Lehigh Acres in the News

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

Near and dear to our hearts because of our many January stays at Lehigh Resort Club, before we could get anything on the beach in SW FL, Lehigh Acres was the center of attention for one of the morning network news shows this morning.

Not for a good reason.

Three years ago it was the fastest-growing real estate market in the country, new houses appearing on those thousands of former swampland lots first sold by the Lehigh Corporation to the busloads of prospects brought in around 30 years ago. (Lehigh Resort Club . . . RCI 0101 . . . was another option they were given).

Today Lehigh Acres is the epitome of the Florida Real Estate bubble bust. The story said that houses selling for $250,000 three years ago are now $50000. The rows of models are abandoned as builders have picked up and left.

Just my semi-educated guess, LA is/was the last bastion of affordability in SW FL during the inflation of the real estate balloon, and, as such, attracted many lower income buyers, whom relied more heavily on the now-defunct sub-prime loans. As those buyers discovered they could not afford those adjusted ARMs, rows of houses fell into foreclosure, now sitting empty of overgrown lots.

In deference to those who live there and may be listening in, I have not said much about our stays there . . . but . . . our last one, several years ago now, was quite uncomfortable and we promised each other not to return to LRC. Since then the area around it has further deterioriated, while the resort itself has worked to upgrade.

Our drive-by last year on the Saturday between resorts did nothing to change our minds.

lehigh acres foreclosures - Google Search

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

Jim, I can't argue with much that you wrote, but wonder if you have ever REALLY driven around Lehigh? We have some very nice areas that are owned by foreigners & Americans who wanted large lots (most 1/2 acre +) and a 'nice' home.

If you have golfed at Lehigh, Mirror Lakes, Majestic, Westminster or Copperhead, you have seen 'some' of the nicer areas. (Although since we lived @ Majestic (Cypress Palms) they have filled in those circle drives with 4 plys, so that has changed.) There are a lot of Germans here, but there are also people like DH & me, who wanted a nice home on a lake (small, to be sure), but not the Ft. Myers prices. And we chose not to live in a gated community because of the rules they impose on the owners. DH loves to garden, so we bought the lot next door and he does have a large veggie garden. He couldn't do that in a gated community!

We rented here for 3 months in '01 (having already spent a week at the resort) and found a building lot we liked. By February of '02 we moved in. Yes, Lehigh has changed so much since then...some good, some bad. We have met quite a few people here who live in very nice, modest homes, and we have friends who live in gorgeous, expensive homes because they didn't want to live in Ft. Myers. We are about 2-3 miles from the Lehigh Resort.

We all watched in horror as a few builders built, built and built more and as prices went further and further up and wondered where it was going to stop. Well now it has...with empty homes, duplexes and condos and their unkempt property. Many are rented out now...sometimes for long periods, sometimes shorter ones. Robberies of those empty ones is on the rise, some they will have to tear down, because they are eyesores. When lawns aren't cut, we call Code Enforcement, the same with leaving old cars just sitting along side the road. Many won't bother to do that.

Many think that Lee County and others should put a moratorium on building, but that falls on deaf ears. Get these homes & sold and/or rented out first.

Next time you are down this way, give me a call and I'll be happy to drive you around.

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

Yes, that being our principal form of amusement when we stayed at LRC.

I golfed regularly at Mirror Lakes, with and without Brian from LRC. Then Mirror Lakes seem to discontinue the favored treatment they previously gave LRC guests. The couple that now shares our FL weeks with us visited us a LRC. I rembered my golfing buddy going over to hit his ball next to the log on 10, and found out it was not a log.

Our plan was to be there, somewhere, December through April, in something like those small patio homes somewhat near the defunct Admiral Lehigh, to carry on our craft business during the winter, Florida's fair and festival season.

We visited Westminster just as it was ramping up, and looked at one of the model homes and condos. That same trip we looked at stuff available nearer the Gulf. I believe a few condos were left at Pelicans Landing or one of those near Bonita Springs for $120,000.

Just guessing, based on our purchase here in 1997, I would say that was '95 and/or '96. The LA Wal Mart was new our last couple of years.

Our drive-through last year satisfied our curiosity and reaffirmed our choice.

But I understand where you're coming from and hope you're doing well.

Jim, I can't argue with much that you wrote, but wonder if you have ever REALLY driven around Lehigh?

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

Rumors say that because of the Euros being so strong now, that (mainly) the Germans are coming to SW FL to buy up property because values have dropped here. Hope so.

Hope to see you all in January again.

[The Conch Man Past Goumba President & BigFrank's Cigar Buddy! Find all posts View Profile Close The Conch Man]

Just had our house appraised & we have lost over $98,000 in the last two years. We were at $351,000 & I called the appraisal peole the other day & they said I can't do anything until next year at this time cause of the appraisal falling in this year & taxes are for last year, a year in rears. Our taxes went-up again this year again at $310,000, which is down from last year, just luv Florida & the government!

Bonita seems to be doing all right but ....... Anyone want an expensive home at a good price!!! All we have here is rich people & that doesn't include us, might have to move to LA with JoAnn & Hubby!

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

Europeans, and especially Germans, have had a fondness for the left coast for a long time.

When those at the golf course that have bought down there . . . Englewood and Rotonda and Venice and so forth . . . talk about it, it is about the timing of their buys. You know, before the bust or they bought right, after the fall, stuff like that.

Things are slow here, not much selling, but folks seem to be hanging onto stuff instead of lowering prices. That's what we're doing, just waiting to sell and build a new place. If we never do, we never do, but we hope to.

Our schedule: 1/3/09: Sea Oats 1/10/09: Lighthouse
12/12/09: Seawatch on the Beach

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

Back in the summer of 2000 I was between jobs and rented a house on a canal in Cape Coral for three months. Most of the people in the neighborhood where I lived were European, and largely German as noted in an earlier post.

I sure wish I had bought then but often think about it still today.

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

Back in the summer of 2000 I was between jobs and rented a house on a canal in Cape Coral for three months. Most of the people in the neighborhood where I lived were European, and largely German as noted in an earlier post.

I sure wish I had bought then but often think about it still today.

Prices are down now, maybe you should check out some Realtors down here and see what is available. The real estate sales published in the News-Press lists sales and many are being picked up by banks, mortgage firms, etc. There are sales, but that list is not as large as it used to be.

[rapmarks Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close rapmarks]

Last Friday, my neighbors bought a house on ebay in Cape coral, 2100 square feet for $96,000. then they backed out of the deal. The house was built in 2005. I'd saythere are some bargains out there now.

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

Much of Cape Coral is similar to Lehigh . . . thousands of vacant lots sold in FL land sales schemes, then skipped over as other areas (further south) of SW FL boomed. Then, as the boom drove prices up in the other areas, LA and CC became attractive because of their relatively low prices and abundance of inexpensive lots.

My folks (from Iowa) went on a land sales scheme trip to Cape Coral, probably in the 70's!!!!

Ten-years-ago-ish, our insurance agent at the time had us go look at a lot in Cape Coral that he had inherited. As we stood at it and looked around 360 degrees we could see maybe ten houses that had been built of the hundreds of lots in site.

[rapmarks Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close rapmarks]

ever since they drove down to Fort Myers and saw our neighborhood, the woman of this couple wants a home in Florida too. Her husband really doesn't but he always gives in to her. Now she emailed me another listing of a house in Davenport Florida. Everyone keeps telling them, you need to look at the house and the neighborhood. She acts like we are nuts.

[The Conch Man Past Goumba President & BigFrank's Cigar Buddy! Find all posts View Profile Close The Conch Man]

C O N G R A T S Pat! I see you are a Moderator now, wtg gurl!

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

Now you can do some of this

[urple2 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close urple2]

Last Friday, my neighbors bought a house on ebay in Cape coral, 2100 square feet for $96,000. then they backed out of the deal. The house was built in 2005. I'd saythere are some bargains out there now.

I've seen a lot of these homes in Cape Coral on ebay and realtor.com. Many are in Short Sale status.

Out of curiousity while in Sanibel, we typed an address into our GPS and drove to one of the neighborhoods. No offense, but I wasn't impressed. The area looked like it didn't have a plan,and the homes just looked meanderously placed,with empty lots between homes all over the place.

[rapmarks Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close rapmarks]

this is just what I told my friend, that you need to see the neighborhood. pictures of the house alone are not enough.