$495,000

I have an offer from a nearby developer but the are stalling because they are busy deveoping the other adjacent property on the south of their upscale 55 plus modular country club development.

Dave and Brenda: I’ve recently closed two short sales and can truthfully acknowledge that your description fits to a ‘T’. The first one, which I thought would pass through like a breeze took almost three months. The second, a beautiful five bedroom 2.5 bath on five acres in the country took almost as long. The last one was being held by GMAC mortgage and they drag their feet every chance they get. Getting information and feedback is almost nil, and as far as customer support, forget it!. I really thought I was going to get into a ‘niche’ market that would pay big dividends with little more work than a normal offer/acceptance contract, but this is far from ‘normal.’

Anyone getting into this market should look around, ask a lot of uestions of active agents currently doing shorts and be open to disappointment in responses. I know of some ’super effective’ agents that are burned out from these type sales. One agent in Columbus, Ohio could have as many of these as she could handle, but chose to go back to her bank owned, low rent neighborhood properties and not worry about the hassles given by these lenders. They treat the owners (borrowers) like dirt and never offer any more information than absolutely necessary. Also, there are programs being sold and advertised as ” be a millionaire in the short sale niche” that are nothing but common sense put on a 13 cent CD and sold for hundreds of dollars. I think these agents are taking advantage of an unknowing, clueless group of Realtors looking to ’strike it rich.’

Thanks for putting the word out to other agents. They should ‘take heed’ of this free advice.

Regards,

Jim Callihan
http://www.TriCountyTeamRealtors.com

Great questions! The canal lifestyle is marvelous. We live on a canal and enjoy so much watching the birds and fish frolic in the water. We are on a gulf access canal and occasionally see a dolphin or manatee, which is always a thrill so close to home.

We are from Minnesota, and we think the mosquitoes here are less of a problem than they were there. Most people in our area have a screened enclosure to make outdoor living and entertaining mosquito-free. Even though they are not horrible, they are there, and the screen enclosure (sometimes called a “cage”) means that even at dusk they are not a nuisance. Also we take our boat out in the evenings and are not bothered by the mosquitoes and a little spray around the ankles if often enough to make everyone happy. Cape Coral is known for its diligence in mosquito abatement.

If there is a hurricane, there is a chance that the canals could rise. During Charley (the worst to hit this area in 40 years), our canal rose to about 2 feet above the seawall, then receded a few hours after the eye of the storm passed through Punta Gorda. Our canal is in the southernmost part of the Cape, close to the river and Gulf of Mexico. We have not seen the water rise above the seawall since then.

Regarding inventory, first it’s important to know that Cape Coral has 400 miles of canals. That’s a lot of canal homes! We have a great article on the waterfront in our area and the different types of canals at this link: http://www.sagerealtor.com/waterfront_types.

Another factor is that Cape Coral had a large amount of investors buying up properties in 2004 and 2005. Waterfront, being the most prized, was gobbled up. Those investors thought they could “flip” the properties quickly. When the market turned, many were in a situation where they could not carry the expenses. And many builders built spec homes, planning on strong demand for new homes. So those investors are putting those properties back on the market. Fortunately, we are now seeing more end-user buyers, meaning people who plan to live in the home. This is correcting the market. Prices are back where they were in late 2004.

As a result, there are many “motivated” sellers and prices have dropped. This means that buyers have the advantage. It’s a great time to buy and just in the last few weeks, we have seen the best of the best canal homes are selling.

Regarding the choice of home or condo, that really is all about your personal preferences and your budget. Cape Coral has both homes and condos with waterfront views.

We’ll close this post by saying we moved here from the northland and have no regrets. Year ‘round, we enjoy the outdoors like never before. Oscar, Cape Coral is a wonderful place to retire and we hope you can visit soon to see for yourself. Please let us know if you have any further questions or if we can be of assistance in any way.

Really like the blog… really helpful and I see you are actively blogging… one of the few agents around with a true dedication to the web. (Can you tell I’m a web designer!)

The good side is that the proposed measure , if passed, will give real estate a much needed shot in the arm.
If worse goes to worse, I can always do what everyone else is doing and move to N. Carolina or Tennessee and build a small fortress with the poceeds from the sale of my modest S. Florida home.

Would we be able to take advantage of any of these changes?

Also, discussion about it at:
http://www.topretirements.com/forum/t988/Discuss_what_its_like_to_live_in_7_Lakes_-_Leisure_Village.html

Thanks

My wife and I have been vacationing at South Seas for over 10 years. We always enjoyed the family friendly feel. Now, we are considering purchasing a property at South Seas. I would be concerned if a move to a more upscale (i.e., expensive) style would make South Seas less family friendly.

I may seem like I have a negative attitude towards the area but I have been here way too long to believe the future of the area when money is always spent on planning and little is done on doing. I give credit to the places that have stayed and hope more join you in the future.