SouthWest Florida Real Estate Services
Cape Coral | Fort Myers | Punta Gorda | Burnt Store | Naples

Raw Land, Residential Lots

Another type of investment or retirement planning device
that is prevalent in this area is the purchase of land.
Because SouthWest Florida only recently got on the radar
as "a great place to live," there are still many
opportunities to purchase vacant lots.

There are two common lot-buying scenarios: a)
purchasing an improved lot (home on the property) as a
"tear down," and b) purchasing a vacant, unimproved lot.

With the supply of waterfront lots with good Gulf access
shrinking, a common investment scenario is the
purchase of an existing home on a great waterfront lot.
These are in the category of sailboat (direct) access and
close-to-the-river Gulf access (short distance but 1
bridge).

Homes on these lots were built in the 60's or 70's, have
a small footprint (e.g., 1200 sq ft), and are out-dated in
design and construction (example shown at right). The
Yacht Club area of Cape Coral, for example, is a hot
spot for these tear-down lot investments and are sold in
the range of $550,000 to $900,000+.

In some cases, the buyer purchases the lot with the immediate
intention of tearing down the older home (sometimes at the seller's expense) and building new. A longer-term strategy is purchasing this property, renting the home for a few years, and tearing down/rebuilding later.

Because the evidence is so strong that these waterfront lots will have high appreciation, a "buy and hold" strategy also works well, whether the "lot" is improved or unimproved. (Some investors flip the lot almost immediately, rather than hold.)

Vacant Land

There is tremendous growth extending out from the
major city areas of the Cape, Fort Myers, Punta Gorda,
and Bonita Springs. Lots are still available and
appreciating nicely.

What is known as the "Burnt Store & NW Cape" area in
the NW section of Cape Coral is a corridor that is seeing
a great deal of investment from home builders, private
parties, and commercial developers. LeHigh, a
community east of Fort Myers with hundreds of vacant
lots, is a residential area that has seen 50% appreciation in one year. Estero, south of Fort Myers is growing with planned communities around the Florida Gulf Coast University and the new SouthWest Florida International Airport.

Vacant land prices range from $40,000 in the outlying areas to $200,000 for "dry lots" to $800,000 for choice sailboat access waterfront lots. Both buy-and-hold and flipping is
common for vacant lot investors.

Purchasing a Lot As A Part of Your
Retirement Plan

Additionally, purchasing a vacant lot now, while prices are
still low, is a great option for people who eventually plan to
retire or move to the area. For example, buy a lot now with
plans to build later, with the safety-net "plan B" option of being able to sell the land later if retirement or move plans change, all the while realizing appreciation on the property