| Is it worth an extra few hundred thousand dollars to | | | | The Cape Coral homes market is a buyer's |
| get a pretty sunRISE rather than a pretty sunSET? | | | | smorgasbord of inexpensive properties backing onto |
| The families buying homes around Ft Lauderdale must | | | | canals, including everything from luxury homes to |
| think so. Why else would they pay for property on | | | | modest single-family dwellings. So, why so cheap? |
| the Atlantic coast, when their mortgage for a Cape | | | | Lets take a moment to explore why home prices in |
| Coral home might be half as much? | | | | Cape Coral are so low. |
| For a 2,000 square foot, three-bedroom, | | | | Why is it so much cheaper in Cape Coral? |
| two-bathroom, pool home with access to the ocean, | | | | Southwest Florida real estate values are experiencing |
| Cape Coral buyers are paying about $450,000. This | | | | a healthy leveling-out, following the explosive state of |
| compares extremely favorably to the Ft Lauderdale | | | | the market in the earlier part of the new century. |
| equivalent of $995,000 -- that's a hefty difference to | | | | Today, there are loads of homeowners looking to sell |
| cough up for Lauderdale's greater crime and more | | | | their homes in Cape Coral, many of them disillusioned |
| frenetic lifestyle. | | | | after buying their property when it was at its peak |
| The Cape Coral area is a relatively unknown, | | | | price, and unable to pay a mortgage whose terms |
| up-and-coming investment opportunity that anybody | | | | were settled before the bubble burst. |
| can see has amazing growth potential. It's on the | | | | Cape Coral home values are also kept modest by a |
| southern Gulf Coast, between Ft Myers and the | | | | relatively weak jobs market in the region -- many |
| famous Sanibel Island. This is a place for families and | | | | residents are forced to commute to Naples or |
| working individuals, on the fringe of resort paradise | | | | Sarasota for work. Of course, this is something to |
| islands and the kinds of beaches that draw people | | | | smile about if you're retired, or work from home, or |
| with loads of money. There's a lot of money to be | | | | have a job in Cape Coral. |
| made in this region, especially in the real estate | | | | Welcome to Cape Coral, and welcome to the ease |
| situation. | | | | of diminutive mortgage payments! |