Ft. Meyers Florida anyone local?

[URY914]

I lived in FM for two years back in 88-89. During the summer it is HOT AS HELL down there.

[Jims5543]

Originally Posted by URY914

I lived in FM for two years back in 88-89. During the summer it is HOT AS HELL down there.

Would Mid August be summer?


Dood, I live straight across from Ft. Myers. I am dealing with 110 heat index every day and I work outside from 7-8 am to about 1 PM every day.

Yes, all of south Florida is hotter than hell, and I love it!!

I will never complain about hot, cold on the other hand.... you can keep it.

Man you live in FM back in the day. I bet it was a sleepy little town back then and downtown was a mess.

[john70t]

Before you sign on that line, look at the area, housing price clusters, and what is nearbye which will stay strong in a recession.

Neighborhoods next to major hospitals(full of responsible renters), or tourist hubs, or schools, or established communities will probably weather the storm a bit better.
State debt. Trends. Gas airline costs. Local contractors costs influenced by insurance etc.
What is the fortitude of the entire area? The state?

Even a stopped clock like Tabs is right (jk jk) and The China-thing could be a long slide for this country or a drop off the deep end.
That gravy train ends up somewhere.
The footholds will prevail. I hope. #meetoo.

A 1910 house will need work. I also know. Been my life for the past few decades.
Liens? Foundation? Mold? Water plane, flood zone, or past flooding?
Always look at it with a skeptical eye and dig into the details. Make it maintenance-free first.
Nobody gives away nothing.

[URY914]

Originally Posted by Jims5543

Would Mid August be summer?


Dood, I live straight across from Ft. Myers. I am dealing with 110 heat index every day and I work outside from 7-8 am to about 1 PM every day.

Yes, all of south Florida is hotter than hell, and I love it!!

I will never complain about hot, cold on the other hand.... you can keep it.

Man you live in FM back in the day. I bet it was a sleepy little town back then and downtown was a mess.

Downtown closed up at 9:00 back when I lived there. And summers the town was empty. But in the winter the midwest snow birds came right down I-75 and it was crazy busy.

[Jims5543]

Originally Posted by URY914

Downtown closed up at 9:00 back when I lived there. And summers the town was empty. But in the winter the midwest snow birds came right down I-75 and it was crazy busy.

Now they close 1st Street the first Friday evening every month for what they call "The art Walk" where local artists and I am sure out of towners come in and set up booths.


Then on another Friday they close 1st for Band Walk, and set up stages with bands playing all over.

When we were in town 2 years ago it was St. Patricks day the place was packed and once again 1st was closed to traffic with stages and bands playing, it was a good time.

When were there this past weekend it seemed to be a very local scene and man, the place was packed, even at 11 PM when we were walking, slightly crooked, back to the hotel, there were lines to get into clubs.

[john70t]

Wearing rose colored glasses during seasonal up-times is not a good investment indicator.

(Sorry to be henny penny. Don't fall in love with real estate. Another will always come by if this one doesn't turn out.)

[Jims5543]

Originally Posted by john70t

Before you sign on that line, look at the area, housing price clusters, and what is nearbye which will stay strong in a recession.

Neighborhoods next to major hospitals(full of responsible renters), or tourist hubs, or schools, or established communities will probably weather the storm a bit better.
State debt. Trends. Gas airline costs. Local contractors costs influenced by insurance etc.
What is the fortitude of the entire area? The state?

Even a stopped clock like Tabs is right (jk jk) and The China-thing could be a long slide for this country or a drop off the deep end.
That gravy train ends up somewhere.
The footholds will prevail. I hope. #meetoo.

A 1910 house will need work. I also know. Been my life for the past few decades.
Liens? Foundation? Mold? Water plane, flood zone, or past flooding?
Always look at it with a skeptical eye and dig into the details. Make it maintenance-free first.
Nobody gives away nothing.

I am a land surveyor, the house is way outside the flood plane I looked that up first.

I then checked the zoning, it is mixed use. I can open a business (which I am planning on opening a small surveying office in 3-5 years) I can make it a BNB I can live there I can do almost anything I want outside industrial.

My wife did a ton of reading on the area the zoning etc.. they are pushing hard for this to be a art community. The hood around best we could see if pretty quiet and not really having a crime problem. No bars on windows etc..

Many many historic houses, as a matter of fact the house we are looking at has one on either side that is identical. It took me a bit top realize it because all 3 are very different.

Our pause comes from the fact that it is a 1910 home and needs a complete exterior refurbish. I needs a LOT of work inside too. If we can get the price down then it may make sense.

Our long term (5 year) goal is to be living in it. Our short term is to rent it while we do the outside. Then go fast and hard on the inside with no tenant.

Furnish and make it an Air BNB we can block out and enjoy when we want. Maybe even spending a lot of time there during slow season, which is summer here.

We both love historic old homes and actually look for older homes when using Air BNB.


We checked to see if there are liens I need a pro to do it I will have one of my title company clients do a search on it. I have a lot of favors out there that need to be paid back.

We plan on getting a very thorough inspection done before we make an offer.

As I mentioned the seller is motivated as they are moved out and in a condo. So they just want to cash out of this thing.

BTW - he was a ship carpenter the garage is loaded with mid to early 1900's shop equipment. Planers, lathes, table saws etc...

The garage is so big I am sure I can fit all my cars in there. Which is a big win long term.

[Jims5543]

Originally Posted by john70t

Wearing rose colored glasses during seasonal up-times is not a good investment indicator.

(Sorry to be henny penny. Don't fall in love with real estate. Another will always come by if this one doesn't turn out.)

Agreed we are seriously hesitating.


We want to do a full inspection before making an offer with a contractor who can owrk up some quotes.

Our offer will be insultingly low and I honestly do not give a rat's behind. I am not being polite and never have been when purchasing RE.

In moments like this, contrary to the vibe I am giving I am an A-hole. I make take it or leave it offers and they are in my favor, I need to get my ducks in a row before the offer happens.

If it sells out from under me? So be it.

This house needs a lot of work the selling price is delusional. I think the RE agent knows that. He said make any offer they are ready to deal which in my opinion means they cannot sell it and know the asking price is a joke.

[john70t]

Originally Posted by Jims5543

Many many historic houses, as a matter of fact the house we are looking at has one on either side that is identical. It took me a bit top realize it because all 3 are very different.

Our pause comes from the fact that it is a 1910 home and needs a complete exterior refurbish. I needs a LOT of work inside too. If we can get the price down then it may make sense.

Our long term (5 year) goal is to be living in it. Our short term is to rent it while we do the outside. Then go fast and hard on the inside with no tenant.

"Historic District" could be a red flag.
Get video records of past council meetings.
Are they all a bunch of stuffed "peas in a pod" for lack of better description, or are they normal and reasonable people?

Daily fines because the railing isn't the correct color chartreuse.
Tenant parks on lawn and hangs laundry outside and isn't going to change.
Across the state...you are totally unaware and not informed until too late in the game.

I get nervous when I hear that word or HOA.

[Jims5543]

Originally Posted by john70t

"Historic District" could be a red flag.
Get video records of past council meetings.
Are they all a bunch of stuffed "peas in a pod" for lack of better description, or are they normal and reasonable people?

Daily fines because the railing isn't the correct color chartreuse.
Tenant parks on lawn and hangs laundry outside and isn't going to change.
Across the state...you are totally unaware and not informed until too late in the game.

I get nervous when I hear that word or HOA.

Fantastic point!! No HOA and as far as historic goes:

The house has to be registered as a historic property for them to take hold of your improvements.


This one is not registered and will never be if I purchase it. I will never let a set of people who have no interest in my personal financial well being dictate how I improve a property I purchased.

We already checked that part out, it is not registered as a historic property therefore is not under the control of anyone.

That said we want to keep it as original looking as possible within reason.

[eastbay]

wow, that was pretty easy to track down on Zillow

[Jims5543]

Originally Posted by eastbay

wow, that was pretty easy to track down on Zillow

Then buy it.

Save me all this debating with the wife and then making an insulting offer at about 50% the asking price.

As of this morning I am thinking of walking away unless I can get it closer to 100K the 200K asking price is a pipe dream.

That house has been neglected for 30 years easy and needs at least 100K in renovations probably closer to 150K.

I can go up the street and buy a renovated one for 260K or less.

[Deschodt]

Originally Posted by Jims5543

I am heading over tomorrow to look at an investment home that caught my eye on zillow.

First time hear Ft Myers and investment in the same sentence... It's not exactly a recovering economic mecca. More a magnet for hurricanes... On that coast, Naples possibly for tourism. Sarasota, sure. Tampa/St pete definitely, booming like crazy... But even so "investment" is relative. There's always more space and construction and hurricanes, everything is 2ft above the water line and subject to a sinkhole swallowing you at any time, and maintaining an investment place in FL in general is not cheap (property tax is high, so are costs for the bugman, the lawn man, the AC guy, etc). Did I mention termites ? Historic house is likely gonna cost $$ to fix up termite eaten wood. If you live there and are charmed by the area, OK, but I maintained my parent's place in Lakeland for a few years and it sucked - one time the AC died and by the time I realized it 3 weeks later there was already mildew all over the furniture !

Ft Myers always struck me as a bathroom break stop between Tampa and Naples, not the next up and coming place. Not trying to rain on your parade though I might just have, but it's probably cheap for a reason and not where I'd invest in FL. If you get a steal, cool... Otherwise proceed with lowered expectations ?

[Jims5543]

Originally Posted by Deschodt

First time hear Ft Myers and investment in the same sentence... It's not exactly a recovering economic mecca. More a magnet for hurricanes... On that coast, Naples possibly for tourism. Sarasota, sure. Tampa/St pete definitely, booming like crazy... But even so "investment" is relative. There's always more space and construction and hurricanes, everything is 2ft above the water line and subject to a sinkhole swallowing you at any time, and maintaining an investment place in FL in general is not cheap (property tax is high, so are costs for the bugman, the lawn man, the AC guy, etc). Did I mention termites ? Historic house is likely gonna cost $$ to fix up termite eaten wood. If you live there and are charmed by the area, OK, but I maintained my parent's place in Lakeland for a few years and it sucked - one time the AC died and by the time I realized it 3 weeks later there was already mildew all over the furniture !

Ft Myers always struck me as a bathroom break stop between Tampa and Naples, not the next up and coming place. Not trying to rain on your parade though I might just have, but it's probably cheap for a reason and not where I'd invest in FL. If you get a steal, cool... Otherwise proceed with lowered expectations ?

I see a cool little city that is behind the rest of the state, yes. I also see it as an undervalued, up and coming area that is getting more desirable year after year.

We went there 2-3 years ago on a whim to go see the Ford and Edison winter comes and research laboratory.

We happened to be there on a Sturday which was St. Patricks day. Down town was closed to traffic and there were band stages set up in the streets. They relaxed the drinking in public rules so you could take a drink for a walk.

We found the downtown to be really nice with lots to offer back then. When we returned last weekend, we saw a cool little town that had lots to do and we can see it becoming a neat town for people to want to come to to visit.

We have a desire to eventually live in a house very close to a downtown area where we can walk over to have a nice evening if desired. With some culture and with things always going on to make for some fun times. My wife would like to get out of Florida, I prefer to stay in Florida. But would consider something in the SE.

Then we found this cool little house in Ft. Myers purely by accident and decided to explore the possibility of buying it with the intention of moving into it full time in about 5 years from now.

We really love this little house, it has a 3 car garage that was added in 2005 and the 1910 home is so cute we can see ourselves living in it. We especially love the neighborhood and the proximity to downtown.

What we did not expect was how bad of shape the house was in and how neglected it was. Couple that with a delusional seller thinking it is worth 100K more than it is worth and we have decided to not even make an offer. It would be insulting.

We may email the seller and tell him we have a number in mind, it is insulting but we can make that offer if they get no others.

At the asking price they have, this house makes no sense to us.

So we are moving on, for anyone looking, Ft. Myers is a cool little city and we will be back again soon to visit and enjoy it some more. We really liked it there a lot.

[Baz]

Hey Jim,

I've enjoyed your thread and the photos too. I really liked the area when I was there ('90-'95). The last 2 .5 years though was living in the country so not exactly apples to apples, I guess. But still thought the city itself was an OK place.

While I was there we (the company I worked for) helped with the construction of the athletic fields for both the Minnesota Twins and the Boston Red Sox spring training facilities.

Every fall I attended the Oktoberfest off Pine Island Road hosted by the German American Social Club. It was fantastic!

I saw a couple of concerts that to this day are amongst my favourites....Tears For Fears at the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Center and Huey Lewis and the News at the City of Palms Park.

There used to be a little restaurant in front of the Edison Mall right on 41 that had a wood fired oven and utilized an old fashioned diner theme a little bit. I loved going there for the food - and atmosphere.

I ended up doing a lateral transfer with my company over to this side of the state, because I really missed surfing. My parents were also in this area and many friends I went to high school with so it worked out well, but I will always look back on those years in that area with a smile on my face.

Oh - and I also bought a Mako 19' while there which I still have to this day. So much fun cruising the area on the water, not to mention the fantastic fishing.

Good luck with whatever you decide.