Moving to Ft. Myers, Cape, or Estero? (Sanibel: coupons, house)

[dmapes]

The drive from Naples to downtown Fort Myers will be nearly an hour, and from Marco Island it would be even more. Marco Island is nearly 60 miles away if you take the shortest route (and that has a whole lot of traffic lights). Also, 500-600K doesn't buy a nice single family home or large condo in either Naples (west of RT 41) or on Marco Island. To answer your question about shopping, if you shop locally for groceries the most convenient place will probably be Publix since there's one every mile or so in Florida. You'll be shopping there with your neighbors so if you've chosen a nice neighborhood the clientele of the store should be fine. If you travel further to some place like Whole Foods, you'll find more affluent shoppers than you will if you go to Wal-Mart or Sam's Club. I'm sure that's no different in the Miami area than it is here. Renting is a good idea if you don't have at least 2 to 3 weeks to spend checking out the area where you intend to buy.

[Billythepokerkid]

Originally Posted by dmapes

The drive from Naples to downtown Fort Myers will be nearly an hour, and from Marco Island it would be even more. Marco Island is nearly 60 miles away if you take the shortest route (and that has a whole lot of traffic lights). Also, 500-600K doesn't buy a nice single family home or large condo in either Naples (west of RT 41) or on Marco Island. To answer your question about shopping, if you shop locally for groceries the most convenient place will probably be Publix since there's one every mile or so in Florida. You'll be shopping there with your neighbors so if you've chosen a nice neighborhood the clientele of the store should be fine. If you travel further to some place like Whole Foods, you'll find more affluent shoppers than you will if you go to Wal-Mart or Sam's Club. I'm sure that's no different in the Miami area than it is here. Renting is a good idea if you don't have at least 2 to 3 weeks to spend checking out the area where you intend to buy.

I didn't see where the OP said they were working in downtown Fort Myers. They also said the pay rate was in the mid 6 figures, not what they were looking to spend on a home. Which in my mind puts them in the market for a house closer to $2.5M. The drive from the Naples Pier to downtown will take less than an hour. I have made that drive many, many, many times. Marco will take an extra 20 or so, but the location is worth it my opinion.

[rikoshaprl]

Come to Cape Coral, stay at the Westin. You will want to buy a home on the river. You can send your kids to St Andrew's. You can be 25 minutes to the beach, 30 minutes to the airport, 20 minutes to Fort Myers and have very little rif raf.

[dmapes]

Originally Posted by Don Juan de Smith

So if we live in Estero, would owning a boat or heading out to the beach be a hassle? Our budget for a home would be in the $500K - $600K range. If we move, we'd probably rent for one year first just so we can understand the local area.

Also, your 30 minute estimate to downtown FM is that during the peak or off peak seasons?

If you want to provide useful information rather than misleading information, you need to read all of the OP's posts rather than just the first one.

[Don Juan de Smith]

Originally Posted by dmapes

If you want to provide useful information rather than misleading information, you need to read all of the OP's posts rather than just the first one.

I misquoted that figure. The house budget would be in the $800K range. The reason it's not higher given the job income is b/c we currently own 2 properties in the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale that we rent out and will be keeping. This will be our 3rd property.

[Don Juan de Smith]

Originally Posted by Billythepokerkid

First, if I was making that kind of money I would look to Naples and Marco and make the trip North, you would essentially always be traveling opposite of everyone else and it really isn't that bad of a ride. The beaches down there are nicer and the water is cleaner. If you stay West of 41 you will have great beach access, you could essentially have a beach within walking distance. Sanibel is nice, but is overwhelmingly touristy 9 months a year. The school out there, The Sanibel School is a Blue Ribbon school and is one of the best in the state and you don't have to worry about school of choice until the kids go to high school. But the commute could be insane during season. The culture shock will be something to think about. No pro sports, restaurants are not that great, but are much better in the Naples area, there is an International Airport, and there is actually a casino not far away, again you would be closer to it in Naples. It very slow paced, people of all ages are in retirement mode even though they aren't retired and outside of fishing, boating and beaches there really isn't much to do.

Billy, a friend to told me the way to go is to live in North Naples and commute into Ft. Myers/Cape. She says the area is a little better and living closer to 75 will get me over an back in a reasonable amount of time.

[rikoshaprl]

Originally Posted by Don Juan de Smith

I misquoted that figure. The house budget would be in the $800K range. The reason it's not higher given the job income is b/c we currently own 2 properties in the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale that we rent out and will be keeping. This will be our 3rd property.

Now it does sound like you are bragging.

[dmapes]

The North Naples area is a good place to look. You might even find something west of 41 in your price range. The shopping in that area is great and there are plenty of restaurants as well. It's about 40 minutes from downtown Fort Myers and it's not far from the beach. It would be the Collier school disctrict instead of the Lee school district if that makes a difference. Watch out for getting too close to I-75. We looked at a few places that were very close to the highway and you could hear the traffic despite a concrete wall and some trees. Also, there's a sewage treatment plant just south of Creekside BLVD, on the east side of Goodlette-Frank Road. There are some very nice houses that are close by, but when we looked last summer, we could smell the sewage plant. Maybe people who live there get used to it, but we didn't want to deal with it.

[Don Juan de Smith]

Originally Posted by rikoshaprl

Now it does sound like you are bragging.

No I'm not. But I got hammered by other posters so I was clarifying the issue.

[Don Juan de Smith]

Originally Posted by dmapes

The North Naples area is a good place to look. You might even find something west of 41 in your price range. The shopping in that area is great and there are plenty of restaurants as well. It's about 40 minutes from downtown Fort Myers and it's not far from the beach. It would be the Collier school disctrict instead of the Lee school district if that makes a difference. Watch out for getting too close to I-75. We looked at a few places that were very close to the highway and you could hear the traffic despite a concrete wall and some trees. Also, there's a sewage treatment plant just south of Creekside BLVD, on the east side of Goodlette-Frank Road. There are some very nice houses that are close by, but when we looked last summer, we could smell the sewage plant. Maybe people who live there get used to it, but we didn't want to deal with it.

Thank you for the information, it's very helpful. We were in the area last week and decided North Naples was just too much of a commute. We've decided to look from Estero on up.