Cape Coral is still building out, and lots can carry utility assessments.
FEMA's substantial improvement rule decides which flood-zone rehabs pencil. USA Mortgage funds investors across Lee County. Your tax bill changes with the city line here. Business-purpose loans only, and every structure is set in underwriting.
Your term sheet can come back the same day, decided in house.
A correcting market, priced for entry
Mid-tier single-family values are $353,521 as of June 2026, down 6.0% year over year and 18% off their August 2022 peak, while Lee County's population grew 15.1% from 2020 to 2025. Falling inventory, down 20.4% year over year, and improving days on market suggest the correction is finding a floor.
The FEMA 50% rule is the underwriting fact that matters most here
A flood-zone structure whose repair cost reaches 50% of its market value has to be elevated or brought up to current code. Cape Coral removed its five-year cumulative lookback with Ordinance 96-22 in November 2022, and FEMA has audited Lee County's enforcement of the rule since 2024. We underwrite the permit file, not just the borrower.
Cape Coral's ground-up construction machine
The city is about 60% built out, with $1.7 billion invested in construction and 3,578 certificates of occupancy issued in 2025. New lots carry Utilities Extension Project water and sewer assessments running roughly $19,000 to $32,000 depending on the phase, on top of the purchase price.
Loan programs in Fort Myers
Acquisition through exit, all funded or arranged by one lender.
Yes. We fund across the metro. That includes Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Lehigh Acres, North Fort Myers, Estero, Bonita Springs, Punta Gorda, and Fort Myers Beach. We are headquartered in Bee Cave, Texas, and every loan is business-purpose only, on investment property, with terms subject to underwriting. See how we lend across Florida or talk to us.
What is the FEMA 50% rule, and how does it affect a Cape Coral or Lee County rehab?
If your repair cost reaches 50% of the structure's market value, the property has to be elevated or brought up to current flood code, and that number, not the purchase price, is what makes or breaks a flood-zone rehab here. The rule runs under the National Flood Insurance Program and is applied through local floodplain ordinances. Cape Coral removed its five-year cumulative lookback with Ordinance 96-22 on November 30, 2022, so pre-storm improvements no longer count toward the 50% threshold. FEMA has separately audited Lee County's enforcement of the rule since 2024, with the county's flood insurance discount at stake, so a clean permit file matters on any coastal or canal-front collateral. Budget for an independent appraisal on the structure rather than relying on the tax-assessed value if you are near the line. Talk to your attorney or CPA about your specific property.
How much should I budget for property taxes and insurance on a Lee County investment property?
More than the last owner's bill, and the number depends on which city you're in. Lee County's 2025 total millage runs from 10.9125 in unincorporated Lehigh Acres to 16.5034 in the City of Fort Myers, with Cape Coral at 15.3806. Those figures are ad valorem only: Lehigh Acres Fire funds itself through non-ad valorem assessments the millage book does not capture, and every Cape Coral Utilities Extension Project assessment sits on top of the millage the same way, so read the non-ad valorem section of your TRIM notice as closely as the millage section. Investment property loses the seller's homestead protections and resets toward market value on sale, so budget the buyer's number, not the seller's. On insurance, Lee County's average homeowners premium including wind was $3,576 as of March 2026, below Collier County's $5,534, and premiums fell in 51 of Florida's 67 counties between FLOIR's January and July 2026 reports. Flood coverage is a separate policy on top of that. Punta Gorda sits in Charlotte County, not Lee, so a different millage stack applies there. Talk to your CPA about your own position.
How should I read a Fort Myers market down 18% from its 2022 peak?
A correction that is showing signs of finding its floor, against a county that never stopped growing. Mid-tier single-family home values were $353,521 in June 2026, down 6.0% year over year and 18.0% off the August 2022 peak of $430,975. Median list price sat at $390,000 in July 2026, down 6.2% year over year and about 22% off its June 2022 high. Active listings have fallen 20.4% year over year to 9,834 after peaking in March 2025, and median days on market improved to 94 from 101 a year earlier, though that is still well above the 40-day 2021-22 froth. None of that has slowed population growth: Lee County added roughly 115,000 residents between 2020 and 2025, up 15.1%, and Cape Coral grew 21.8% to 236,264 over the same period. That combination, a deeper price correction than most Florida metros paired with steady in-migration, is the entry argument here.
Why does a direct lender matter in a market this cash-heavy?
Because you're competing against cash, and a bank timeline loses that fight. Cape Coral was a top-5 all-cash home-flipping market in the country in the first quarter of 2026, at 77.5% of flips purchased with cash, the 5th highest share nationally. A financed investor here needs a same-day term sheet and a close that moves at cash speed, not a committee. We lend our own capital and decide in house, so the answer on your deal comes from the person underwriting it. Every loan is business-purpose only and subject to underwriting. Apply now.
Which Fort Myers loan programs have a minimum credit score, and which do not?
The asset-based programs have no minimum. The documented ones do. Fix and flip, bridge and ground-up construction qualify off the property and the equity, so there is no minimum score on those, and no hard credit pull to start. DSCR and bank statement loans start at 640. Conventional investment starts at 580. Transactional funding runs no credit check at all. We do pull credit on the asset-based side, but it carries far less weight than it would at a bank, and weaker credit is usually met with lower leverage rather than a decline. Subject to underwriting.
What is the down payment on a $350,000 Fort Myers purchase, before Lee County carry?
Between nothing and about 25%, depending on the program. Fix and flip funds up to 90% of purchase and up to 100% of rehab, so roughly 10% down. DSCR, conventional investment and bank statement loans run to 80% LTV or 20% down: on a $350,000 Fort Myers purchase that is $280,000 from us and $70,000 from you (350,000 x 80% = 280,000). Ground-up construction funds up to 85% of cost and 70% of value. Commercial bridge runs up to 75% LTV. Transactional funding covers up to 100% of the A-to-B purchase. Lee County taxes and insurance are carry on top of whichever number applies. Subject to underwriting.
Will a Fort Myers house at the metro's $353,521 mid-tier value clear your minimum loan amount?
Comfortably. Our floor is $100,000 on most single-property programs. Fix and flip, DSCR and bank statement loans all start there. SBA financing starts at $350,000 and portfolio loans at $500,000 across five or more doors. With the metro's mid-tier single-family value at $353,521 as of June 2026, a typical Fort Myers purchase clears the $100,000 floor with room, and the deals that get tight are below-band houses bought with a large down payment, since the loan amount rather than the price is what has to clear it. Subject to underwriting.
Can a first-time investor compete where 77.5% of Cape Coral flips are cash?
Yes. First-time flippers are welcome, and the first deal is underwritten on the deal. Asset-based loans carry no minimum credit score and need no W-2s or tax returns, so a thin borrower file is not what decides it. A first deal is normally sized closer to the conservative end of the leverage caps, and on construction, experienced builders can access higher leverage than a first-time spec builder will. What a newer investor needs most in this metro is speed, because 77.5% of Cape Coral flips were cash purchases in the first quarter of 2026. Our term sheet comes back the same day. Subject to underwriting.
Local rules move. Every tax rate, fee, ordinance and market figure here comes from a primary source and carries the date we read it, and we correct them as the rules change. Where a number is mid-change or we could not verify it, we say so rather than guess. Before you commit a budget, confirm anything that drives it with the city or county, and talk to your attorney or CPA on questions of law or tax.
Published by USA Mortgage Funding, LLC, NMLS #152588. Researched from primary sources by our team, drafted with AI assistance, and every figure checked against its source before publishing. Where an answer rests on a public record, that record is linked under it. Figures read on 2026-08-12.
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