Thoughts on Punta Gorda, FL?

[Brad_Ct]

We just bought a house in Alva Fl. In November, we looked at houses in the Cape and PGI but there were way to many restrictions for our life style. We are not on the water but the Caloosahatchee river and Sweetwater marina is only 8 miles from our house and the gulf is a hour by boat. The house we bought is 2,300 sq. ft. with a pool and garage space for 5 vehicles on almost an acre of land.

 

[PortTobacco II]

We just bought a house in Alva Fl. In November, we looked at houses in the Cape and PGI but there were way to many restrictions for our life style. We are not on the water but the Caloosahatchee river and Sweetwater marina is only 8 miles from our house and the gulf is a hour by boat. The house we bought is 2,300 sq. ft. with a pool and garage space for 5 vehicles on almost an acre of land.

Yeah garage space looks to be an issue in PGI. We have 2017 Expedition, 2017 Mustang, and a 1973 F100 pick up. I really don't want to get rid of any of them but might have to. I do have my '73 F100 up for sale if anyone is interested

 

[DieselCamel]

Definitely a great area over that way “bird section” as they call it. I have never boated up alligator creek. I’m over at the ponce Park exit. Walt’s Exit is Fisherman’s village. From the ponce park it’s about 20 miles or so to cayo costa Should be a little shorter from Buckley. All destinations are reachable from there ie cabbage key, Matlacha etc. We have boated as far north as Osprey and as far South as Fort Myers and back in a day. As @BrentEB stated there are a few other areas with canals. But PGI is the only one that takes care of the sea walls if something happens Obviously you pay for this through an additional assessment to your property tax but it’s only about 550 a year. Downside to PGI is no trailers etc and some people can be a little stuffy. But that really depends on the street. As we have had nothing but a great experience on ours.

 

[BrentEB]

Definitely a great area over that way “bird section” as they call it. I have never boated up alligator creek. I’m over at the ponce Park exit. Walt’s Exit is Fisherman’s village. From the ponce park it’s about 20 miles or so to cayo costa Should be a little shorter from Buckley. All destinations are reachable from there ie cabbage key, Matlacha etc. We have boated as far north as Osprey and as far South as Fort Myers and back in a day. As @BrentEB stated there are a few other areas with canals. But PGI is the only one that takes care of the sea walls if something happens Obviously you pay for this through an additional assessment to your property tax but it’s only about 550 a year. Downside to PGI is no trailers etc and some people can be a little stuffy. But that really depends on the street. As we have had nothing but a great experience on ours.

Well, I'm not knocking PGI. Too much... I like having a dock cover and storing my trailer behind a paneled fence on the side yard without code enforcement rangers knocking. Just saying one must look for what they want in a place when buying rather than complaining about restrictions later. Which happens.

 

[DieselCamel]

The dock cover is definitely something I’m jealous of.

 

[PortTobacco II]

We did an AirBNB on Bimini Lane in PGI this past July. Brought my boat with me. It took us about 10minutes in the No Wake Zone to get out past Fisherman's Wharf. From there I think it took all of 30 minutes to get to Cayo Costa. There were a few stuffy/strange people on Bimini Lane but we also met some real nice people on the street. I like the idea of have the town/county taking care of the sea wall because if they don't and your neighbor lets their sea wall go bad, it can effect your property. I can live with the restrictions that PGI has, may just take some getting used to.

We are coming down to PGI on 12/21 and staying until 12/27. We are staying at the Four Winds Westin. Sad to say most my time will be spent with my Father-in-Law who has pancreatic cancer. It does not look good for him. Great man and very sad to see him battle this. But he had awesome 80 years with his wife, family, and friends. He really enjoyed live.

I think I am focusing my house hunt on this part of PGI. I am hoping that when Buckley's Pass (BP) is complete, it would cut the travel time to places like Cayo Costa cosiderably.

 

[Dave berry]

My wife and I are considering over the next 6 to 12 months of relocating some where between Naples Florida and St Peter's. My In-Laws are in Naples and my daughter is in St Petes. We don't want to be too close to either . Punta Gorda looks to be a great option for an old Jet Boater like me. There looks to be many reasonably priced canal homes for sale with fast/easy access to big water. We drove through Punta Gorda last Thursday and it looked very nice to me. My wife said she did not get a sense of community (not that we have that now where we live). We stopped at Ponce De Leon park and Gilchrist park...they seemed nice but not as pretty as the Naples area.

I was just wondering if anyone could offer some insight on Punta Gorda living? The good, the bad?
Thanks
Old Port Tobacco Rich

No place perfect i have codo on canal close to fishermans vill 3 years stay 8 months a year snowbird love it here always something going on in town real nice

 

[PortTobacco II]

We finally have our house in MD under contract so we are MOVING to SW Florida very soon!! The virus slowed us down some on the house sale but we are aiming to close on 8/3/2020. Looks like we will rent for at least 6 months in a large dog friendly apartment complex about 10 miles north of PGI. Hard pressed to find a rental in PGI that would welcome us.

The downsizing of space is gonna be interesting. We are selling our 4898 sqft house (Zillow link) and going to a 1350 sqft apartment. We are getting rid of just about all our stuff and it actually feels pretty good. Sold my old 1973 Ford F100 about a month ago and plan to sell my 2017 Mustang (bring it to CarMax most likely).

The couple buying my house have asked about buying my 2016 SX240. It only has about 85 hours. I think it has a 1 year or so of YES left. I hope they want for $35,000. Otherwise I will probably tow it to SW Florida and store it somewhere. Its a good boat.

Hope to see you PGI jet boaters soon!!!

 

[Miitch]

Following this thread... Always dreamed of moving to SWFL - Cape especially. GF and I had a "Dream Vacation" booked for April of 2020. She wants in too. We had a house on the canal (Cape), Evoque for transportation, and an AR240 rented for 5 of the 10 days... of course we had to cancel due to COVID...

I Just finished school and got a job in my field, so house comes next. unfortunately, housing here (Southern Ontario) is 2-3 times more expensive then PG, Cape, or most of SWFL... with not much to offer. Hopefully it stays a buyers market for long enough... Congrats on the move! Hope to soon be in your shoes! (do post pictures when all is said and done!)

 

[PortTobacco II]

Following this thread... Always dreamed of moving to SWFL - Cape especially. GF and I had a "Dream Vacation" booked for April of 2020. She wants in too. We had a house on the canal (Cape), Evoque for transportation, and an AR240 rented for 5 of the 10 days... of course we had to cancel due to COVID...

I Just finished school and got a job in my field, so house comes next. unfortunately, housing here (Southern Ontario) is 2-3 times more expensive then PG, Cape, or most of SWFL... with not much to offer. Hopefully it stays a buyers market for long enough... Congrats on the move! Hope to soon be in your shoes! (do post pictures when all is said and done!)

Bummer on cancelled vacation plans.
It is very much a SELLERS market at least in Punta Gorda Florida where I have been trying to buy a canal home. I can't speak to Cape Coral but probably a sellers market there as well.
I worked hard to get a contract on a decent place in Punta Gorda. We hope to close on the house in early December. The house needs a bunch of work but has good bones (i think) and is a good location (10 minutes no wake to bigger water).

 

[Miitch]

Bummer on cancelled vacation plans.
It is very much a SELLERS market at least in Punta Gorda Florida where I have been trying to buy a canal home. I can't speak to Cape Coral but probably a sellers market there as well.
I worked hard to get a contract on a decent place in Punta Gorda. We hope to close on the house in early December. The house needs a bunch of work but has good bones (i think) and is a good location (10 minutes no wake to bigger water).

seems i may have missed that LOL. i havent looked since last summer. but yes, it does seem like a sellers market. But again, compared to housing here, its an absolute bargain!

Congrats on the contract! heres hoping it works out!! excited for pictures !!