Douglas Realty Lehigh Acres, Fl Office
3509 Lee Blvd Ste 2
Lehigh Acres, Florida 33971
Phone 239-369-3987
Douglas Realty and Lehigh Acres: A Perfect Match
Lehigh Acres is the most misunderstood city in Southwest Florida. It’s a pretty bold statement, but there’s truth to it.
As of now, Lehigh Acres is considered a low end rental city by those who, well, misunderstand it. A few years ago, this was actually the case, but it’s dramatically changed and has taken on a new persona.
The city was developed as a place to house the “worker bees” who helped develop the surrounding cities of Ft Myers, Cape Coral, Bonita, Naples etc. While the new construction boom was in full force, the need for lower income housing grew to an all-time high, thus the development of Lehigh.
Once “the crash” happened, Southwest Florida fell into a depression. The development of homes came to a screeching halt, and the workers who inhabited Lehigh fled to other parts of the country where work could be found.
But then something interesting happened.
As rent prices have gone up drastically, the surrounding cities to Lehigh have become unaffordable for most blue collar families and has forced them to find alternate places to rent. These hard working blue collar type of people are a property owner’s perfect match. They take care of the home they live in, treating it like their own.
So a city once housing lower income construction and development workers has now become the more affordable city for the average working family. This means the quality of renters in the area is through the roof, and the rent prices have gone up significantly because of it.
Because of this dramatic switch, home property management has become one of the most needed industries in the area as investors are scrambling to find quality rental managers as it’s no longer a secret this is the perfect city to invest in.
Previously, Lehigh Acres was not a golden egg when it came to investing in property. Houses were treated poorly, mismanagement of these houses ran rampant, and most property owners lost money rather than made it.
Now that the quality of tenants in the area is at an all-time high, along with rent prices, Douglas Realty Property Management only dealt with 2 evictions in the area with hundreds of properties managed in the 2016 year.
The fun isn’t over. There are still amazing buying opportunities considering the area has such a stigma that goes along with it, most investors are weary of investing there, but little do they realize the new potential the city offers.
With our office located right on Lee Blvd, we eat, sleep, and breathe the city. So from the experts in the area, heed our recommendation that this is a great city to invest in rental property.
In fact, Lehigh Acres is experiencing a lot of new construction just within the 2016-17 year. There’s very little commercial vacant units, which is always a telltale sign the sophisticated investor keeps an eye one.
Compared to our other office locations, Lehigh Acres consistently has the most rental inquiries, sometimes reaching 30 per day. The bottom line is there is simply not enough housing in the area to fit the demand of new families moving to the area. The supply is quickly drying up.
The location of Lehigh is excellent. It’s east of I-75 so it’s removed from the hustle and bustle of Ft Myers, but is only minutes away from the city that offers so much work for the Lehigh inhabitants.
Professional Property Management
Douglas Realty Property Management saw the need for professional property management services in Lehigh Acres after noticing a trend of awful service being provided for the city’s investor base.
After operating out of Cape Coral since 1981, Douglas Realty opened its second location in Lehigh in 2006 and immediately showed the area what a professional property management company was all about.
It was truly a perfect match as Douglas Realty manages more properties in Lehigh Acres than any other city.
If you have any questions about if this is the right city for you to live or invest in, feel free to contact us anytime!