Cape Coral Assessments

What about these assessments in Cape Coral? 

Ah, Cape Coral assessments. Love them or hate them they are here to stay. Just for some back story, when Cape Coral was originally developed all of the homes were on well & septic. Well-meaning that a deep hole is dug under your yard to bring water up to your well pump and into your house. Septic is a big tank, usually in your front yard, to filter out well, your sewage/waste. Eventually, it was decided that a central water & sewer system was necessary so the city began incorporating city water & sewer in the most developed parts of town.

Now, mid 2025, we have all of the southern part of the city on city water & sewer and we have completed a couple of the northern sections and started the next few sections in the NW & NE sections. (There are a few areas in NE/NW that already have water & sewer  because of betterment - like running lines for hospitals/schools, etc).

So now we have a lot of homes that already have the water & sewer in but the assessments may not be paid off. This is because homeowners could choose to either pay off the assessments in full OR have them added to their tax bill paying them off over time. The latter was often chosen by homeowners. 

If you see a listing that says assessments are paid in full that should most likely mean that the house has already gone through the process of being hooked up to city water & sewer and that the assessments have already been paid.

When you see notes stating that the buyer is to assume the balance it means just that. Most likely the house was already hooked up to city water & sewer however the homeowner hasn’t paid off all of the assessment fees yet. So we can look up the amount still outstanding. Now, you can always make an offer asking for the seller to pay off the balance at closing but depending upon the market we are in they can always say no thank you. 

If you see a note about future water & sewer assessments being the responsibility of the new buyer this typically means that the water & sewer expansion is not yet in the area and when it does come through you will have to handle it on your end. We see balances ranging in all different amounts.

We also have irrigation which is reclaimed water. There is a base price for unlimited use. This water can be used with your sprinkler system or you can hand water with a hose as well. This water is NOT safe to be used in your house or for filling your pool.

You can check payoffs on the city’s website but for the most up to date information you should request an actual payoff from the city:

http://capecoral.net/department/information_technology_services/disclaimer.php

So what do water & sewer assessments cost? Good question. We see them range around $30-40,000 on most homes. Pricing goes by linear feet so those with oversized or corner lots will be assessed at higher amounts. There is also a charge by a local plumber to actually hook your house up. That can range but we’ve found most are in the couple of thousands.

What about vacant land? Will that be affected by these assessments? YES. Vacant land is assessed at the same terms as single-family homes. The only difference is that you can wait to actually hook up until you actually build a structure on the property.

If you have a preference of having city water & sewer in or in & all fees already paid we can help you narrow this search criteria. Some homebuyers also opt to search for homes that are still on well & septic. Just remember, eventually, all of the city of Cape Coral will make the switch.