breeze from the Gulf’s shore. I found myself smiling – as I have every day since moving here from California two months ago. The promise of another spectacular day was at hand … and I knew it would come true.

Shane

Fishermen’s Village is a waterfront retail and yacht basin complex in Southwest Florida is located on the Charlotte Harbor in beautiful downtown Punta Gorda, Florida.

And finally, the full-service marina is now open for business.

The marina closed in May of 2003 due to structural problems on the 25 year old docks. Now completely renovated, they opened the fuel dock and have a total of 111 permanent slips, 97 are available for public use, and approximately 31 temporary, free docking areas for day use of boaters visiting the Mall, shops and restaurants. They are also constructing a new dinghy dock for boats that anchor in the Harbor and wish to use facilities.

Now SouthWest Florida boaters can once again take advantage of the shops, entertainment, dining, and nightlife at the village and in downtown Punta Gorda. It’s a good thing!

As boaters are well aware, local knowledge is a key ingredient to a safe journey. And that’s also true for real estate—local knowledge (product knowledge + market knowledge) is key for our customers’ “safe journey” in a property transaction. Because much of our business involves waterfront properties, a boat outing often is part of our job, either conducting research or showing properties. But it can’t be called “work” in the Webster dictionary sense of the word.

Recently we held one of our team meetings on the water, at our other “office”, a 31’ express cruiser. (Pictured below: Shane with our Yorkie Dutch and Mark at the helm… looks like they are working hard, yes?).

One of our objectives for this meeting was to learn more about a couple of the canal systems that lead into the Rubicon canal, one of the most beautiful canals in Cape Coral. The Rubicon is about 220 feet wide and curves and meanders through the Southeast part of the Cape.

We were previewing waterfront properties for two clients interested in purchasing Gulf Access homes in the Southeast area. We checked bridge heights, depths, and trip duration for various homes. We had pre-screened the properties based on price, square footage, age, and other features, but we wanted a close-up look before showing the properties to our clients. After the trip, we eliminated some of the properties due to location, condition of the structure, or absent property features such as pool, dock, or lift.

At the end of the day we had a dynamite short list of properties that we knew our clients would want to see. It was a tough, brutal day at the office.

Whether you are looking at listings for a potential property purchase or you are working with an agent to determine a home valuation, you will want to know these basics of the terminology in the listing detail or the Comparable Market Analysis (CMA).

Active: The property is actively for sale and there is not an accepted purchase contract. There may be an offer or negotiations in the works, but an agreement is not finalized.

DOM: The number of days the property has been on the market.

Active Contingent: A purchase offer has been made, the seller has accepted the offer, but there are buyer contingencies that may prevent the sale going through. The most typical contingency is financing—the buyer has yet to secure loan commitment. Other contingencies might be: the inspection period, either personal inspection, professional inspection or both; examination of financial records for income-producing properties; and/or the buyer’s sale or closing of another property (the latter being less common). There might be one or more contingencies.

In some cases, Active Contingent status means that the seller is willing to take backup offers, should the current offer not go through or if there is a “kick-out” clause in the agreement (a kick-out clause is an agreement between the buyer and seller giving the seller the right to demand contingency removal within a certain number of days; if the buyer cannot perform within that time period, the contract may be terminated).

Pending: Terms of the purchase contract have been fulfilled and the closing of the transaction is near or nearly assured. Often a listing will move from Active, to Active Contingent, to Pending, and finally to Sold. If an accepted purchase contract is a cash purchase with no or minor contingencies, the status moves from Active directly to Pending.

Original List Price: The initial asking price of the property on the listing’s start date.

List Price: The current asking price, either the same as the original list, or after price reductions or price increases from the original list amount.

Sold Price: The final amount paid by the buyer to the seller.

Back on Market: The property was temporarily off the market, usually because a purchase offer was accepted, but the deal fell through (e.g., the buyer could not obtain financing).

Related Posts: CMA What to Look For, Square Footage, Top Questions,  E-savvy Agent 

The country’s apartment sector is seeing more bidding wars as tenants jockey for available rental units in increasingly tight markets.

Nationwide, rent for a 1,000-square-foot apartment has risen 3.7 percent in the last year to $1,389 a month, says Property & Portfolio Research Inc.

One of the main reasons for climbing rents is the reduced inventory of units, created in part by developers that built condos or converted rental stock into for-sale units during the home sale boom.

In the second quarter of this year, rental vacancy rates fell to 5.3 percent from 6.2 percent in the year-earlier period. This has produced what is known as a “landlord’s market.”

Source: Wall Street Journal (10/11/06)

While I’m a certified diver, I have to admit it’s been a long time since I’ve been on a dive. In the local paper today, a great article by Cheryl Wood of the Caloosa Dive Club in Cape Coral caught my eye and got me thinking it’s time to start diving again (after a refresher course to get my skills back in check!).

The Dive Club includes members from all walks of life and age groups with a variety of interests. They organize dives in the Gulf of Mexico, Florida Keys, and Florida East Coast. Visitors are welcome to their web site and club meetings, which are held at the Cape Coral Yacht Club.

Other SouthWest Florida scuba diving resources include: Seahorse Scuba in Fort Myers, and Dean’s Dive Center in Fort Myers, and FantaSea Scuba in Port Charlotte, all of which offer courses, scuba trips, and gear.

It’s that time of year, our favorite in SouthWest Florida.

Here are a few reasons why (in no particular order):

* Goodbye air conditioning. The humidity is all but gone, the temps cooler. Today we opened all the windows, doors, and sliders, turned off the air conditioning and let the breeze drift through the house.  While it’s 85 degrees in the sun, it’s cool as can be inside; the breeze is playfully tossing paperwork off my desk.

* Our 5 lb Yorkie, Dutch, has the run of the house and with everything wide open, he can now run back and forth from the living room, to the lanai, to the office, to the pool (and into the pool, he’s a great swimmer)… all day and all night long. An occasional bark at the neighbors completes his day. Ahhh, the life.

* The top on our convertible will stay down for some months, going up only when there is the infrequent rainstorm.

* Our visitor log is building up, and we are once again using the white board to keep track of who is visiting when. We look so forward to the arrival of friends, family, and clients.

* The SouthWest Florida real estate market is picking up speed. Buyers are coming back, prices are getting real, and well-priced inventory is moving.

* Our “Sno-bird” neighbors and friends are coming back from their summer get-aways and we’re delighted to have them back.

* The best boating season for SouthWest Florida begins now: warm days, cool nights, fantastic sunrises and sunsets.

It’s paradise!

Last weekend, we took a road trip to visit friends at the Grand National Paso Fino horse show in Perry Georgia. (Years ago, we were in the Paso Fino breeding and showing business. Now, as our horse friends fondly say, instead of throwing money into the horses, we are dumping money down another hole… our boat.) 

We struck up a conversation with a Georgia property developer who, gasp, did not know where Fort Myers was. Naples? Nope. Sarasota? Nope. Miami? Yep.

Fair enough. Before moving here, we did not know much about the geography of Florida either. So where is exactly are we? We define SouthWest Florida as encompassing Charlotte, Lee, and Collier Counties. The primary cities, from north to south, are Punta Gorda, Cape Coral, Sanibel-Captiva, Fort Myers, Estero, Bonita Springs, Naples, and Marco Island.

This illustration shows where the Cape Coral-Fort Myers metropolitan areas are in relation to well-known Florida cities: Miami, Tampa, Orlando, and Key West.

This is a chief advantage of living in or visiting SouthWest Florida: proximity to other Florida attractions, whether the night life in South Beach, the beautiful bay at Tampa, the beaches of Sarasota, or the family fun in Orlando. They are all within 2 or 3 hours driving distance, close enough for a day trip or an extended weekend get-away.  The playground of Key West is also in our “backyard,” a 1/2 day trip of about five and a half hours.

All this in addition to the arts, recreation, boating, fishing, and sports right here in SouthWest Florida. Whew! So much to see and do.

Related Posts: On the Water, Why We Chose SouthWest FL Part 1, Part 2,

Good links for more about SouthWest Florida: Lee County Visitor Guide, Charlotte County Visitor Guide, Collier County Visitor Guide, SouthWest Florida International Airport

Pop Quiz: What is the average age in SouthWest Florida? Some people still envision the ‘blue hairs” as the dominating demographic.

Think again. Answer: 43.

Lee County has been on steady growth the past few years, with more and more families moving to the area. Marietta Mudgett, who heads the Greater Fort Myers Chamber of Commerce, said the business community is booming in reaction to the population increases.

“We’ve seen major growth,” she said.

“We’re seeing a lot more smaller businesses moving into the area, people opening businesses and our local businesses are expanding and adding staff.”

Mudgett said the availability of jobs and good weather keeps bringing people. We couldn’t agree more.

The other night while grabbing a snack and beverage at one of our favorite outdoor bars, we struck up a conversation with the gentleman sitting next to us, whose profession is that of a termite service technician.

His chief complaint and rationale for imbibing was that he’s bored. “Bored?” we asked. Affirmative. But, we wondered, every property that sells in SouthWest Florida has a termite inspection before purchase. Surely he must be very busy?

His problem is not getting inspection jobs, it’s that there he rarely finds any termites.

Which is true enough. Because most construction is now concrete block, and since nearly all property owners have routine termite treatments (perhaps overkill, but these days everyone is schooled in prevention-is-the-best-medicine), there just aren’t that many of ‘em. The termite-fear-mongers are living in the good ole days of wood-frame structures.

So for someone in the profession of getting rid of termites, we can see how that would be quite tiresome. Where’s the excitement? Where’s the job satisfaction? Maybe, he wondered, it was time to back to San Diego, his home town, where termites were plentiful.

So do you need a termite inspection before purchase? It’s always a good idea. There are still wood doors and door frames, for example, and older homes might have legacy issues. Also, wood frame structures are still prevalent on Fort Myers Beach and Bonita Beach, so for anyone considering a purchase there (or any wood frame house), be sure to have a thorough professional inspection and be sure that you (or a representative) are present to monitor the inspection and see any issues first-hand.

What makes a city a city? Is it a population of 150,000? Having a large police force and lots of new public schools opening? A downtown area? A hospital or two? City beach? Parks? Golf courses? Water parks?

Nope. None of the above, according to many local java junkies.

What makes a city a real city is the arrival of Starbucks. Following article after article and letters to the editor in the local papers, the pining for a Cape Coral Starbucks is finally over. (Mind you, the Cape has plenty of locally-owned coffee shops that are fantastic. In fact, most of the Cape’s non-fast-food dining options are locally-owned).

The Cape’s very own Starbucks will be along the Pine Island Corridor, an area in the NorthWestern and NorthEastern sector that is booming in commercial development (other plans include Super Target, Chilis, Olive Garden… the usual suspects). 

Residents of Cape Coral are excited about the commercial boom, not only because of the additional shopping and entertainment options, but also as a boost to the tax base. In the Cape, residential owners provide 92 percent of the city’s tax base — an unusually high percentage. Most city’s have a tax base that is 75 residential and 25 percent commercial.

We were reminded to post this link after we recently received an inquiry from a family in Scotland. They are wanting to know if there were any restrictions to owning vacation property in Naples, due to the fact that they are not US nationals. They intend to vacation here once or twice a year.

Answer: Ownership is pretty much the same as for US citizens.

The only gotcha happens when the foreign owner sells the property, at which time the US government might want to collect 10% income tax from the seller.

Here is a link to the FIRPTA tax code (Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act).

Of course, always consult your accountant and/or attorney!

We’ve said it before, we’ll say it again… there is so much to explore on the waterways of SouthWest Florida, it’s hard to get it all done.

Here’s a great web site for learning about SouthWest Florida anchorages with great details, waterway maps, images, and location characteristics. 

Pictured here is an image from the Sea Grant site showing the path into Glover Blight, just off of Tarpon Point in Cape Coral.

Visit SouthWest Florida Anchorages from Florida Sea Grant.

If the blogosphere is crushing you under a relentless tidal wave of words, Technorati can help. Tell them what your favorite blogs are, and they’ll keep track of them all so you can check them in one place.Technorati Profile

The idea is to bring together the Beaches of Fort Myers & Sanibel — and Disney.

It’s a hook for British tourists, said Jeanne Bigos, Lee County resort sales and marketing director.

Bigos’ dream is to get it on the cover of Virgin Holidays’ catalogue of travel packages for 2007.

Virgin Holidays is an affiliate of Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic Airlines. It’s the tour operator that brings the most visitors from the United Kingdom to Florida.

Southwest Florida bills itself as the natural antidote to theme-park overdose. But the sand castle is unabashedly Disney-esque, because the English are nuts about Central Florida theme parks.  

Read the full article in the News-Press. Visit Lee County Visitor’s Web Site.

From a Colleage in Northern Minnesota:

“The big story a couple of months ago in our papers was and alligator attack; it cited 17 deaths since 1942 – my friends had to make a big deal out of it. I reminded them that in MN (and WI), there are on the average 48 deaths per year involving deer (car crashes, mostly, although we have a few drunk hunters that will shoot their comrades in the name of the deer). So, basically you are at 2,000 times more risk of being killed by a sweet doe-eyed deer than an alligator.” — DJ

Not the real ones, no (but pleny of University of Florida Gator fans). We have seen one gator along a riverbank, a mile or so from our house. Some people on canals feed alligators, and so they will see them often (it’s illegal to feed them, by the way). Even so, it’s difficult for a gator to hop a seawall. When you hear about them, they are typically in outlying swampy areas that slope inland gradually.

A northern visitor who had never seen a pool cage (the screen enclosure around the pool and lanai), wondered if the pool cage was for keeping out alligators. Hmmm. We said yes and poured her another margarita.