FMBGN-AK-Alex King Group-Fort Myers Beach Real Estate Seasons

Fort Myers Beach real estate has a reputation for being seasonal, but the truth is more interesting and a lot more useful if you’re planning a move, a second home, or an investment property. We sit down with Alex King to map the island’s real sales cycle, from the winter surge to the post-Easter wave that runs into late May, plus the summer months when buyers slow down enough to actually think and still make serious offers. If you’ve ever heard “it’s dead in the summer,” this conversation challenges that with on-the-ground context from active transactions.

We also talk about what makes buying on an island different. Fort Myers Beach attracts people who show up for a few days, fall in love at an open house, and decide to buy before they ever planned a wire transfer. That reality affects escrow, inspection timing, and how buyers should prepare if they want to move fast without making reckless decisions. Alex explains why smaller initial escrow deposits can be common here and how the process often becomes more structured after inspections.

Then we get practical about lifestyle and numbers: personal use versus rental income, how blended use is becoming the norm, and why high-performing rentals can cover operating costs or more. Alex shares what he’s seeing with younger buyers, new spec home builders adding fresh inventory across multiple price points, and why neighborhood personality matters block by block on Fort Myers Beach. If you’re trying to figure out when to shop, what to buy, and how to think about long-term value on the coast, this is the roadmap.

Subscribe for more Fort Myers Beach market updates, share this with a friend dreaming of island life, and leave a review to help more buyers and locals find the show. What part of the Fort Myers Beach market do you want us to break down next?

Alex King Group
100 Lovers Ln, Fort Myers Beach, FL 33931
 (239) 232-6465
beach.realtor11@gmail.com
alexkinggroup.com
#AlexKingGroup
#FortMyersBeachRealEstate
#LuxuryRealEstate
@ALEXKINGROUP

Ft Myers Beach-Good Neighbor
To Nominate Someone to be Featured
Or
To Subscribe to the Newsletter
CLICK HERE
https://cabowabojim.com/listen-to-podcasts/

Transcript

Welcome To The Show

Intro/Close 0:00

Welcome to the Fort Myers Beach Good Neighbor Podcast, the Alex King Group Series. Each week, we'll be covering all things Fort Myers Beach Real Estate from market updates to local insights and the unique charm that makes this community such a special place to live. Welcome home where dreams are created and lifestyles are elevated.

The Real Seasonality On The Beach

"Cabo" Jim 0:19

Welcome, Fort Myers Beach Good Neighbors. We have another episode here with Alex King, our King Real Estate here on uh Fort Myers Beach, and we're going to talk a little bit about seasonality and maybe the process of what's going on with the market here.

Alex King 0:33

Yeah, great morning to everybody. Yeah. Thank you for inviting me back on the show. Absolutely. I um now I I I need to let you know the uh seasonality is very important, right? Um, because it undulates through the year um our sales cycle. Now, most of y'all think there's a high season and there's a dead season. Yeah, but actually it's so much different than that. Really? Oh, yes, yes. Um, we have a fly and by season, we have a post-high season, we got a summer season. We actually average 25% of ourselves in each quarter. Really? Mainly because we're we're all in all full time. Yeah, we don't all disappear during the summer and fall, you know. We're not six-month realtors. Yeah, and what you see is uh you'll get a you get the super high season from from about you know December all the way to Easter. Yep. And then typical season, yeah. And then it carries on a few weeks after Easter. But the interesting thing is everyone's down here, they're excited, they're with their friends, their their family, and maybe they're brand new because at least 50% of our buyers right now are brand new to the market. God, I love this island! Right, let's go to an open house. They fall in love with a place, and they're yeah, but they gotta come back because they got their friends and they're drinking and their family with them, so they fly and drive back all the way till the end of May. Wow, that's the first phase. We will sell as much in um Easter to May 31st as we do in February to March. Really, truly. Um on Fort Marsh Beach, yes, yeah, yeah. Um, and because you also have you know the traffic and all that stuff, and then um there's a couple week break in June, and then it's Katie Bar the door, July and August. You got everybody coming down and checking out, let's get a property here during the summer. It's a great chance we can take our time. Oh, by the way, let's go to the beach for a few days. Yeah, um, and then um, and then of course, uh you got a little back to school in you know, late August, September. But August is good about third or fourth week. And then about the third, fourth week of September, we got flying by started. So flying by is from the about the fourth week of September through uh November 15th. Traditionally, okay, and everybody's going, okay, winter's coming. I can't take it anymore. We've already been down last win winter. Uh, we maybe pop by back this spring. Let's get our place. Or guess what? The property they always rented is for sale, right? Yeah, even better. Yeah, yeah. Or they can't find a place they want to rent. So they fly and buy. So, and that's the beginning of our event season, uh coming along into the um fall. Yeah, um, so we got a lot of exciting stuff to talk about that as well. And then now traditionally it slows down about uh you know the 12th or 13th of November. But no, yeah, nothing's normal anymore because this past November it was unbelievably busy all the way till December 1st. Okay, wow, so go figure, and then uh uh from the buy side, uh it picks up like uh you know Christmas. Um, so there's there's our little sales cycle. So we're truly busy all year. There's a couple gaps we might sneak away on vacation, yeah, you know, uh, when it slows down a little bit.

Island Buying Nuances And Escrow

"Cabo" Jim 4:42

But um, yeah. But you can't predict that. That's you know, that's the beauty of it. It's like people come down here, fall in love, and they're like, you know what? Next year, I'm gonna live down here longer. I don't want to come for a week, I want to stay for six months.

Local Shops And What To Wear

Alex King 4:55

And that's the important thing because um buying real estate on an island is a little different than buying in um you know Sterrow and Naples. Most of the rentals there are 30-day minimum, yeah, or three rentals per year, or uh three at 90 days, or one at 90 days, or whatnot. So the weekly rental, daily rental, nightly rentals are predominantly on the sterile island, maybe in some areas of Fort Myers, Cape Coral. So people come here and they're excited, they're emotional, and they do buy a property. Okay, they didn't bring a checkbook because they weren't planning to buy real estate, right? So it's not like being in the other areas, you're coming down for a month, yeah, right? Uh, you can talk to your banker, you can have them wire down money, this and that. You know, you'll see escrow money down in um Naples being uh, you know, five and ten percent of the purchase price. Well, here, you know, they they didn't plan to move money around, and so we'll see a lot lower escrow amounts, five or ten thousand. And then they get back home, they got the inspection period to work with, and then they can wire the escrow money down post-inspection period to get a substantial amount to secure their uh property. Um, another nuance of Fort Myers Beach uh uh real estate. Absolutely. Now, also, what's important is you wear the right clothes. Now, if you really know where to go shopping on Fort Myers Beach, there's some great shops here. There's tuna skin. Yeah, I've got a whole collection every year. I'm going over there. I got a shirts or shorts, I've got kids' shorts. I go there all the time. Um, and then on the south side is Anita's place. Shout out to Anita, and and we got swimsuit. Now, this is the bamboo shirt. What's the label on that again in there? Look in there, please.

"Cabo" Jim 7:06

Is that Tommy Bama?

Alex King 7:07

No, it's uh can you see it?

"Cabo" Jim 7:09

Uh bamboo bay. Yeah, bamboo cave.

Alex King 7:11

Bamboo cave, yeah. Sorry, I didn't mean you look at my back right now. But anyway, so I've got the full collection. Now, this one I really like because um you got the fish coming out of the pocket.

Speaker 3 7:23

Oh, all right. All right, right there, and you know, you got the tail coming down there, and then oh, you got the fish and pulling wow, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Alex King 7:32

Very subtle, but very yeah, this is more my classy luxury one. I gotta go shoot some media today. Yep. Uh, but I I do have all of them, they're so comfortable. So if you're really looking for some real nice clothes, head on down to Anita's place. Uh the islanders. The island, right? Yep, yep.

Speaker 3 7:54

Yep, absolutely.

Personal Use Versus Rental Income

"Cabo" Jim 7:56

So, do you find that most people, when they do buy down here, they're saving that house for themselves, or are they using that as a rental the other times of the year when they're not here? But good question.

Younger Buyers And Island Value

Alex King 8:06

Um, I would say in the past, more folks were you know needing uh desiring rental income. Um, now we're seeing uh a lot more blended use, uh, whereby folks were buying, they weren't even planning on renting it. Right, right. So they can find out how high performance rental is in certain sections island. You know, let's say if you um you know you got a house and you can get 60,000 a year in rental um for the months you're not using it. Well, hey, that pays all your operating costs. Now, uh you typically find the Mrs. saying, I don't want anyone sleeping in my bed. We understand that. That's why we have another's closet, all your linens and pillows and stuff over there, like everyone. Yeah. Um, now on some properties, uh, you know, when you tell them, well, you could gross income, 200,000 on this. I don't care about people sleeping in my bed. It doesn't matter all of a sudden. I'll buy a new bed. Yeah, and and so a lot of folks, uh what's happening, we're seeing a lot younger folks coming in, uh, just like we we saw all the folks have been here 25, 30 years migrate out, big migration in, um, uh younger in the upper 30s, 40s, low, uh, upper 40s. And you we're seeing a lot more folks in the 40s with uh young kids, okay, you know, married later, uh, career people, and they're they're coming in, so they're not really um able to use it that much. They're five, six, seven years from retiring. But they cannot believe they're getting these screaming deals on an island, the last island in the US, maybe that you uh can stay warm during the winter and get a coastal property by a lot for 400, 500,000 or a gulf front lot for 2.5, 3 million, 3.5 million. Are you kidding me? It's not gonna last very long.

"Cabo" Jim 10:12

Exactly. Inventory is gonna go, and people are gonna understand the secret, right? And they're gonna say, yeah, it's gonna be gone before you know it.

Alex King 10:19

Yeah, the secret sauce, yeah. But what we're really seeing, what we haven't had, the lots have been you know steady and slow. And there's no reason to buy a lot if there's already something moving ready to buy. Yeah, and then we do have a lot of move-in-ready houses, uh, but we're seeing a lot of those go.

Spec Homes And New Supply

"Cabo" Jim 10:41

We've sold tons of them because they're building them as quickly as they build them, they're selling correctly.

Alex King 10:47

Essentially, yes. Well, actually, uh, we what we have now is for the first time, we have a lot of spec home builders coming in. Okay, we really needed new uh 2022 and newer inventory because we sold out most everything since 2000 of people wanting to sell. Yeah, and so uh over the past two weeks, I've seen folks from South Carolina come in. Uh their builders up there, we got them up in the Midwest, and um turn this off. And so we we haven't had those uh very much recently, yeah. Um, but it's coming because they've been looking at it for a year or two. Um the Miami folks coming in. So now we got spec homes in the 7 million range, we got spec homes in the 3 million range. Um, I think most of the spec homes you're gonna see. Uh, we got one coming up uh from another Miami developer in the 2.5 range on the dry lot on the Anchorage. Uh, we got a gorgeous uh guitars and tiki bars uh is the name of it. Uh builders out of Dustin uh putting up a gorgeous home on Chapel on the water uh for four and a quarter million. Um so we got all different price points. Um we just put another spec home up on the market, 553 Estero for 2.5. Already got two offers on it, only been to market a week. Wow. So there's demand out there.

Neighborhood Personality And Needing A Guide

"Cabo" Jim 12:18

Yeah, yeah. And that's the nice thing about I guess Fort Myers Beach is that it does have the variety here. It's not like you're buying in a community and everybody else is the same size or same spec. It's you can kind of build to your needs, right? Truly. I mean, it is so esoteric.

Event Season And What’s Happening

Alex King 12:34

Um, God, I haven't used that word in a long time. Okay, but it's not propos. There's another one. Um, but you know, every few streets has its own personality and character from the the old Spanish oaks over there off Falkirk and Dundee and Lazy, and maybe even uh, and then you got the um the quirky neighborhoods of Anchorage, and then you got St. Peter's that you go down, you got a little roundabout, the entrance down there, and all the homes are elevated. And you know, Fairview Isles is like a true neighborhood community. They bring their chairs out to St. Patrick's Day Parade. Yeah, um, so it's so different each section of the island, and that's why you really need a guide. You need a guide to drive you around, help you get educated. You know, my favorite term get a master's degree on Fort Mary's Beach. We have the whole class set up for you. Um, you know, but that's that's so important when you're looking at a new island stuff. Yeah, very good. So, any other words for our listeners today? Yes. Um, we're right in the midst of uh right in the middle of event season. It's really exciting. We got the St. Patrick's Day Parade, get your green on. Yep, get your green on, starting at Santini Plaza. Uh we got casino night coming up in April. Uh, Mounthouse has something coming on. All the nonprofits and charities have all sorts of events. There's something going on all the time on Fort Myers Beach. So come on out, enjoy the beautiful weather. It's warming up. It's definitely warming up. It's beach time. Yep. Yeah. So get out there and enjoy the golf, right? Absolutely.

"Cabo" Jim 14:24

Remember, you know, the fish, the golf, and the beach. Okay. There you go. All right. And the knowledge and education from Alex King. Thank you once again.

Alex King 14:32

There you go. Getting a master's degree on Fort Myers Beach. Thank you very much. Bye. Thank you.

Intro/Close 14:39

Thank you for tuning in to the Fort Myers Beach Good Neighbor podcast and the Alex King Group series. Join us again next week as we continue exploring all things Fort Myers Beach real estate and the unique lifestyle that makes this community dine. Where dreams are created and lifestyles are elevated. To learn more, go to AlexKing Group.com. That's AlexKing Group.com or 239.6465. Next time for the members of the paper.