Cape Coral growth ?

If you borrow 100k to buy the block of land for 100k (100% finance, assuming you have other equity), then you would pay approximately $35k interest on the loan @ 7% interest only. This is quite conservative as rates will likely be higher than 7% in the coming years.

So if you sell for $110k in 5 years (that is the $10k growth you have said you would be happy with), then you would have a loss of about $25k. I do not know many people who would be happy with that.

You may say that you have $100k cash so you wont have any interest costs and that $10k growth is profit to you. But if you just leave that money in a savings account, you would end up with $25k interest over 5 years so you would still be effectively losing $15k.

Cheers,
Luke

Yep..better opportunities than land right now in CC..Keep in mind that when you start new construction on land, you have to pay the city "impact fees"…In Lee County, those are insanely high….buy rental property.  Land is ok if you have a bazillion dollars and want to invest 100k in it….Rental homes will give you a much better return.

I lived in a Gulf Access home in Cape Coral until 2006.  I am one that likes boating and fishing like many others whose intentions is to live on the water.  To answer your question, yes you can buy Gulf Access lots in Cape for as low as $30,000.  However to increase your probability for appreciation, you want to be in South Cape Coral.  And even in South Cape, you want to be as close to the open water as possible.  When builders start building for homeowners/ tourists again, the first lots that will go will be the ones with closest Gulf proximity.  We have manatees down here that are all over the canals (manatees are gigantic animals that are also known as sea cows)…so you have to go in idle speed in the canals.  If you are more than say a couple miles up the intercoastal, you could have a 2 hour boat ride to the Gulf.  Most prefer to be in the Gulf in about 45 minutes or less.

For you to achieve the better locations, you will need to increase your price to about $75k and you will find something that will improve in value more than the $55k lots.  Also, for that price, you will likely have your assessments of water and sewer hooked up and already paid for.  This is a big deal to Cape Coralites.

On a side not to let you know how the market went in Cape…..In 2004 I paid $255k for a gulf access home…Very old, small home but location was the best.. I sold in less than a year for $315k….Downtown Cape Coral was expected to pass a huge downtown redevelopment plan…Speculation went thru the roof.  In 2005, my house was turned over twice and the highest recent sale was $799,000.  Market tanked and the downtown plans were scrapped…I was kicking myself in the back of my pants, but at least I made something….That poor buyer got stuck when the market tanked because Gulf Access homes plummeted faster than they went up…Today you can buy a very similar house on the same block for $225,000.  Ouch…Anyway, Gulf Access is very appealing..Especially to international second homers. 

Cape Coral has 400 miles of canals…more than Venice, Italy…..Take your pick…but be VERY selective.  Hope this helps