Historically, sailboat waterfront accessible lots in Port Charlotte are much cheaper than in other areas.  In 21 years of selling sailboat waterfront I have had hundreds of calls on these lots because they look like such a good deal.  Often they are not!

There are many factors to consider.  Lets start with the easiest lot to consider for purchase:  A lot with an existing seawall.

Existing seawall lots with sailboat accessible water

Many lots in Port Charlotte are in poor condition because of their age.  Most realtors and property owners don’t recognize the warning signs of old seawalls.  They are quite obvious if you know what to look for.  Replacing an old seawall will cost you upwards of $50,000 so be careful.

Is a lot being sold in Port Charlotte as a Sailboat Waterfront lot really what it claims to be?  Not always is the short answer.  In our area, if there are no bridges then a realtor will often advertise that is sailboat accessible because of no mast height restrictions.  Of course, equally as important is draft of your keel and many PC canals are shallow or have shallow areas on the way out to the harbor.  Contact me for canal depths of dig deeper into this website for more information.

Unimproved lots with sailboat accessible water

Be very cautious with your investment money here.  Most undeveloped lots have mangroves and removing them is costly at best and may take more than a year to get an approval.  There is a mangrove mitigation process and it is not guaranteed that your lot will be approved for development and removal.  Thank the government agencies that decided the small tooth Sawfish likes to spawn in Port Charlotte canals.

Before buying a lot you need to establish if the soil can support a house and possibly a pool.  Two different criteria for load bearing structure on waterfront land.  This is an expensive test to determine soil compaction.  If its bad soil the remediation can run from $30,000 to much higher numbers.

Gopher Tortoises and Burrowing Owls:  Yes they live around here and can cause development issues.

Low lying land which is typical on the sailboat lots in Port Charlotte will require hundreds of truckloads of dirt, worst case.  Very expensive!

Adding a seawall is another expensive proposition.  There are many seawall options from concrete to synthetic corregated panels.

Lastly, Port Charlotte does not have a plan for routine maintenance of canal depths or the common connecting canals that take you to open water.  Please understand the water depths if you are a sailor before making a purchase.

Finally, know your boat ride times out from the lot.  I know all the boat ride times as I have put the time in myself.  Many realtors will tell you it’s a short ride out when it might be 45 minutes.  There are canal lots that are over an hour to get out to Alligator Bay and then you have another 10-15 minutes at idle speed to get into the Peace River.

And one of the most common questions about sailboat waterfront lots in Port Charlotte.  Can I live on my sailboat at the lot with no home on the land.  The answer is no.  A residential neighborhood does not want transient boaters camping on vacant land and the county has ordinances against it.

The post Sailboat Waterfront Lots in Port Charlotte- BE CAREFUL What you need to know! appeared first on Sailboat Home Listings.

Normal considerations like size of lot, actual waterfrontage and distance to open water are commonly the main things to think of.  Most think that a large water view near the end of a canal might be the ultimate lot.  Lots in the old sailboat section, often called the original sailboat section have many streets that end in the Peace River.  The open waters of the Peace bring amazing views.  They also bring wave action.  In the winter months you can expect north winds between 10 to 25 mph on a daily basis.  These winds create significant waves into the ends of the canals and standing wave heights in the 2-3 feet can be experienced!  I have seen it first hand many times in my career.

What does this mean?  Lots of turbulence and wave action, some air aspiration and if your boat is moored in the water (not on a boat lift) you need to factor the wave action in your mooring lines and boat fenders.  These are mainly a winter occurrence but you should be mindful of any lot facing north that has open water influences.  Deploying your boat from its lift and taking off on stiff wave action could be daunting as well.

On the opposite end of the canal, meaning the dead end of canal systems there are some considerations to be mindful of.  There is a possibility of debri, yard trimmings, coconuts and worst case dead fish carcasses piling up creating an eyesore and possible smelly situation.  Honestly, this can happen but for the most part it should not present a problem.  A nearby neighbor can comment on these types of worries.  It also is a function of which way the wind is blowing.  Normally, we do not have aquatic grasses piling up in our canals (a big problem in the Florida Keys).  In my 21 years I only remember a fish kill once in PGI canals so a dead fish pile up would be an extreme situation.

You won’t find a better place to invest your money than this top neighborhood or to build your dream home.  If you need canal depth information or boat ride times to open water I have recorded this information on this website so you can make intelligent decisions.

The post Be Careful Choosing A Waterfront Lot In Punta Gorda Isles (PGI appeared first on Sailboat Home Listings.

Please review Part 1 on this same topic prior to reading this.  As previously mentioned pools will have a few problems along the way.  Leaks are just breaks in the concrete structure and the most common place for this to occur is the skimmer overflow box which moves the surface water to a strainer prior to entering the pump.  I am not sure why this is the most common place to have a leak but it is.  Pool leak detection companies make lots of money for simple repairs.  Beware, as they will rip you off if you are not on your toes as I have been there.  Most leak detection companies will have you sign something before they explore into the leak problem which assures them of $600 or more dollars regardless of how long it takes to figure out the problem then an estimate to fix the problem.  When my pool leaked I did my own basic leak test, which is known as the bucket method.  This is to confirm you really have a leak and you place a bucket filled with water in your pool for a week and measure how much the water level changed due to evaporation compared to a possible leak situation.  See utube videos on this.  I confirmed I had a leak and then allowed the pool to leak until it reached the point of no further observable water loss.  In my case, the water level dropped to right below the skimmer box.  A very obvious clue.  I took the conservative route and had a leak detection company come in, signed the guaranteed payment box on the contract.  I told the tech where I thought the problem was and he dropped some blue dye into the box and whalla! The blue dye got sucked into a now visible crack.  He was done in 15 minutes but wanted his money.  I paid him and learned a hard lesson!  I then hired a reputable pool repair service the fixed the problem.

Other things to think about if a leak occurs.  You can use this same blue/red dye to swim around your pool and identify any areas that are suspect for a leak using a mask and snorkel.  Waterline tiles are a common place.  Go to Pinch-A-Penny and they can sell you the dye and underwater sealant and they give plenty of advice for free.  Its really quite easy and cheap.  Also, this company provides exceptional pool care if you choose to have someone else to do it.  For snowbirds, their pool care service is reasonable and dependable and weekly you receive an update on what they did.  Many pool companies slack when the owners are not there.  PAP is very dependable.

One last thing on the leak topic.  DO NOT DRAIN YOUR POOL!  If you think you have a leak on the bottom or in the lower areas then things must be handled very carefully.  Waterfront pool homes on saltwater canals in Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte actually have saltwater ingress at all time below the pool.  Even with all the concrete and decking there is saltwater behind the seawall and under the pool.  If you were to drain the pool at the wrong time of year you could FLOAT the pool.  This means with no water inside the pool it can actually lift up with the static pressure of the wet soil that surrounds it.  This would be a disaster for the pool structure.  A leak in the bottom of the pool requires an expert to handle this situation.

The post Punta Gorda Pools-Part 2 How To Handle Leaks, Who To Use For Service, What To Watch Out For and Do It Yourself Information appeared first on Sailboat Home Listings.

Experience has taught me that many people buying a waterfront pool home in southwest Florida have never had a pool before.  Even those that have had a pool up north don’t necessarily know the ropes of pool ownership down here.

Nothing written here should discourage you from wanting a pool home by the waterside because nothing is better!  But a little knowledge will smooth the way and I will share 21 years of knowledge gained while selling homes in Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte.

The first thing to know is that eventually you will have problems with some aspects of the pool or its equipment.  All pools will eventually leak at some point and it is rarely a catastrophic event.  This was always my biggest worry when searching for a pool home on the waterfront.  A pool in our area is concrete and plastic pipes and there is no rocket science to fixing them.  However, you should know about how to detect a leak and what company to use to do that (or do it yourself):  This topic will be covered in detail later on.

Starting from square one:  You have engaged in a contract to purchase a pool home and during the inspection period in your contract you should have the home inspector examine the pool in every possible way.  The pool surface, coping tiles, waterline tiles, blemishes on the bottom (most will have some), pool deck and pool equipment functionality.  If something is out of line he will recommend a follow up with a pool expert.

Pool Care:  For me my first pool experience came when I moved to Punta Gorda.  I was intimated and lacked knowledge and hired a pool company to handle it.  The cost in our area is very reasonable running around $125 per month.  At that time as my real estate business was growing I had a slow stretch and decided to handle pool care on my own.  Pool care here is very easy compared to up north because the Lanai pool cage blocks leaves and debri from entering the pool.  Normally, you have a chlorine dispenser where you add the “hockey puck” shaped tablets and clean the filter a couple times a month and there was not much more too it.  What ultimately happened to me was real estate business picked up and I forgot to take care of the pool.  Nearly 2 months went by and I did not see any change in the pool water.  This was a big lesson!  Pool maintenance here is pretty easy.  The only exception is during the rainy summer season where you will need to keep up on chemicals because algae can develop when the water becomes too fresh from frequent rain storms.  Even then you can run to Pince-A-Penny to have them analyze your water and send you home with instructions on how to get your pool chemistry back in order (more on Pince-A-Penny later).

The post Punta Gorda Pools- What You Need To Know Before You Buy A House And After The Purchase-Part 1 appeared first on Sailboat Home Listings.

This is quite scary for the sailor who depends on draft and bridge height limitations when choosing a home for their craft.  Just because a home or piece of vacant land advertises sailboat water doesn’t mean it is.

Here is a true life story and then I will cut to the chase.  Back in 2005 at the height of the real estate bubble a realtor sold a piece of vacant land in Pirate Harbor to a true sailboat person.  The buyers had faith in the listing and agent and paid an extraordinary price of $450,000 for an undeveloped piece of land.  Later they discovered that the canal depths averaged 6 feet or more but the exit through the estuary had 3 feet on average and at times the “so called” channel would be nearly dry on a northeasterly, full moon or other naturally occurring weather condition.  They were flabbergasted about this discovery and of course, never utilized the property for the intended purpose.

The simplest way to be sure you know what your buying is interview your real estate agent and see what they really know to start with.  With or without an agent you can pull up the property of interest in the county tax assessors office website.  For Charlotte County Florida go to www.ccapprasier.com  Type in the address and pull up the aerial view.  From there you can zoom in.  Light colored sand areas will show up easily in the water.  Deeper water is always dark in color and shades of tan requires further investigation.  To be sure try and determine the route to the deepest open water where you would set sail.  Sometimes there are prohibitive shallow spots for deeper craft even if your canal depth is fine behind the house.

There are many neighborhoods that will have less of a concern mainly in Punta Gorda.  However, some PG neighborhoods have shallow areas that you should know about.

Port Charlotte and Englewood you must be very careful!  There are lots of canal homes that have very little water at low tide.

One other point regarding sailboat homes.  Real estate agents will advertise a sailboat waterfront home if there are NO BRIDGES.  Sounds ridiculous but that is the case in SW Florida.  With that said, this advertising can be false.  Sailboats generally don’t float in 3 feet of water!  On the topic of bridges there are very few bridges that will allow clearance for any substantial mast height.  Two bridges are more forgiving and they are the RT. 41 bridge and the RT. 75 bridge over the Peace River.  The RT. 75 bridge has water depth concerns with a winding channel.

The post How To Detect A FAKE Sailboat Waterfront Home/Sailboat Accessible MLS Listing appeared first on Sailboat Home Listings.

At 8:00am we were in 100 feet of water and things could not be better!  Perfect baits, lots of fish arches on the meter and 3 hours later no grouper in the box.  Plan B was to go to a snapper spot and sure enough we marked a school, dropped a buoy marker and went and set the anchor.  By the time the anchor set, we were 50 yards away from the marker and no one was raising their hand to pull the anchor back in.  Normally, if you are not right on the fish, then you don’t catch fish offshore!  Today was different.  Two chum blocks in the water and we are dicing & slicing frozen bait and in 15 minutes a school of amberjack take residence under the boat.  Literally, these fish from 20-40 pounds camped out waiting for us to reel up a snapper.

The most logical thing to do next was to have a little fun catch and release fishing with these back breaker fish.  We dropped their favorite food into the water, bluerunners and nothing!  Pinfish nothing!  Than, the fish gods shined on us as a lively mullet dropped over had 10 amberjack at a time chasing it.  Instantly, Mickey, Mike and Manny had rods doubled over, drags a burning and I watched  the skunk come off the new boat!  Quick photos and perfect live releases followed as they begged for the ol’ captain to hook up.  So indeed I dropped a mullet in the water and hooked and lost two 30 pounders, finally landing one and that was enough for me.  We were all out of breath and complaining of aching muscles.

The next challenge was snapper.  We all dropped small jigs with meat and Manny was quick to put a 14” yellowtail in the boat than we all began hooking yellowtails which apparently the amberjack loved because we could not reel them in fast enough without getting eaten.  Frustrating for sure until the BIG yellowtails showed up.  Too big for the AJ’s to eat.  Manny had the hot stick and when the first 7 pound yellowtail came over the gunnel there were lots of high-fives!  We all agreed it was the biggest yellowtail we had ever seen.  The next two hours fishing was amazing.  We all hooked monster yellowtails but they would straighten hooks or break our lines.  Imagine that!  But Manny had a different program.  He got the big bites and filled the cooler with behemoth Flags as they call them when they get that big.  Manny had the hot stick and just the right amount of backbone to horse them in.  Add to that a 5 pound mangrove snapper also blessed Manny’s line!

With a cooler full of yellowtail, we went back to hunting grouper with no success.  On the last drop Micky connected with an odd fighting fish and when he swung it overboard an octopus hit the deck!  What an encore to an incredible day!

A maiden voyage for a new boat doesn’t usually turn out this way.  More often, you find out all the things that are not working right on the boat.  This day the boat was perfect and lady luck was on our side.  We caught just the right bait that the A’J’s wanted and we anchored over a barren bottom by accident to discover a monster yellowtail spot.  It really does not get any better than that.

The post Kung Fu Fighting Huge Offshore Fish- All From Your Waterfront Punta Gorda Home! appeared first on Sailboat Home Listings.

An hour later we had two shark bite offs and a missed tarpon that nearly spooled our reel!  Tarpon peel off so much line on the first couple of runs that you can literally get spooled even with 300 yards of 60# braid.  We learned our lesson from that and decided to place an anchor ball on our anchor line.  The idea of this is to place a floating buoy on the end of the anchor line so that you can quickly unhook the anchor free of the boat so that you can chase the fish down and gain back your line.  With tarpon there is no time to pull in the anchor so you quick release it to chase the fish!

With anchor ball, line and anchor in 10 feet of water we patiently watched as an occasional tarpon would roll in the distance.  We were nervous and so was the ladyfish on the end of my line then a big swoosh and all heck broke loose!  The heavy action St. Croix rod bent so hard I could not get it out of the rod holder; I actually thought the handle was going to break off!  We were anchored and losing all the line off the reel.  Finally, with rod in hand and 250 yards of line out Bob ran to the bow and released the anchor into the water as I am shouting directions on which way the fish is running.  Bob starts the engine and bumps the boat in gear and the motor shuts off!  Oh lord and I am out of line!  We run to the back of the boat and the engine is choked up on the anchor line and the anchor ball is wedged in the prop!  An anchor ball is used so that when you hook a large fish you can quickly release the anchor from the boat and can locate after fighting the fish.  You see, there is no time to pull in the anchor when the monster is pulling all the line off your reel!  With the motor totally locked up this game is over I declare as I put the rod in a holder and Bob quickly lifts the anchor off the bottom and the fish starts towing the boat with the anchor line trailing behind the boat, motor out of commission.

We quickly realize that someone has to get in the water which does not sound too good to me.  We talk about the big sharks that we hooked in the same area and realize at this point we have a big shark on the end of the line that amazingly has not bit us off.  Bob gets in the dark water with knife in hand and is trying to carve out the tangled mess.  Moments later with a blank expression Bob jumps up on the swim platform just about the same time as another rod we had out goes down.  We forgot about that line still being out!  Moments later a big sailcat is landed and Bob admits he felt something bump him in the leg while in the water which freaked him out causing him to nearly jump out of the water into the boat.  I am still laughing about that one but somehow Bob didn’t see the humor.  So back in the water and finally the anchor ball was pried from the prop and skeg, motor started and fish still on!

We followed the fish and caught up and had traveled a mile across the harbor!  With the shark almost to the boat a huge 7 foot tarpon jumped in front of the boat as we both looked at each other in disbelief!  There was never a clue it was a tarpon!  So, in the process of landing the fish a bit of slack line occurred and the braid had so much tension over the past hour it curled up and wrapped the rod tip and of course the fish is hauling butt away from the boat and the tip is about to break off!  Somehow shaking the rod tip in just the nick of time saved the rod and we boated a solid 160 pound plus fish!  To tangle with a tarpon is nothing short of amazing but this day we had more tangles than just tarpon but luck was with us.

The post Tarpon Tangle Adventures With Shark A Shark Scare in Charlotte Harbor appeared first on Sailboat Home Listings.

Lawn care:  About $125 per month which includes weed wacking

Pool:  About $125 per month for a weekly visit four times per month.  Chemical balance each visit and scrub pool twice in a month.

Tree trim:  Depends on what needs to be done but often includes pruning palm trees.  I know who to call for inexpensive tree service.

Pest Control:  In general, it’s a quarterly service but expect around $300 per year.  Important to  know is the service provider will come out on a days notice if you have an issue without charge.

Power washing:  This is an annual service to anticipate which will cover your house, lanai, pool cage, roof, etc.  The cost varies by size of home.

Boat lift:  Often over-looked but it will bite you in the butt if you don’t keep it maintained and that is the voice of experience!  There are only a handful of companies doing this and will depend on type of boat lift and condition.  Call me for boat lift companies that have treated me fairly over the years.

Piling Wrap:  Many homes already have their pilings wrapped below the water line and that is a good thing.  If your homes has not had the pilings wrapped then you should consider doing it.  This is a one time expense.  The piling wrap is a heavy synthetic material that protects the pilings underwater from worms and sea creatures eating the pilings and damaging them.  Its much cheaper to take preventative action than to install pilings down the road.  Again, a one time service and cost is dependent on the number of pilings and condition.  Good to know that existing pilings that have problems can be saved at a much lower cost than a new piling.

Garbage/trash service:  There is no specific additional cost with this in Punta Gorda Isles or Burnt Store Isles.  The service also includes bulk pick-up at no additional cost.  Tree trimings, lawn debri pick up is also included in the service.

Water:  The cost of water in SW Florida is considerabley more expensive than other areas.  Of course, it is a function of usage.  For a family of two with heavy usage, including multiple boat washings in a week, laundry every day, etc. and you can anticipate $100-$130 per month.  If you have lawn irrigation this cost will go up significantly.

The post What Is The Cost Of Ownership Of A Waterfront Home in Punta Gorda Isles and Burnt Store Isles?  Part 3 ADDITIONAL COSTS OF OWNERSHIP appeared first on Sailboat Home Listings.

The perception of taxes being considered high or low depends on where the person is from.  Remember you are buying a home that has a backyard that includes Charlotte Harbor, Gulf of Mexico and the oceans of the world not to mention the thousands of miles of beautiful waters to explore locally.  This does come at a cost.  For someone coming from New Jersey, our taxes are low yet someone coming from Idaho with 20 acres of land may observe our taxes as high.  In the scheme of waterfront homes on saltwater around the U.S., with sailboat access or power boat access (bridges to go under) our prices are fair.

First, you cannot always assume that the county appraiser’s office listed tax basis will be the taxes you will get after purchase.  Like everywhere in the country, after the purchase, a home or land value is reassessed to current market value.  A primary factor when looking at homes that are basically equivalent but have a sizeable disparity in their taxes is normally related to being homesteaded (an easy process to accomplish after the sale).  Homesteading a home, requires you to live there at least 6 months and a day along with a few other factors.  So, if your home goes up in value 10% in one year, the most the county would increase your property is 3% if it is homesteaded.  This can save you lots of money over time!

So, how do you predict what your taxes will likely be after the purchase.  First, I find the county office is not always the best place to get this information.  Depending on who you talk to you might get the wrong information, perhaps leading you to a decision on home purchase not based on reality.  Often, the county will overstate the taxes and often won’t answer the question because they don’t know what the millage rate will be or some other reason.

The best way I find is to have your realtor identify a similar house that sold the prior year and was reassessed.  Their tax number will likely give you a strong foundation for predicting what your taxes will be after closing.

The post What Is The Cost Of Ownership Of A Waterfront Home in Punta Gorda Isles and Burnt Store Isles?  Part 2 TAXES appeared first on Sailboat Home Listings.

Let’s start with an example of insurance costs.  By example, here were the insurance costs from a home I sold in July 2020 on 5011 Captiva Court in Punta Gorda Isles.  This home was a fixer upper built in 1982, 2169sf under air, 3/2/2 with pool.  Reading directly from the Declaration Page with St. Johns Insurance for coverage between April 2020 and April 2021:

Total basic premium for homeowners $3,247 (without wind mitigation credits)

There was a wind mitigation credit (more on that later) of $1,503 plus an additional $44 for having an Alarm or Fire Protection Credit.

With a few additional incidental charges and the credit, the homeowners policy premium was $2010.  That is a very good number!  Included in this number was protection for hurricane damage with a small deductible.  As such, you do not need a third policy for hurricane coverage like some areas.  The two insurances you need here are homeowners and flood insurance.

Important to know that the Wind Mitigation Credit was huge because the home had met most of the requirements which includes hurricane shutters, nail patterns on roof decking and many other factors.  The Wind Mit is something that you will need to have done as soon as you put a home under contract.  This is the only way you can know what your real insurance costs will be.

Flood Insurance

It is imperative that you know this cost during your inspection phase of the purchase.  Just in case the cost of flood is astronomical.  However, that is very unlikely!

For the subject house, Flood insurance was a modest $1,787.  This is based on the measured flood elevation of the home when compared to what is prescribed by FEMA.  The prescribed amount of elevation for a home can be found in the Charlotte County Tax Records, www.ccappraiser.com  Just put in the property address and you will find what the required elevation height of the home was at the time of the original building of the home.

IMPORTANT:  I always establish what flood insurance costs are during the due diligence period (where your escrow money is refundable) just in case the home was built below the prescribed elevation.  I have only seen this once in my 20 year career as a realtor in Punta Gorda.  Also, its important to know that many of the oldest waterfront homes were built at a very low elevation and the flood costs might be a factor in your decision making.  Homes in the 1960’s and some in the early 70’s may have higher flood insurance costs.  You will always know what your are getting working with me.  I am an expert in waterfront home purchases and know the ropes.

Very Important:  Most often the flood insurance policies and sometimes homeowners policies can be transferred from seller to buyer.  This is a big deal!  The seller has to sign a simple document agreeing to it and normally will save you lots of money.

The post What Is The Cost Of Ownership Of A Waterfront Home in Punta Gorda Isles and Burnt Store Isles?  Part 1 INSURANCE COSTS appeared first on Sailboat Home Listings.