Community offers incentives to condo buyers

Free mortgage payments for 12 months, free upgrades or a buy back option are just a few of the incentives Palmetto Cove is offering buyers in south Fort Myers.

The gated community of condominium homes located near McGregor Boulevard and Cypress Lake has put together a series of options to entice anyone willing to buy during a crunched housing market.

“Every buyer has a hot button issue that is important to them and I want to give everyone options,” said Mike Lippel, the sales manager for the homes that feature two floor plans. “We all have to have some kind of catch and in many cases, something that is important to us is different for them.”

Palmetto Cove is offering buyers different home packages that can be customized to fit their needs.

“I want people to come in and see us because it’s a condominium on the outside and customized on the inside,” said Lippel about the community that is managed McCann Development out of New York. “We are a privately owned company so we can do more than bigger builders out there.”

Marty Berger said customizing homes and offers is the only way builders can move inventory in a time when buyers are hesitant.

“We’re not waiting for the market to correct itself, we’re doing something helpful now,” said Berger, a McCann managing member. “It’s all about worry free living.”

Taking the worry away is why the company wants to pay buyers mortgages for 12 months or pay closing cost and a couple years of their $199 a month condominium fee.

“I’ve been doing this for seven years and if you are in the market to buy a home this is when to do it,” Lippel said about Southwest Florida’s housing market. “Everybody asks if it will get lower, I don’t know how much further down it can go for these builders to stay in business.”

That’s why Palmetto Cove felt it was time to rebuild buyers’ confidence in the market.

“People are still hesitant. But something like this offer says ‘why don’t you get involved, it might take away some of the stress of taking on a new home loan,’ ”Lippel said.

The homes are also priced lower.

“Our homes are now priced from the $160s, which is significant, and we’re offering golf and country club memberships,” Berger said.

For more information, call 337-2683.