Bonita Springs and Fort Myers FL Area

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Not so much about Estero, or Bonita, or around there, where things are substantially higher, but I am watching further north, Englewood/Rotonda, etc., and everything on homepath that is reasonable is selling quickly.

This one was $49,900, so went for that or less:

61 2nd Avenue, Englewood, FL - Google Maps

Zoom out of Street View and you'll see it's 2 blocks from the bay and 3 or 4 minutes to the beach.

This one went within a couple days of being listed, and got bought out from under us. It includes an association ramp and dock on a Gulf Access waterway:

http://www.homepath.com/search.html?...ingid=26497887

Another one, same subdivision, with ramp and dock rights:

http://www.homepath.com/search.html?...ingid=23138607

Another one we looked at, a block from water, 5 minutes to beach, that sold as soon as it dropped to $59,900:

http://www.homepath.com/search.html?...ingid=24914257

This won't last long at $52K:

http://www.homepath.com/search.html?...ingid=26636444

This one's in a very upscale area, and is ripe for a lowball offer. I've been seeing it on homepath almost a year. Very nice Gulf-access canal, with dock. We looked at it:

http://www.homepath.com/search.html?...ingid=22091063

15 Gulf and golf foreclosures:

http://www.homepath.com/search.html?...di=&ci=Rotonda West

It is Snowbird Season and other northerners like us are there looking them over, picking theirs out.

[pkyorkbeach Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close pkyorkbeach]

These homes are very nice. I really like the one of Massachusets...Question..are these homes in good shape? I can do painting, replace appliances with no problem. But I do not want to deal with major repairs. It seems you have looked at some of these homes, how do the insides look??

You really did your homework as far as the housing market is concerned...

Thanks

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Some of the houses are in move-in condition. 2116 Mass is decent, but tied up trying to clear the title. Across the street from it was the same floor plan and the agent for it said it had a contract at $39K.

Dakota is excellent, a widowers home that she just had to give up. That subdivision has canal homes, and a boat ramp/dock association for 350-400 homes. I talked to the lady in charge of that and I believe the dock/ramp association fee was $50/year.

The one we bought is in good shape, well cared for. The neighbor told us they were teachers, good people, good neighbors. They bought it for $173K, and did a lot of updating. Some of the foreclosures are decent people just caught up in the times.

Some are rough, but with potential. One had an old Florida duplex rental, with a huge double lot, huge tall Florida pines, for $24K. At prices like that you can do a major rehab. Right in that area we saw one that had already been done . . . the cutest Old Florida Bungalow you could imagine. The contractor's last name is the same as ours, so it's meant to be.

That's our plan, to make it into an Old Florida Beachy Bunglaow, bigger than a timeshare unit, and every week.

We had a flurry of email this afternoon . . . auction.com, the closing agent NREIS, our lender, me. Everyone's saying everything's ready, but the weather has things slowed down a bit. Fannie Mae is pushing them to get things closed and moved on.

I sense now is the time that the banks/lenders holding these houses are finally serious about getting this resolved.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

I sense now is the time that the banks/lenders holding these houses are finally serious about getting this resolved.

For instance, auction.com has more online auctions this month. There's only 16 houses in Charlottle County. As I reported in the househunting thread, of the 79 houses I followed in the Jan 13-17 auction, only 1 or 2 met the reserve. So most were like ours.

But, I don't see them on the upcoming auctions, so, like ours, it appears those offers were also accepted by fannie mae. Once they get some stuff cleared out they may stop taking low offers.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Here is a nice Bonita Springs (Shores) location and house. An auction worth watching:

BONITA SPRINGS Auction - 187 2ND ST BONITA SPRINGS, FL 34134 - (Event# H-240) - Auction.com

A condo in the same area:

http://www.auction.com/Florida/resid...-FL-34134.html

Nice golf property further north, where I golf:

http://www.auction.com/Florida/resid...-FL-33947.html

[pkyorkbeach Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close pkyorkbeach]

Wow JLB

you seem to find the good ones...I like all three of them. Now that I know about these auctions I will be curious to see what the final sales price is....



Thanks

Pam

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Thanks. Been going there for 35 years. I really like the first one, although a block further west, on a canal, would be a lot better.

We have boated that area, Estero Bay and then under Bonita Beach Road, and we have looked at properties on those canals. In 1997 those canal homes were going for $1.5M, and were teardowns.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Unrelated, Sun Harvest Citrus emailed me today, and said they have a store selling their juice in Port Charlotte. Maybe they'll get one in Englewood.

If you have never tried their citrus products, stop by their main retail outlet and plant. Free samples. Take a number and wait in line.

Six Mile Cypress between the Twins ball park and 41 HWY.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

When you weigh rental versus purchase ....

It's easy enough to estimate rental cost--for us, probably about $3500/mo or $10,000 for season. Of course that could/will go up in the future.

Other than purchase price and repairs/maintenance, I guess annual costs of owning consist of HOA fees, taxes, utilities, and insurance -- am I missing anything? So if we buy a $250,000 home (2br/2ba in a community with amenities), you might figure about $5000 for HOA, $2500 for taxes, maybe $2000 for insurance (?) and maybe $1500 for utilities (?), which adds to $11,000.

What else did you consider when buying?

TV Service

[rapmarks Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close rapmarks]

lots of communities have package deals with comcast for TV service. we don't have a tv cable bill. I do internet service with them when i get down here and disconnect when i leave . I pay about 20 a month. i also turn off my water and sewer when we are gone, a $40 fee to reconnect. humidistat keeps the electric bill very low when we are gone. maybe 20 a month. 60 to 100 when we are here, no gas bill. water /sewer bill is 40 or so a month when we are here. If you are in a condo, I don't think you can have the water/sewer shut off.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

If you are in a condo, I don't think you can have the water/sewer shut off.

I don't know about discontinuing service, but every condo (and house) has a main water shut-off.

We shut ours off when we come down there in January.

[rapmarks Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close rapmarks]

yes, i mean shut off so you don't have to pay the monthly minimum. If I just turned it off myself, i would be paying about 25 a month to the utility company while I was gone. trying to cut expenses.
anyhow, it is a good idea to find out exactly what is included in those HOA fees. when we were looking, outside irrigation was paid in some communities, and you paid it yourself in other communities. that could be 50 plus a month. pesticides, inside and out, you need it in florida. cable tv, I think the recycling and garbage pick up is included in taxes, but i am not sure. We don't pay that separately.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Here is a nice Bonita Springs (Shores) location and house. An auction worth watching:

BONITA SPRINGS Auction - 187 2ND ST BONITA SPRINGS, FL 34134 - (Event# H-240) - Auction.com

This one has really flown under my radar. It is in exactly the type of vacationey, beachey, watery area that is highly desirable. It's a wonder it's still available. Barefoot beach is just down the road. Very nice, very high dollar stuff nearby.

&, at only $107,500 as a foreclosure, there's no telling what it will go for at auction.

Here's a better listing site:

Naples Area Board of Realtors - Naples Real Estate - MLS #210029857 - Naples Florida Real Estate

[desertgal Member Find all posts View Profile Close desertgal]

[QUOTE=JLB;428104]Here is a nice Bonita Springs (Shores) location and house. An auction worth watching:

BONITA SPRINGS Auction - 187 2ND ST BONITA SPRINGS, FL 34134 - (Event# H-240) - Auction.com

A condo in the same area:

BONITA SPRINGS Auction - 3910 WINDWARD PASSAGE CIR BONITA SPRINGS, FL 34134 - (Event# H-240) - Auction.com


The house is a little small for us, but the condo looks nice. On Homepath, it's valued at $119,900 with $456 HOA and $2576 taxes. Won't the taxes be adjusted to the new house value? Do I need to contact the agent to ask what the HOA fee includes?

Can you view completed auctions on auction.com or homepath or elsewhere?

[desertgal Member Find all posts View Profile Close desertgal]

JLB - how do you put your quotes in shaded boxes at the top?