Southwest Florida (Sarasota-Fort Myers)

[Alex Kennebeck]

 I’m wondering what everyone thinks of the Real Estate Market in southwest Florida. My wife and I are planning on moving to the area in June.  We are selling our 12 Doors in Iowa and will have ~200k to invest when we arrive. I am 36 and have also done a few fix and flips as well.  I’m trying to figure out my plan of attack, and any suggestions or thoughts would be great, as we don’t have many people to bounce ideas off currently.  We are thinking of buying a duplex to start, living in one side and renting the other, and expanding from there.  What would you do in this situation? How would you all go about restarting in SW Florida?  Please through out some suggestions...even if you think it’s a bad idea.

Thanks

Alex

[Stetson Miller]

@Alex Kennebeck Best of luck finalizing those sales! The market as a whole here is very strong, and still retains much room to grow. Cape Coral has already been suggested, so I would like to provide another option, which would be Lehigh Acres. 

The price point here for duplexes will be a bit lower ($250-280,000) compared to Cape Coral ($325,000+) right now. Some key differences between the two are outlined below:

Cape Coral:

-City water/septic, higher tax rates, very high appreciation potential, mediocre immediate returns

Lehigh Acres:

-100% well/septic with no plans of city utilities in the near future, standard county baseline tax rates, decent appreciation potential, highest reliable immediate returns to be found in the area in small multifamily purchases.

Let me know if you have any other questions, would be happy to help!