CAPE CORAL, FLA.- Some local realtors are calling a new type of home, popping up in Cape Coral, a death sentence for the city.
They're called modular homes. They're pre-built and generally pretty affordable, but critics say they hurt property value and the housing market.
According to the city's building officials, modular homes will not affect surrounding property value. They can be built anywhere, on any lot zoned for a residence and a state statute limits restrictions that can be placed on them.
A Cape Coral realtor, Jay LaGace, told Fox 4 it's time to change that. He's been requesting the city put a stop to them.
The latest modular home is a realtor's nightmare, according to LaGace. "It's on Embers and Old Burnt Store. This is supposed to be the gateway to the city's touted Seven Islands and the gazillions of dollars and the tourists and so on and so forth."
That project is still in planning stages, but in jeopardy. Jay explained, in his opinion, values here already dropped. "The guy next door, I know what his house was worth last week, I know that if he put his house on the market today, that we would have to deeply discount his house in order to sell it."
