Growth makes Lee County unique

72 new residents a day in '04

Like the Energizer Bunny, they keep coming and coming......to Lee County which now boasts 521,000 full-time residents. In 2004, 26,165 people moved to Lee County — a 5.3 percent increase. Over the next 12 years, an estimated 14.7M baby boomers are expected to move to Florida.

In passing the half-million mark, Lee County has reached critical mass to attract national and international businesses to the area. Southwest Florida International Airport is an important asset in the growth of the area. In 2004 passenger traffic passed 6.7M passengers - a 14 percent increase over 2003.

Growth makes our economy unique [News-Press]

Cape land claims raise suspicion

Agent defends use of adverse possession law

You know it is tough to find a good deal on a lot in Cape Coral when a local Realtor, Raul O. Mendez Jr., pays over $8998 of his own money in back taxes on lots that he doesn't own. In fact these lots are owned by the deceased.

And while Mendez denies it, Lee County Property Appraiser Ken Wilkinson suspects he may be trying to use Florida's adverse possession law in a way it was not intended to grab land in Southwest Florida's booming real estate market. On each of the properties in question, Mendez filed an Affidavit of Intent to Adverse Possession with Lee County. In these filings Mendez requested that the address of notice be changed from that of the deceased owner to his address.

Although I am not a lawyer, the Florida 2004 Statutes Chapter 95 Section 18 clearly states that in order to claim adverse possession, the property needs to have had continued occupation for seven years and further it has been protected by substantial enclosure and it has been usually cultivated or improved. Hard to see how Mendez is going to be successful using adverse possession to claim lots that have not been in his possession for seven years, are not enclosed or improved.

I am sure the living heirs of these property owners are appreciative of his tax gift, now if I can only get Mendez to pay my taxes.

Cape land claims raise suspicion [News-Press]

Title insurance scandal

Compensation for referrals

State regulators say they are investigating more than 50 title insurance companies for paying illegal referral fees and other incentives to real estate agents to steer insurance business their way.

Such illegal incentives have become so widespread in Florida as to be considered common business practice in the title and real estate industries. Under HUD regulation United States Code - Title 12 directive 2607, referral fees are prohibited for anyone connected with a real estate closing. The rule applies to federally backed loans, which make up 97 percent of all real estate transactions.

Title Insurance Practices Probed [Tampa Tribune]

Lee land expected to cool off

Real estate expert says 2004 boom unlikely to continue

Several local real estate experts expressed their views and opinions to an overflow crowd of 1400 Tuesday night at the News-Press Market Watch 2005 Seminar held at the Harborside Event Center in Downtown Fort Myers.


The explosive increase in home prices that Lee County saw in 2004 won't go on forever, a real estate expert warned Tuesday night at The News-Press Market Watch."Can this continue?" real estate agent Denny Grimes of VIP Realty rhetorically asked . "In a word, no." In the super-heated market, Grimes said, investors are playing a game of musical chairs but need to be prepared for the possibility that they may have to hold onto property for a while before selling it. His rule of thumb: "Don't invest if you can't carry the costs." "My advice in the short run is to exercise a little caution."

Grimes also mentioned that investors with foresight already have passed this market by and are on to areas that haven't started to see massive appreciation such as along U.S. 27 between Lake Wales and Moore Haven.

Commercial real estate broker Frank D'Alessandro of D'Alessandro & Woodyard Commercial Realtors, said prospects are good for the real estate industry in Lee County, although noting that offices made up 51 percent of the new buildings permitted in the county in 2004. "That's a cautionary sign." Still, D'Alessandro said, office vacancy rates fell 6.7 percent to 10.2 percent. Net rents fell 63 cents per square foot to $13.46, which he attributed to "spiraling operating expenses" that landlords were forced to absorb because tenants weren't able to pay the increased costs.

D'Alessandro said he takes the middle ground on the question of whether there's a correction coming this year in the county's white hot real estate market."We say it will flatten out," he said, with a continued upward trend starting late in 2006.

One real estate agent at the event, Gary Tasman of VIP Commercial-TCN Worldwide, had a different perspective on the office market. "Prices are up, incentives by landlords are down. It's not really soft at all." In most parts of Lee County, he said, "There is not enough product to satisfy demand."

Former Lee County Economic Development Director Janet Watermeier, now President of the Florida Gulf Coast Group, expressed a growing concern about where the county's work force will find a place to live. "We're no longer quite the affordable community we used to be. "Lehigh Acres was the last place in the county where homes were affordable for working people and increasingly that population is looking to Hendry County, she said.

Watermeier also noted that growth of the population is accounting only for 36 percent of the new homes being built with the rest accounted for by investors, by renters taking advantage of low interest rates to buy homes, and by people who are purchasing second homes.

Lee land expected to cool off [News-Press]

Deed Scam Hits Lee County

Scandal steals land from the dead and resells for major profit

Another scam has been uncovered in Lee County involving the fraudulent transfer of deceased individuals properties. As original owners of Cape Coral and Lehigh Acres lots, who purchased them from Gulf American Corporation, are dying, scam artists have found a scenario ripe for exploitation.

How the scam works is through the use of a forged quitclaim deed where the scammer forges the signatures of the deceased to gain title to the property. The scam artist then resells the property to another individual, pocketing the profits from the deal and leaving the new owner with a very big problem.

The biggest challenge facing law enforcement officials is the sheer number of vacant parcels in the county, currently over 219,000.

Deed scam hits Lee [News-Press]

Phase I of Island Pines sold out

Investor friendly Brixton Development LLC has just announced that Phase I at Island Pines of Cape Coral has sold out. Island Pines is a 304-unit community with 23 two-story multifamily buildings on 30 wooded acres.

Reservations are now being taken, and units in Phase 3 will start from the $190,000s.

Phase I of Cape Coral Island Pines now sold out [News-Press]

Condo frenzy in Cape

Buyers line up for units

Have you tried to buy a pre-construction condo recently in Cape Coral? Not an easy thing to do even with a pocket full of cash.

In a market about as efficient as communist Russia, developers are using various techniques including waiting lists, hyped kick-off events and strict inventory control to create a buzz about their new developments.

Some buyers desperate for a piece of the action are putting down deposits without even knowing the final price or other details about their new investment.

Sales opened with a boom today for condominiums at the Isles of Porto Vista that will be part of the upscale Entrada development in northeast Cape Coral. Cars with eager buyers streamed into the Porto Vista condominium neighborhood on Southwest 50th Street area for the event. Some waited overnight for the sales office to open, bringing to mind similar scenes at Tarpon Landings.

Condo frenzy in Cape: Buyers line up for units [News-Press]

Housing market among hottest

Lee-Charlotte area ranked ninth in Country in single-family sales

Southwest Florida once again is near the top of a national list of hot real estate markets.

In statistics released Tuesday by the National Association of Realtors, the Fort Myers/Cape Coral/Punta Gorda area was ninth and Sarasota was 10th for the increase from the fourth quarter of 2003 to the fourth quarter of 2004 for single-family homes sold.

"I think the price is driven by the demand, by the increasing population coming this direction" in Southwest Florida, said Fiona Finn of The Finn Team Realty in Fort Myers. "A lot of the baby boomers are coming a few years before they retire; they want to buy at today's prices."

Affordibility is becoming a serious problem in Lee County as the median price increased 27 percent to $205,000 over the past year. The national median price for existing homes in the fourth quarter was $187,500, according to NAR, an 8.8 percent increase from last year. Six of the top 10 markets for the fourth quarter were in the Sunshine State. Prices in West Palm Beach and Boca Raton increased 34 percent over the past year, while in Bradenton they were up 32 percent.

"With more buyers than sellers nationally, what we're seeing is a natural pressure on home prices as buyers compete to bid on available properties," said NAR chief economist David Lereah. "Fortunately, the historically low cost of debt service on a home purchase means that we have a comfortable buffer in most of the country because the typical family can afford to buy a home well above the median price."

Housing market among hottest [News-Press]

Cape permit costs may go up

Additional revenue from to cover actual costs

The permitting cost of building a new home in Cape Coral will break through the $1,000 level later this year if the city council adopts recommendations from a just completed study. The increased fees will cover the $7M shortfall that the city currently realizes associated with new construction activity.

The study — the first comprehensive look at the fees since 2000 — updates fees that became effective in January 2001.

Permit costs may go up [News-Press]

Cape lacks commercial tax base

New parks expand tax base, jobs.

Cape Coral has a big problem: not enough of the rapidly growing city is zoned industrial to maintain a healthy economy. The daily traffic patterns during rush hour on the two bridges are a good indication of this ever growing problem.

It is very clear to see when riding around the Cape that the pace of commercial development is not keeping up with the feverish pace of residential construction. I often wonder where all the new residents filling up homes throughout the Cape are going to work.

Commercial real estate broker Greg Eagle said he has the answer: the new 363-acre Indian Oaks & Hancock Creek Commerce Park he has assembled off Pine Island Road from two old developments that never got off the ground.

Besides broadening the property tax base so homeowners don't have to bear as much of the burden, the projects will provide more jobs for people in the city by attracting companies from out of town, said Mike Jackson, Economic Development Director for Cape Coral.

Cape plays industrial catch-up [News-Press]

Opportunities at SWF Airport

With the nearing completion of the new Southwest Florida International Airport Midfield Terminal an exciting development opportunity exists.

The current 22 year-old terminal handled more than 6.7 million passengers in 2004, that is double the capacity it was built to support. This structure will be torn down and the land it sits on will be put on the market.

There are three options for this property: development by a third party like a general contractor; development by an aviation company or development by the Port Authority directly. This property has the potential to bring hundreds of new jobs to the community.

Airport terminal land may be leased [NBC2]

Lehigh big on duplexes

Multifamily permits up 236 percent

Impressive as Lehigh Acres' single-family home statistics are, duplexes are even hotter. Multifamily building permits in Lehigh rose 236 percent from 169 permits in 2003 to 567 in 2004, according to the Lee County Community Development Department.

Duplexes often represent an outstanding opportunity for real estate investors to quickly create positive cash flow. In a hot market like Lehigh, where home ownership exceeds 90%, rental property shortages reduce typical investor vacancy risks.

Fred Elliott, of Coldwell Banker Preferred Properties in Lehigh, said he sees positives and negatives in the duplexes' growing share of the housing market. On one hand, he said, duplexes offer affordable housing for people who are not able or do not want to buy a single-family home. On the other hand, duplexes often aren't the most aesthetically pleasing addition to a neighborhood, Elliott said.

Oliver Conover, executive director of the Lehigh Acres Chamber of Commerce, said duplexes can have a negative impact on surrounding property values. He said the major concern with duplexes is the lack of landscaping and garages."People that have single-family homes in those areas are putting them up for sale," he said. "It reduced their values."

Lehigh big on duplexes [News-Press]

Lehigh leads permit surge

Cheaper land attracting buyers

Lee County issued a record 746 single-family home permits in January as construction took off like a rocket in Lehigh Acres. New homes are under construction in every sector of Lehigh.

While land is priced for less in Lehigh than other areas of SW Florida, the building frenzy is rapdily driving up prices. I am sure that many original Gulf American lot owners are amazed to find out that their piece of paradise in Lehigh is now worth $40K or more.

Oliver Conover, executive director of the Lehigh Acres Chamber of Commerce, said the flood of new homes is both a blessing and a curse for his community, which has about 60,000 residents. Only 3 percent of Lehigh is zoned commercial, for example, only about half what it should be, he said, and it will take action by the county commission to remedy that. The bottom line, he said: "This growth is happening without the controls that we should have in order to do smart growth."

Lehigh leads permit surge [News-Press]

Face of N.E. Cape changes

Residential developments expected to upgrade area

Hundreds of acres transformed by bulldozers from wild scrub into sandy plains are undergoing yet another change in northeast Cape Coral.

This change, however, is permanent and signals the start of a population boom for the Del Prado Boulevard corridor from Pine Island Road north to U.S. 41.

Four new developments including: Coral Lakes; Bella Vida; Concordia and Entrada alone will add about 3,000 homes and town houses to an area that already has many homes under construction for individual property owners.

The 171 acre Cape Coral Academic Village is also planned for N.E. Cape Coral. The project will form a partnership among a variety of potential interests including the City of Cape Coral, Lee County School District, Lee County Board of County Commissioners, various university/college branches and other ancillary uses (e.g. a performing arts center, high-tech facilities, science center). Working together, these partners will create an academic environment within a campus setting.

Face of N.E. Cape changes [News-Press]

The condo speculators are back

New generation of investors bets on quick appreciation, but this time developers are setting limits

By the time attorney Ken Lyons closed on his one-bedroom condominium in Bowdoin Place on Boston's Cambridge Street, the unit had increased about 10 percent in value from the pre-construction price he had paid. Within weeks, he was able to lease it out at a rent higher than his expenses. Lyons' investment appreciated and is now cash-flow positive.

The two most common ways for speculators to make money are to buy a condo and rent it out or to resell it for a higher price.

In the rental scenario, the rent received needs to be higher than mortgage interest, taxes, condo fees and resale costs in order to net positive cash flow.

An increase in property value over that time also puts money in the investor's pocket. Speculators seeking to resell a condo quickly will bank on paying a discounted price, usually early in the pre-construction sales cycle, and reselling the unit soon after closing at a much higher price.

The condo speculators are back [Boston Business Journal]

Flipping proves lucrative

Buying houses cheaply to sell at a profit is becoming a popular way to make a living

Not everyone who buys a home plans to live in it or hold on to it as a long-term investment.

Investors purchased between 2% - 5% of the 6.1 million existing single-family homes that were sold in the US in 2003, according to the National Association of Realtors. Some are investors trying to hedge against the vagaries of the stock market and others buy and sell houses as commercial ventures.

Investors watch for home foreclosures, or pursue properties listed as for sale by owner. Or they put up a billboard advertising their willingness to buy properties, like the one announcing "We Buy Ugly Houses" used by a Dallas-based franchise company HomeVestors of America Inc., whose network includes real estate investors across the nation.

Flipping proves lucrative for some [Dallas Business Journal]

Bulding permits up 55%

The Lee County Economic Development Office reports in their February 2005 Economics Indicator Report that building permits were up 55.6 % in December of 2004 over December 2003. The total valuation of the building permits rose 85.5% during the same period.

Existing home sales rose in Decmber 2004 rose 12.1% from November and 9.3% from December 2003.

The median sale price for an existing home in Lee County jumped 33.1% from from December 2003 to December 2004 rising to $221,000.

Economic Indicator Report - February 2005 [Lee County EDO]