Cape Coral has the dubious distinction of leading Florida and is also near the top nationally in foreclosure filings. This area was a major target for investors during the real estate boom. Companies like First Homes Builders of Florida, which was acquired by national builder K. Hovnanian, enticed inexperienced and under-capitalized investors to build entry-level spec homes on vacant lots throughout Cape Coral. Many of these investors have walked away from their spec home investment. As thousands of these investors have literally just walked away, the market has been flooded with foreclosures.
To deal with over 30,000 pending foreclosures in Cape Coral and neighboring communities, the Lee County Court System created a “Rocket Docket” to work through this backlog. With so may remote investors just walking away, the rocket docket has allowed judges to hear and work through the routine foreclosure cases in an expedited manner. As these foreclosure cases are processed, most end up going back to lender and are commonly referred to as real estate owned (REO) properties.
As lending institutions are not in the business of owning or managing portfolios of properties, most REOs are quickly put on the market. Foreclosure properties are often listed at discounted prices to expeditiously sell the property. Cape Coral has attracted a growing number of investors that have been aggressively pursing well-priced foreclosure listings. Many foreclosure listings are getting a considerable number of offers, often over asking price. Most investors are offering cash, making it difficult for first time buyers to compete as their offers routinely include a financing contingency.
Cape Coral foreclosure opportunities are available across all segments of the housing stock. Many investors are currently favoring single-family homes that are not located in a gated community with a home-owners association. These single-family homes, which are the most common type of housing in the Cape are readily available throughout the entire city. Other investors are focusing on gulf access foreclosures with the belief that waterfront property has a higher ceiling when the market recovers.
One of the keys to finding a good foreclosure deal in Cape Coral is to have access to the new foreclosure listings as soon as they hit the market. There is no need to pay for this type of information as it is readily available on the Internet for no charge.
Mark Washburn is a real estate agent with significant experience assisting buyers in identifying Cape Coral foreclosure opportunities. Mark offers registration-free access to all Cape Coral foreclosure listings. This foreclosure resource is updated on a daily basis to keep buyers at the pulse of the market. Mark actively blogs about the the impact of foreclosures on the Southwest Florida real estate market. These resources are a must read for any investor considering a foreclosure purchase in Southwest Florida!
