Cape Coral Second Homes
Cape Coral Gulf Access
Cape Coral Gulf Access homes make great second homes.
What will a second home in SW Florida cost?
As the prices of homes in SW Florida are, can we say, more than affordable, many people across the U.S. and abroad (especially Europe and Canada) are entertaining the possibility of a second home. The biggest question on everyone’s mind is “What will it cost me?” Obviously it is pretty easy to find the listing prices of Cape Coral homes online but to truly understand what the ‘cost’ will be can take doing some research. In this article I will go over the basic costs you can expect to pay when investing in a second home here in beautiful Cape Coral or Ft. Myers, Florida.
First to consider: Cost of Money
Are you planning to pay cash or do you plan to get a mortgage for some of the purchase price? If you plan to pay cash make sure that you are comfortable with the rate of return on your investment. You may wish to consider getting a loan for some of the purchase to keep more capital for other investments (more houses, or?).
If you are going to obtain financing make sure you determine which loan is best for you and your needs. Most investment properties will require 20-25% down. If you are Foreign National you must be prepared to put down at least 30% in most cases. You can also attempt to receive a loan from your country as well. The rates will be lower but you may have to put up your current home as collateral (borrow against your equity). Some second homes may be purchased with less money down. But your payments will be much lower with the more money you put down on your purchase.
For comparison purposes here let’s look at a sample waterfront listing. The current asking price is $375,000. Let’s assume that you plan to put down 25%. This means that you will be putting a down payment of $93,750. Here is an estimate of closing costs:
Taxes: $ 6,422.24*
Loan fees: $3,846
Prepaid taxes & insurance: $5,778
Total costs to close: $103,374.
- from current 2009 tax bill – properties are reassessed every year here so this could change. Currently this home is assessed at $374,230. Please also note that taxes are NOT higher for non-residents. But full time residents are eligible for exemptions.
To find insurance companies who are still readily writing homeowners insurance in the state of Florida visit www.ShopandCompareRates.com
You can verify tax information online at www.LeePA.org
Next we need to figure maintenance. You will have an electric charge and probably a water bill as well. Let’s assume that you are not here full time and so we’ll estimate these charges on the ‘low’ side.
Monthly Bills
Electricity $200-400
Water $ 50-150
Lawn $ 75-100
Pool $ 75-100
Alarm $ 20-50
You may also wish to hire a maintenance company to handle all of this. They will have their own crews to handle lawn, pool, cleaning, repairs, etc. They charge anywhere from $50-500 per month above the charges listed above.
You can also have the property rented out during the months you will not be visiting if you’d like to offset the costs. Rental rates very depending upon location and whether we are talking about in or out of ‘season’. You can pay anywhere from 5-15% for property management assistance. This fee is generally deducted directly from your monthly rental income.
Keep in mind that these are estimates and that the real charges could be higher or lower.
Our professional real estate agents can walk you through this process and assist you in determining what makes sense for your needs and wants.
Ready to search for available homes now? Visit our Cape Coral real estate source!
We look forward to hearing from you! If you have any questions at all give us a call!
(239) 542-8521
