Punta Gorda, Florida
Buying in the Bird Section of Punta Gorda Isles? We check the section, canal district, seawall sheet, harbor route and flood elevation before you write. Call Marc at (239) 287-5873.
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McGreevy and Comisar lead Domain Realty Group, the #1 real estate team in Southwest Florida since 2012 and the #5 real estate team in Florida (RealTrends 2026). Top 1% Real Estate Agents Nationally Since 2008. Over $900 million in personal sales, and $2.5 Billion sold as Domain Realty Group.
Marc Comisar and Jesse McGreevy represent buyers first on this page, and it is written for the person who wants the county record in hand before walking a single canal in the south end of the Isles. The Bird Section is a single-family canal neighborhood inside Punta Gorda Isles in Punta Gorda, Florida, and the story of the place lives in our Bird Section neighborhood guide. This is the purchase file: 153 recorded home sales, a $142,500 gap between its two plat sections, the Buckley’s Pass route to Charlotte Harbor, the city’s street-by-street seawall sheet and the yearly bill that follows the deed. By Jesse McGreevy and Marc Comisar. Call Marc at (239) 287-5873 or Jesse direct at (239) 898-6072.
We pulled every qualified Charlotte County sale in the Bird Section through September 9, 2026, the newest deed in the county file downloaded October 28, 2026, and every figure below is read from that file, from the October 2026 parcel roll or from the city and county documents named beside it.
Updated October 2026.
A Bird Section buyer should know six things before an offer: the county recorded 153 house sales at a $745,000 median, the two plat sections price $142,500 apart, the city sets a $1,500 canal assessment for lots inside its district, seawall crews are working on named streets, flood Zone AE applies at every tested address, and the route to the harbor is Buckley’s Pass.
Data updated: October 2026 (Charlotte County Property Appraiser recorded, qualified sales, 12 months to September 9, 2026, the newest sale in the county file downloaded October 28, 2026; October 2026 parcel roll; City of Punta Gorda records, retrieved 28 Oct 2026).
These are single-family homes in Punta Gorda Isles Sections 12 and 14; the condominiums on Bird Section streets, including Venetian Isles, and the villa parcels are counted separately and are not in these figures. The one-line version of each point is below, and each has its own section further down.
Anyone telling you the Bird Section is a brand-new part of the Isles is working from the wrong column. The median home on the roll was built in 1998 in both sections, 189 of its homes date to the 1970s, and 913 date to 2000 or later.
The sections below follow the order a Bird Section purchase actually runs: who we are, what the market has done, which section and street fit, the harbor route, the yearly bill, the canal district and the seawall, the flood and insurance file, the closing table, and then how we find and negotiate the home.
McGreevy and Comisar are the Bird Section buyer’s agents who read the city’s street-level seawall sheet, the canal district boundary, the flood elevation and the route to Charlotte Harbor before you write an offer. Jesse McGreevy and Marc Comisar are Top 1% Real Estate Agents Nationally Since 2008 and lead the #1 Team in Southwest Florida since 2012.
Data updated: October 2026 (Charlotte County Property Appraiser recorded sales and parcel roll, retrieved 28 Oct 2026).
On paper the Bird Section is one neighborhood. In practice it is a stack of small decisions, and each one can move a purchase by tens of thousands of dollars. Which plat section the lot sits in. Whether the block is inside the city’s canal district. Whether the seawall behind the lanai is a completed job, a job under construction or a letter in the mail. Whether the boat leaves through Buckley’s Pass or travels north through the older canals. Whether the finished floor clears the 9-foot base flood elevation by enough to matter to an underwriter. Our work is to answer those questions for the specific address while your inspection period is still open, and to put the answers into the offer.
If you are interviewing agents, our side-by-side look at the best real estate agents in Punta Gorda lays out the yardsticks we think a buyer should use: verified production, years in the market, reviews you can read yourself and whether the agent who tours with you also negotiates for you. For a canal home add three Bird Section tests. Ask which seawall work zone the street is in. Ask which blocks the canal district leaves out. Ask whether the agent prices from the 153 recorded sales or from a search on the Punta Gorda Isles label, which finds only part of them.
None of that is a negotiating strategy by itself. What it buys you is pattern recognition: more than 4,000 transactions teach an agent what a fair price looks like before the comparables are pulled, and what the title company, the insurance underwriter and the city permit clerk will ask next.
Jesse and Marc handle their own buyers, and Marc leads buyer representation and negotiation for the team. The person who walks the seawall cap with you is the person who writes the offer. Marc’s direct line is (239) 287-5873 and Jesse’s is (239) 898-6072. Our office is at 24031 S Tamiami Trl #101, Bonita Springs, FL 34134, and we meet Bird Section buyers at the property. We are a top-reviewed buyer team on Google, and the reviews section of this page quotes buyers word for word.
Jesse McGreevy (Sales Associate, Florida license SL3101296) and Marc Comisar (Broker Associate, Florida license BK3060671) are licensed Florida REALTORS® with Domain Realty. Licensure is regulated by the Florida Real Estate Commission under Chapter 475 of the Florida Statutes, and both licenses can be checked on the state’s licensee lookup. Brokered by Domain Realty.
Four questions shape everything after them. How much monthly carrying cost is comfortable, counting tax, the canal line, insurance and the loan? What boat do you own or plan to own, and what is its draft? Is this a primary home that will carry a homestead, a second home or a rental? And are you selling a Florida home whose assessment benefit might travel with you? The answers decide whether Section 12 or Section 14 is the better first look, whether the 1970s and 1980s canal homes are a bargain or a project, and whether a lot and a build deserves a spreadsheet.
The Bird Section market in 2026 is busier and a little cheaper than a year ago. The county recorded 153 single-family sales in the latest 12 months at a $745,000 median, against 100 at $777,500 the year before: volume up 53 percent, the median down 4.2 percent, and the last ten weeks firmer at $805,000.
Data updated: October 2026 (Charlotte County Property Appraiser recorded, qualified sales, 12 months to September 9, 2026, the newest sale in the county file downloaded October 28, 2026).
For this page we tracked all 153 qualified sales one by one, by plat section, block, street, year built and heated area, and we tracked the 100 sales of the year before on the same method so the two windows compare fairly.
| Window ending September 9, 2026 | Recorded sales | Median | Middle half | Median per heated sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 months | 153 | $745,000 | $591,500 to $972,000 | $324.99 |
| Prior 12 months | 100 | $777,500 | $640,750 to $1,091,575 | $342.47 |
| 24 months | 253 | $755,000 | $603,000 to $1,027,650 | $331.82 |
| 36 months | 363 | $790,000 | $640,000 to $1,110,000 | $353.93 |
| 60 months | 582 | $823,000 | $665,000 to $1,100,875 | $368.11 |
Source: Charlotte County Property Appraiser sales and roll files, our analysis. The 12-month window runs from September 10, 2025 to September 9, 2026.
Read the table from the bottom up. A buyer who looks at the five-year median of $823,000 sees a neighborhood that has softened by 9.5 percent to the latest year ($745,000 against $823,000). A buyer who looks only at the last twelve months sees a market with 153 comparables, 53 more than the year before. Both views are right, and neither is a forecast. We price an offer from the recent record and treat the 2022 to 2024 plateau as history.
| Calendar year | Recorded sales | Median |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 187 | $559,000 |
| 2021 | 136 | $685,000 |
| 2022 | 109 | $935,000 |
| 2023 | 99 | $899,000 |
| 2024 | 93 | $900,000 |
| 2025 | 117 | $739,000 |
| 2026 through September 9 | 120 | $750,000 |
Source: Charlotte County Property Appraiser sales file, our analysis. Years are recording years for qualified single-family sales.
Three readings matter to a buyer. The 2022 median of $935,000 sat 67.3 percent above the 2020 median of $559,000, which is the climb that sellers still remember. The latest 12-month median of $745,000 is 20.3 percent below that 2022 peak, and the 2025 median of $739,000 was 21.0 percent below it. And 2026 already holds 120 recorded sales through September 9, more than any full year from 2022 through 2025. Prices have reset and buyers have come back.
| Period | Recorded sales | Median |
|---|---|---|
| September 10 to December 31, 2025 | 33 | $720,000 |
| January to March 2026 | 45 | $725,000 |
| April to June 2026 | 44 | $745,000 |
| July 1 to September 9, 2026 | 31 | $805,000 |
Source: Charlotte County Property Appraiser sales file, our analysis.
The sequence climbs in every period: $720,000, $725,000, $745,000, $805,000. The last stretch is only 31 sales over ten weeks, so it is a short sample, and we do not promise that it continues. What it does tell a buyer is that a Bird Section home priced from the early-winter numbers will probably be priced too low to win, and one priced from the 2022 numbers will sit.
| Price band | Recorded sales | Share of 153 |
|---|---|---|
| Under $400,000 | 5 | 3.3% |
| $400,000 to $599,999 | 35 | 22.9% |
| $600,000 to $799,999 | 51 | 33.3% |
| $800,000 to $999,999 | 26 | 17.0% |
| $1,000,000 to $1,499,999 | 30 | 19.6% |
| $1,500,000 and up | 6 | 3.9% |
| Total | 153 | 100% |
Source: Charlotte County Property Appraiser sales file, our analysis; shares are our arithmetic and may not sum exactly because of rounding.
The working range for a Bird Section house is $400,000 to $999,999, where 112 of the 153 sales landed (35 plus 51 plus 26), 73.2 percent. Thirty-six sales, 23.5 percent, closed at $1,000,000 or more, which is where the rebuilt homes and the widest water sit. Only 5 closed under $400,000, and one of those was an older dry-lot house that recorded at $186,000, which is why the low end of the 12-month range looks so far from the median.
Punta Gorda Isles-wide, the county recorded 337 single-family sales in the same 12 months at a $700,000 median and $320.54 per heated square foot. The Bird Section’s 153 sales are 45 percent of that count, and its $745,000 median is $45,000 above the Isles-wide figure. For the full-Isles view, including the older northern sections, our guide to buying in Punta Gorda Isles covers the whole canal grid.
The Southwest Florida MLS carries two numbers the county file cannot, days on market and the sale-to-list ratio, and its search has no field for a Bird Section address. Punta Gorda Isles-wide, the MLS labeled 66 closings in ZIP 33950 in the 12 months to October 29, 2026 at a $632,500 median, 86.5 days on market and 95.9 percent of list price. That $632,500 mixes condominiums with houses and misses most of the recorded house sales, so we use it only as a Punta Gorda Isles-wide gauge of pace. Matched by address to the single-family parcels of Sections 12 and 14 on the county roll, the export of October 29, 2026 holds 21 Bird Section closings in the 12 months to that date, at a $735,000 median, a 90-day median on market and a 95.7 percent median sale-to-list ratio; on October 29 it showed 10 active Bird Section homes at an $857,150 median list price and 3 under contract, about 5.7 months of supply on that feed.
Shop from the 12-month and 6-month data. Expect to pay close to the median for a 2,100 to 2,400 square foot home on a good canal, less for a 1970s or early 1980s house that needs its roof, openings and dock looked at, and a great deal more for a 2020s rebuild. And treat any home listed far above the section median with a pool, a long dock and no seawall work queued as a test of the seller’s patience, not as the market. If you want to see the numbers behind a specific street, book a Bird Section buyer consultation or call Marc at (239) 287-5873.
Section 12 fits a buyer who wants larger, newer-on-average homes near St. Andrews South: 77 sales at an $800,000 median. Section 14 fits a buyer who wants the bird-named canals, more 1970s and 1980s choices and a lower entry price: 76 sales at $657,500. The $142,500 gap between them is the first decision in the search.
Data updated: October 2026 (Charlotte County Property Appraiser recorded, qualified sales, 12 months to September 9, 2026, and October 2026 parcel roll, retrieved 28 Oct 2026).
The Bird Section is Punta Gorda Isles plat Sections 12 and 14, and the county describes every lot by one of the two. Every bird-named single-family street is in Section 14. Section 12’s streets carry island, Florida key and personal names, such as Aruba Court, Casey Key Drive, La Costa Island Court, Deborah Drive and Ryan Boulevard. The roll counts 982 single-family homes in Section 12 and 1,124 in Section 14, on 2,377 parcels in all (1,121 in Section 12 and 1,256 in Section 14), on the October 2026 roll.
| Measure, 12 months to September 9, 2026 | Section 12 | Section 14 |
|---|---|---|
| Recorded single-family sales | 77 | 76 |
| Median sale | $800,000 | $657,500 |
| Median per heated sq ft | $337.81 | $316.47 |
| Sales at $1,000,000 or more | 20 | 16 |
| Sales under $600,000 | 11 | 29 |
| Median heated area, sales | 2,425 sq ft | 2,106.5 sq ft |
| Median heated area, whole roll | 2,440 sq ft | 2,184 sq ft |
| Single-family homes on the roll | 982 | 1,124 |
| Homes built in the 1970s | 0 | 189 |
Source: Charlotte County Property Appraiser sales file and October 2026 roll, our analysis. The sales-list medians for heated area are computed from the 153-sale list.
A buyer with a $600,000 ceiling will see 29 of Section 14’s 76 sales fit under it against 11 of Section 12’s 77, so the arithmetic of the search favors Section 14 on price alone. A buyer who wants a 3,000 square foot home on a wide canal will find the supply thicker in Section 12, where 13 of 77 sales (the 3,000-plus band) were that large, against 5 of 76 in Section 14.
| Calendar year | Section 12 median | Section 14 median | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $581,250 | $519,000 | $62,250 |
| 2021 | $696,000 | $675,000 | $21,000 |
| 2022 | $965,500 | $930,000 | $35,500 |
| 2023 | $1,010,000 | $858,750 | $151,250 |
| 2024 | $950,000 | $845,000 | $105,000 |
| 2025 | $785,000 | $675,000 | $110,000 |
| 2026 through September 9 | $777,500 | $697,500 | $80,000 |
Source: Charlotte County Property Appraiser sales file, our analysis; the gap column is our subtraction.
In 2021 and 2022 a buyer could cross the section line and pay almost the same. Since 2023 the line has cost between $80,000 and $151,250 at the median. Part of that is who is selling what: Section 14 holds all 189 of the Bird Section’s 1970s homes, and 16 of the 153 recent sales were of houses built before 1980, every one of them in Section 14, at a $450,000 median.
Section 14 is two markets. Its 46 sales on bird-named streets, the Albatross, Kittiwake, Pine Siskin, Whip-Poor-Will and Royal Tern part of the plat, had a median of $747,000, almost exactly the Bird Section’s overall median. Its other 30 sales, on streets such as Genoa Court, Guadalupe Drive, San Marino Court, Almar Drive, Juno Drive, Winward Court and Don Juan Court, had a median of $537,450. The bird-named blocks are where a Section 14 buyer finds the $1,000,000 homes. The remainder is where the 1970s ranches live.
| Street | Section | Recorded sales | Median |
|---|---|---|---|
| La Costa Island Court | 12 | 8 | $857,500 |
| Deborah Drive | 12 | 7 | $770,000 |
| Ryan Boulevard | 12 | 7 | $710,000 |
| Whip-Poor-Will Boulevard | 14 | 7 | $790,000 |
| Casey Key Drive | 12 | 6 | $1,087,500 |
| Bal Harbor Boulevard | 12 and 14 | 4 | $920,500 |
| Nighthawk Court | 14 | 4 | $691,500 |
| Pine Siskin Drive | 14 | 4 | $792,500 |
| Suzi Street | 12 | 4 | $632,500 |
| Kittiwake Drive | 14 | 3 | $1,250,000 |
| Royal Tern Drive | 14 | 3 | $1,340,000 |
| Los Alamos Drive | 12 | 3 | $1,150,000 |
| Guadalupe Drive | 14 | 3 | $400,000 |
Source: Charlotte County Property Appraiser sales file, our analysis; streets with three or more sales shown, and 70 streets recorded at least one sale. Street medians on three or four sales are a guide to a street, not a price for it.
Section 12 holds St. Andrews South Golf Club, a private club of 18 holes on one compact property, and the golf-side blocks run along Deborah Drive, Atares Drive and the streets around the course. The villas along Atares Drive are a different product from the houses and are not in these figures. A few Section 12 and Section 14 blocks do not touch a canal at all, and those blocks matter for the next two sections because they sit outside the canal district.
We start boaters who want the shortest run to open water in Section 14 near Buckley’s Pass, buyers who want size and a quieter golf-side setting in Section 12, and buyers trying to stay under $600,000 in the Section 14 blocks away from the bird-named streets, with the seawall sheet open beside the listing. We start nobody anywhere until we know the boat, the budget and the timeline. If you want a shortlist built on those three answers, book a Bird Section buyer consultation.
Buckley’s Pass is a dredged channel about 1,446 feet long and 60 feet wide that the City of Punta Gorda opened on April 3, 2020, linking the Bird Section canals to Alligator Creek, which reaches Charlotte Harbor about one mile down the creek. It is not a lock, it has no current capital charge, and deep-draft boats should check the creek.
Data updated: October 2026 (City of Punta Gorda Code Chapter 6; Charlotte County Alligator Creek Waterway Unit budget, version 9/12/2025, and maintenance dredge page, Update September 15, 2026; Kelly Brothers project record; retrieved 28 Oct 2026).
A boat leaving a Section 14 canal that connects to the pass runs to Buckley’s Pass at the south edge of the Bird Section, enters Alligator Creek, which is a county waterway rather than a city canal, and follows the creek about one mile to Charlotte Harbor. The alternative is the older route north through the Punta Gorda Isles canal system to the Ponce de Leon Inlet. Which route a given dock uses depends on its canal’s connections, and the “most, not all” caution that applies across the Isles applies here: no government source publishes a canal-by-canal list of fixed bridges. Tracing the water from the specific dock is part of every Bird Section tour we run.
The pass was built by Kelly Brothers for the City of Punta Gorda, completed in April 2020 and is a Slow Speed Minimum Wake zone under Chapter 6, Section 1-8(a)(1)b of the city code. The city warned at the opening that boaters with deep-draft vessels should use caution in Alligator Creek, which is county-maintained. We print no bridge clearance and no water depth for any dock, because no government table publishes either. Check NOAA chart 11426 and have a depth survey done at mean low water before you rely on the southern route for a particular boat.
| Item | Amount | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Capital assessment, 2019 | $983 per water access unit, paid up front | Or $399.53 a year over three years, as the Charlotte Sun reported in 2019 |
| Refund, 2020 | $27.50 per unit | Leftover project funds |
| Current Buckley’s Pass charge | None | The pass is paid off; the city’s fiscal 2027 hearing lists no Buckley’s Pass assessment, only the two canal districts and lot mowing |
Source: Charlotte Sun reporting, 2019 and 2020; City of Punta Gorda September 9, 2026 budget hearing packet.
A buyer should not be asked to pay a Buckley’s Pass credit or charge at closing. If a seller or a listing says otherwise, ask for the document.
Alligator Creek is maintained by Charlotte County through the Alligator Creek Waterway municipal service benefit unit. The county’s budget document shows $78 per equivalent residential unit for county fiscal 2026 and 2027, up from $25 in the preceding rate, with a maximum of $100. The unit reports 4,787.1 units, so $78 a unit works out to about $373,393.80 a year (4,787.1 x $78), and it carries $1,723,000 of debt for the fiscal 2026 entrance-channel dredge, with $345,000 of principal due in fiscal 2027. Whether a particular Bird Section parcel is inside the unit and carries the $78 line is read off its Charlotte County tax bill; we ask the seller’s closing agent for it every time.
The county’s maintenance dredge page for the creek states that on September 15, 2026 the Army Corps of Engineers approved the permit re-certification and that the county is awaiting the permit for Pirate Harbor so that the two projects can be combined. The April 2025 survey it cites found 9,467 cubic yards to remove from the main channel. For a buyer the sentence to remember is this one: the creek that your boat uses is dredged on the county’s schedule, not the city’s, and a deep-draft boat is the first to feel a shoal.
No public source tags sales by boat route, so the county record cannot isolate a Buckley’s Pass premium, and we will not invent one. What the pass does is shorten the run from the south end of the Isles to the harbor and give the whole southern grid a second route to the harbor. We treat it as a real but unquantified advantage for the right boat, and we tell a sailboat buyer to confirm the route and the fixed-bridge question before anything else. For the Isles-wide version, see our guide to buying in Punta Gorda Isles.
A Bird Section buyer who already knows that Section 12 recorded 77 sales at $800,000 and Section 14 recorded 76 at $657,500 is asking better questions than most. The next step is a short working session: book your Bird Section buyer consultation, see how we represent buyers across Southwest Florida, or call Marc at (239) 287-5873. If you own a home you will sell to fund the move, start with a Bird Section home valuation, or call Jesse direct at (239) 898-6072. The wider Isles story is in buying in Punta Gorda Isles.
A Bird Section owner pays 2026 city-parcel property tax at 16.8148 mills, a $1,500 canal assessment if the lot is inside the district, a $78 Alligator Creek line if the parcel is in that unit, city utilities and insurance. There is no master HOA fee, the civic association is voluntary at $80 a year, and Section 14 publishes no dues.
Data updated: October 2026 (Charlotte County Property Appraiser 2026 Final Rate Chart dated 10/2/2026; City of Punta Gorda September 9, 2026 budget hearing packet; Charlotte County Alligator Creek Waterway budget; PGICA; retrieved 28 Oct 2026).
| Line | Amount | Who bills it | Applies to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property tax, 2026 millage | 16.8148 mills | Charlotte County Tax Collector | Every parcel, on taxable value |
| PGI canal maintenance assessment, fiscal 2027 | $1,500 per single-family lot | City of Punta Gorda, on the tax bill | Lots inside the canal district |
| Alligator Creek Waterway unit | $78 per equivalent residential unit | Charlotte County, on the tax bill | Parcels in the unit; check the bill |
| Lot mowing assessment | $285 per 10,000 sq ft unit | City of Punta Gorda | Vacant lots |
| City water and wastewater | About $104.54 a month for 5,000 gallons, effective October 1, 2026 | City of Punta Gorda | Every connected home |
| Sanitation | $31.70 a month proposed for fiscal 2027 | City of Punta Gorda | Every home |
| Punta Gorda Isles Civic Association | $80 a year plus $25 once | PGICA | Voluntary |
| Section 14 property owner’s association | Not published | Association | Ask for documents |
| Homeowners, wind and flood insurance | Priced per house | Your insurer | Every home |
Sources: 2026 Final Millage Rate Chart; September 9, 2026 budget hearing packet; Alligator Creek Waterway budget; City of Punta Gorda special assessments; PGICA.
The 2026 total for City of Punta Gorda parcels is 16.8148 mills: County 6.1275, Environmental Lands 0.2000, City 3.9928, West Coast Inland Navigation District 0.0394, Southwest Florida Water Management District 0.1831 and school levies of 3.0240 and 3.2480. Those pieces add up (6.1275 + 0.2000 + 3.9928 + 0.0394 + 0.1831 + 3.0240 + 3.2480 = 16.8148). The 2025 total was 16.6185, so the rate rose 0.1963 mills.
Suppose a buyer pays $745,000 and, for illustration only, the Property Appraiser’s first-year just value equals the price. The result of the 2026 millage is below. The homestead column uses the $25,000 exemption on all levies and the additional $26,411 on non-school levies, the Florida Department of Revenue’s inflation-indexed amount for 2026, with school millage of 6.2720 (3.0240 + 3.2480) and non-school millage of 10.5428.
| Step | Without homestead | With homestead |
|---|---|---|
| Taxable value, school levies | $745,000 | $720,000 |
| Taxable value, non-school levies | $745,000 | $693,589 |
| School tax (6.2720 mills) | $4,672.64 | $4,515.84 |
| Non-school tax (10.5428 mills) | $7,854.39 | $7,312.37 |
| Ad valorem total | $12,527.03 | $11,828.21 |
| Add the $1,500 canal assessment | $14,027.03 | $13,328.21 |
| Monthly equivalent | $1,168.92 | $1,110.68 |
Source: 2026 Final Millage Rate Chart; our arithmetic, an illustration and not a tax bill. The same method at $700,000 gives $11,770.36 without and $11,071.54 with homestead, the figures in our Isles-wide research.
The canal line adds $125 a month on top of the ad valorem tax ($1,500 divided by 12). Add the possible $78 Alligator Creek line and the first-year bill rises by another $6.50 a month.
| Fiscal year | Canal assessment per single-family lot |
|---|---|
| 2017 | $550 |
| 2018 | $550 |
| 2019 | $650 |
| 2020 | $650 |
| 2021 | $550 |
| 2022 | $650 |
| 2023 | $950 |
| 2024 | $1,100 |
| 2025 | $1,200 |
| 2026 | $1,350 |
| 2027 | $1,500, the rate set at the September 9, 2026 final budget hearing |
Source: City of Punta Gorda special assessments page and the September 9, 2026 hearing packet.
From fiscal 2022 to fiscal 2027 the line rose from $650 to $1,500, which is 130.8 percent. The city’s planning path adds $150 a year to fiscal 2031: $1,650, $1,800, $1,950 and $2,100. Those are planning figures, not rates anyone has voted, but a buyer who holds five years from fiscal 2027 should budget around $9,000 for the line ($1,500 + $1,650 + $1,800 + $1,950 + $2,100) and be pleasantly surprised if it comes in lower.
The assessment funds the city’s Canal Maintenance Division: seawall replacement in the district, dredging and mangrove trimming across about 45 miles of canals and about 91 miles of seawall, a figure the city gives for all of Punta Gorda Isles. A buyer is not paying for a private amenity. This is the cost of owning a lot whose seawall is maintained by a government rather than by the owner, and it is the reason the question in the next two sections, whether the lot is inside the district, matters so much.
The Punta Gorda Isles Civic Association is voluntary: $80 per member per year plus $25 once. It has no power to assess, fine or approve a sale. Section 14’s property owner’s association is a different animal, covered in its own section below, and its dues are not published.
We do not print an average Bird Section insurance premium, because no public source publishes one, and we do not print a condominium dues figure. Both come from quotes and budgets for the specific address. Our consultation builds the full monthly number with your lender’s rate and your insurer’s quote in it, so you can compare a $700,000 house and a $780,000 house on what they cost to carry, not what they cost to buy.
Most Bird Section lots are inside the Punta Gorda Isles canal district and pay the city’s $1,500 assessment, but the district’s legal description leaves out Section 12 Blocks 156 to 162 and Section 14 Blocks 163 to 167. About 232 Bird Section homes sit in those blocks, mostly on dry or golf-side lots, so confirm any address on its tax bill.
Data updated: October 2026 (City Code Chapter 6, Article 4, Section 4-2(a); Charlotte County Property Appraiser October 2026 roll; retrieved 28 Oct 2026).
City Code Chapter 6, Section 4-2(a) defines the district as Section 12, less Block 114, less Blocks 156 through 162 inclusive, less Tract O and less the tract platted as Golf Course, and Section 14, less Blocks 163 through 167 inclusive and less Tracts B and C. The city’s boundary map shows the same edges. For a buyer the practical reading is that a home in the excluded blocks does not sit on a district seawall and does not have the district’s $1,500 line, and that reading must be confirmed on the parcel’s tax bill before an offer relies on it.
Our October 2026 roll join found 335 parcels in the excluded blocks: 232 single-family homes, 72 vacant parcels and 31 villa and other parcels. Of the 335, 274 are not flagged waterfront. Outside the excluded blocks, 1,871 of 1,874 single-family homes carry the waterfront flag. So the district edge is nearly the same line as the water edge, and the 232 homes are 11.0 percent of the Bird Section’s 2,106 homes (232 divided by 2,106).
| Excluded-block streets (parcel counts in those blocks) | Parcels |
|---|---|
| Padre Island Drive | 67 |
| Atares Drive | 37 |
| Bal Harbor Boulevard | 35 |
| Deborah Drive | 32 |
| La Costa Island Court | 28 |
| Ryan Boulevard | 27 |
| Magdalina Drive | 25 |
| Suzi Street | 22 |
| Roma Court | 18 |
| Guadalupe Drive | 14 |
Source: Charlotte County Property Appraiser October 2026 roll joined to the plat blocks, our analysis. Each of these streets also runs through blocks that are inside the district, so the street name alone does not settle the question.
Ten of the 153 sales in the latest 12 months were in excluded blocks, at a $525,000 median. They were on Aqui Esta Drive, Padre Island Drive, La Costa Island Court, Guadalupe Drive, Suzi Street, Magdalina Drive and Deborah Drive. The other 143 sales had a $755,000 median. The $230,000 difference (755,000 less 525,000) is a mix of water frontage, size and age, not a price on the assessment, and we do not read it as one.
An excluded-block home buys the Bird Section address, St. Andrews South nearby and, under the district’s legal description, no canal line (confirm it on the bill), and gives up the dock and the boat. A district lot buys the water and pays $1,500 for the city to look after the wall. Neither is a better purchase in the abstract. A golfer who does not own a boat should look hard at the excluded blocks. A boater should not.
A home outside the district has no city seawall replacement program behind it, because the wall belongs to the district’s work. If the lot has any water behind it at all, such as a retention pond or a canal edge, ask who owns the wall and who pays to repair it. The answer is a document, not a hunch.
The City of Punta Gorda’s August 26, 2026 seawall sheet lists a Bird zone of 2,546 feet: Kinglet Drive complete, eight jobs under construction and five streets at the letter stage, plus 1,196 feet on Section 12 streets. The city replaces the wall in the district; the owner rebuilds the dock, lift, walkway and fence afterward.
Data updated: October 2026 (City of Punta Gorda, Seawall Maintenance / Replacement Status, FY 2025/2026 work programs, each sheet revised 8/26/2026; Hurricane Ian replacement schedule; retrieved 28 Oct 2026).
| Street | Priority | Estimated feet | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kinglet Drive | Severe | 174 est., 251 actual | Complete |
| Almar Drive | Medium | 124 | Under construction |
| Partridge Drive | Medium | 72 | Under construction |
| Dipper Court and Grebe Drive | Medium | 318 | Under construction |
| White Ibis Court (Venetian Isles buildings) | Medium | 245 | Under construction |
| Sandpiper Drive | Low | 110 | Under construction |
| Raven Court and Sandpiper Drive | Low | 231 | Under construction |
| Sea Breeze Court, vacant lot | Low | 42 | Under construction |
| Partridge Drive (later job) | Low | 335 | Under construction |
| Swan Court | Low | 36 | Letter sent |
| Osprey Drive | Low | 269 | Letter sent |
| Osprey Court | Low | 305 | Letter sent |
| Sea Fan Drive | Low | 100 | Letter sent |
| Kittiwake Drive | Low | 185, start week of October 26, 2026 | Letter sent |
Source: City of Punta Gorda, Seawall Maintenance / Replacement Status, “BIRD SE” work program, revised 8/26/2026. House numbers on the sheet are left out on purpose.
The estimated lengths add up to the sheet’s 2,546 feet (174 + 124 + 72 + 318 + 245 + 110 + 231 + 42 + 335 + 36 + 269 + 305 + 100 + 185). By status, 1,477 feet is under construction, 895 feet has letters sent and 174 feet is complete on the estimate.
| Street | Priority | Estimated feet | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saba Court | Medium | 180 | Under construction |
| St Kitts Court | Medium | 309 | Under construction |
| Ryan Boulevard | Medium | 90 | Under construction |
| Bermuda Court | Medium | 35 | Under construction |
| Trinidad Court | Medium | 182 | Letters |
| Casey Key Drive | Low | 400 | Scheduled week of December 14, 2026 |
Source: City of Punta Gorda, same sheet, southwest work program. The six Section 12 rows total 1,196 feet (180 + 309 + 90 + 35 + 182 + 400).
The priority column is the city’s own ranking of how soon a wall needs replacing. A Low street is one the city has not yet worked, and its wall may be sound for years or may be on borrowed time. A buyer reading the column should treat Low as an unknown rather than as a clean bill of health, and should ask the seller whether a letter has arrived. The city’s sheet is revised about monthly, so the version we print will age; the live link is in the documents section of this page.
Under City Code Chapter 6 the city maintains and replaces the seawall in the district. The owner owns and rebuilds the dock, boat lift, walkway and fence after the work, and the district restores sod only. That split is where the money is. A buyer who purchases a house on a street with a letter outstanding is buying the cost of removing and rebuilding the dock and lift, which belongs in the price, the inspection period and the offer. We have our own contractor questions for the dock and lift on every canal home we tour.
The city’s Hurricane Ian page says Punta Gorda Isles was split into five work zones and that the one active Ian site is pending on Bal Harbor Boulevard in the northeast zone, which is the north end of the Isles. No active Ian site is listed in the southwest or southeast zones. The Ian list and the routine replacement sheet are different programs, and a street can appear on one, both or neither.
The city’s annual seawall assessment for January 12 to March 31, 2026 covered the north zones of the Isles, bounded by Aqui Esta Drive, Colony Point Drive, Charlotte Harbor and Magdalina Drive. The Bird Section is south of that line, so the replacement sheet above is the status record for a Bird Section street.
Buy a 1970s or 1980s Bird Section canal home for price, a 2020s rebuild for a current envelope, or a lot only if you will manage the permits yourself. In the latest 12 months homes built before 1980 sold at a $450,000 median, 1980s homes at $667,500, 2020-and-later homes at $1,357,500, and vacant lots at $362,500.
Data updated: October 2026 (Charlotte County Property Appraiser recorded, qualified sales, 12 months to September 9, 2026, and October 2026 roll; retrieved 28 Oct 2026).
| Year built (roll) | Recorded sales | Median | Median per heated sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before 1980 | 16 | $450,000 | $275.51 |
| 1980s | 43 | $667,500 | $311.15 |
| 1990s | 36 | $737,500 | $325.90 |
| 2000s | 33 | $899,900 | $324.32 |
| 2010s | 17 | $1,075,000 | $415.42 |
| 2020 and later | 8 | $1,357,500 | $548.67 |
Source: Charlotte County Property Appraiser sales file and roll, our analysis. The 2020-and-later median sits between a $1,340,000 and a $1,375,000 sale.
A 2020-and-later home cost $907,500 more at the median than a pre-1980 one ($1,357,500 less $450,000), and $690,000 more than a 1980s one. The price per square foot tells the same story from a different angle: $548.67 against $311.15, which is a 76 percent premium for the rebuilt homes over the 1980s ($548.67 divided by $311.15 is 1.763). Most of that premium is elevation, code-level construction and a modern interior, and very little of it is land, because the land under a 1985 home and a 2023 home on the same canal is much the same.
On the October 2026 roll the Bird Section’s 2,106 homes break down by decade built as 189 in the 1970s, 462 in the 1980s, 542 in the 1990s, 458 in the 2000s, 273 in the 2010s and 182 in the 2020s. Within the 2020s, 47 date to 2023, 29 to 2024, 26 to 2025 and 10 to 2026. So 913 homes (43.4 percent) were built in 2000 or later, and 112 since 2023. The median year built is 1998 in both sections, which is why we do not describe the Bird Section as new or as old. It is a neighborhood with a long middle and two tails.
Sixteen pre-1980 sales and 43 1980s sales in a year show that the older canal home is a real market, and that it prices on land and water more than on the house. Section 14 holds every 1970s house on the roll. The things that decide whether an older house is a bargain are the same on every street: the roof’s age and the insurer’s view of it, the electrical panel, the plumbing, whether the windows and doors are impact rated, how high the floor sits above 9 feet of base flood elevation, and where the seawall sits on the city’s sheet. A buyer who budgets a roof, a dock and a window package up front can find value; a buyer who does not can find a project.
The eight rebuild sales in the latest year included homes on Royal Tern Drive, Carupano Court, Bal Harbor Boulevard, Willet Court, Kittiwake Drive, Towhee Court, Sea Horse Court and Dominica Court, five in Section 14 and three in Section 12. They have current-code framing, raised finished floors and impact openings, and they insure and finance on different terms from a 1978 original. The premium is real, and so is the inventory problem: eight sales in twelve months means few choices. If you want one, tell us early.
The roll shows 235 vacant parcels, 172 of them flagged waterfront (105 in Section 12 and 130 in Section 14). The county recorded 12 vacant-lot sales in the latest 12 months at a $362,500 median, ranging from $55,000 to $520,000. Eight were waterfront at $417,750 and four were dry at $72,500. Over 36 months the count is 30 sales at $307,500, with 20 waterfront lots at $392,500. A waterfront lot therefore sells for roughly 5.8 times a dry one in the latest year ($417,750 divided by $72,500 is 5.76).
Build cost is outside what the county record can tell us, and we do not print a per-square-foot construction number. A lot buyer should get a builder’s written estimate, the city’s permit and flood requirements, the survey, the utility availability letter and the seawall’s place on the schedule before closing. A vacant canal lot inside the district pays the same $1,500 as a built one, and a vacant lot of any kind may carry the city’s mowing assessment of $285 per 10,000 square feet.
An older canal home on a waterfront lot is worth at least what its lot would fetch, because a builder or an owner-builder can buy it as a teardown. With waterfront lots at $417,750, a 1970s house at $450,000 is priced for a modest structure value on top of the land, which is why teardown buyers compete with end users in that band. Builder-direct sales are rare here: our estimate found one first sale of a new home in the 12 months, a $1,340,000 house on Royal Tern Drive. New homes in the Bird Section are mostly built by owners on lots they already own.
| Heated area | Recorded sales | Median | Median per sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 1,800 sq ft | 18 | $450,000 | $290.75 |
| 1,800 to 2,099 | 32 | $598,000 | $310.55 |
| 2,100 to 2,399 | 42 | $782,750 | $348.23 |
| 2,400 to 2,999 | 43 | $870,000 | $334.68 |
| 3,000 and up | 18 | $1,215,000 | $341.50 |
Source: Charlotte County Property Appraiser sales file and roll, our analysis.
Above 2,100 square feet the price per square foot is nearly flat, between $334.68 and $348.23, so the price follows the square footage. Below 2,100 the per-foot figure drops to $310.55 and $290.75. The biggest single step is from the 1,800 to 2,099 band to the 2,100 to 2,399 band: $598,000 to $782,750, which is $184,750 or 30.9 percent. A buyer deciding between a 2,000 and a 2,200 square foot house should expect the difference to look like that step and not like the square-foot gap alone.
All 30 Bird Section addresses we tested, 15 in each section, returned FEMA Zone AE with a static base flood elevation of 9.0 feet, on maps effective December 15, 2022, and the county’s evacuation layer put them in Zone A. A lender will require flood insurance on a financed purchase, and the city’s 50 percent rule applies to major work.
Data updated: October 2026 (FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer; Charlotte County GIS; City of Punta Gorda Flood Readiness and 50% FEMA Rule pages; FEMA CRS eligible communities list, April 2026).
We drew 30 single-family addresses at random, 15 in Section 12 and 15 in Section 14, and queried the FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer. All 30 returned Zone AE, “coastal floodplain,” with a base flood elevation of 9.0 feet. A sample is not a determination for any parcel. The address on your contract gets its own lookup at the FEMA Flood Map Service Center, and that result, not ours, is what your lender and insurer use.
The city’s current flood maps took effect December 15, 2022, and the study behind them was drawn before Hurricane Ian made landfall in September 2022. A future restudy could change base flood elevations, so a finished floor well above 9 feet is worth more than one sitting at it. We do not forecast a map change; we simply value the margin.
The base flood elevation is the water. The elevation certificate says where the house sits against it. For new construction and substantial improvements the city requires the finished floor at the base flood elevation plus one foot, which is 10 feet on a 9-foot base. An older house may sit below that. The city publishes elevation certificates it holds in an online viewer, and we ask the seller for theirs before an offer is final. On a 1970s house, a certificate that comes back at or below 9 feet is a negotiating point, not a deal-breaker.
The City of Punta Gorda treats a home as substantially improved or damaged when the cost of work exceeds 50 percent of the market value of the structure alone, counting labor, materials, overhead and profit. When a home crosses that line it must be brought up to current flood elevation standards. Because the structure’s value is separate from the lot’s, an older house on a valuable waterfront lot can reach the threshold with a large remodel more easily than its sale price suggests. A buyer who plans to gut a 1970s house should ask the city, before the inspection period ends, how it would count the project.
The City of Punta Gorda participates in FEMA’s Community Rating System at Class 5, which FEMA’s April 2026 list shows as a 25 percent discount on flood premiums in the special flood hazard area. Under FEMA’s Risk Rating 2.0, price reflects the home’s own characteristics, including elevation and rebuild cost, so two houses on the same street can differ widely. An existing flood policy can in some cases be assigned to a buyer, and we ask.
Flood zones and evacuation zones are different maps. The county layer put every tested Bird Section address in Evacuation Zone A, the first zone ordered out. During Hurricane Ian the county ordered Zones A and B evacuated on September 27, 2022. Look up your own address in the county’s Know Your Zone tool before closing.
Insurance on a Bird Section home is priced house by house: the elevation certificate against the 9-foot base flood elevation drives the flood policy, while roof age, opening protection and a wind-mitigation report drive wind. A four-point inspection is routine on older homes, and no public source publishes an average Bird Section premium, so we do not estimate one.
Data updated: October 2026 (Citizens Property Insurance inspection and flood pages; Florida Statutes 627.711; My Safe Florida Home; FEMA CRS list, April 2026).
The mistake we see most often is sequencing. A buyer gets a contract, waits for a loan commitment and asks for an insurance quote late. If the roof is 22 years old or the floor sits below the base flood elevation, the quote can change the price or the decision, and the inspection period is the only time the buyer can still walk away at no cost. We ask for the seller’s declarations pages, the roof permit date, the wind-mitigation report and the elevation certificate before the first showing is over.
Citizens Property Insurance says it requires a four-point inspection for properties more than 20 years old, covering roof, electrical, plumbing and heating and cooling. Of the Bird Section’s 2,106 homes, 1,193 were built before 2000 (189 + 462 + 542, which is also 2,106 less the 913 built in 2000 or later), 56.6 percent of the roll. Most resales will need the inspection, and a roof past its useful life will need to be replaced or documented before many carriers write the policy.
Section 627.711 of the Florida Statutes requires insurers to offer discounts for documented wind-mitigation features such as roof shape, roof-to-wall connections and opening protection. A current wind-mitigation report is usually the cheapest premium reduction a buyer can buy. A post-2020 rebuild typically arrives with the features documented. A 1985 house may need work to earn them.
Under Florida law, Citizens ties its wind coverage to flood coverage in stages, ending on January 1, 2027 for the remaining personal-lines residential properties. A cash buyer insured with Citizens will need flood coverage by then, and a financed buyer in Zone AE needs it at closing anyway. Plan the flood premium as a fixed monthly cost, not an option.
My Safe Florida Home requires an existing homestead exemption, an insured value of $700,000 or less and a home built before 2008. A new buyer cannot use it at closing, but it can help after the homestead is in place. Any roof, window or shutter project needs a city permit, and there is no association approval step on a single-family lot unless Section 14’s association claims one.
This section is general information, not insurance advice. Confirm every figure with your insurance agent for the specific address.
The Bird Section also holds more than 20 small condominium associations on bird-named streets, including Venetian Isles on White Ibis Court, and about 32 villa and multifamily parcels, mostly the Atares Drive golf villas. Each is governed separately under Chapter 718, none is included in our house figures, and each needs its own documents before you buy.
Data updated: October 2026 (Charlotte County Property Appraiser October 2026 roll; Florida DBPR condominium records; Florida Statutes 718.116, 718.503, 718.504 and 553.899; retrieved 28 Oct 2026).
A condominium buys a unit and a share of common elements, not a lot. It carries its own legal designator in the county’s records, which is how we separate it from a plat lot, and its prices follow different rules from the house market. Blending the two would drag the median down and hide what a single-family buyer actually faces. So every county figure on this page is for single-family homes in Punta Gorda Isles Sections 12 and 14, and the condominiums on Bird Section streets, including Venetian Isles, and the villa parcels are counted separately and are not in these figures.
Venetian Isles is the largest condominium in the Bird Section and the one buyers search by name. The state records show it on White Ibis Court with 52 units, recorded in 1986. Two of its buildings appear on the city’s Bird zone seawall sheet, which is a reminder that a condominium on the water has seawall questions of its own. Its dues, reserves and special assessments are not published online, and we do not print them.
The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation publishes the current maximum estoppel fees, adjusted for inflation: not more than $299 for the certificate, $119 more for delivery within three business days on an expedited request, and up to $179 more if the unit is delinquent, with a transfer approval fee of $150 per applicant where one is charged (Florida DBPR, Estoppel Certificate Fees; F.S. 718.116). The base amounts in the statute were $250, $100 and $150 before DBPR’s adjustment; the adjusted figures are the ones that apply today.
Since the 2022 and 2023 condominium safety laws, buildings of three or more habitable stories face milestone inspections and structural integrity reserve studies under Section 553.899 and Section 718.112(2)(g), and the state keeps a database of the reserve studies it receives. Most Bird Section buildings are low-rise, so the rules may or may not reach a given building. We do not state what any building’s study says. A buyer should ask whether the building is subject to the requirement, whether the study has been done, whether the reserves are funded, whether a special assessment is planned, and whether the building sits inside the city’s canal district, which is a question for the city’s boundary map and the unit’s tax bill.
Our Bird Section guide notes that Venetian Isles units reset more sharply than the surrounding houses, a pattern consistent with the wider reset in older Florida condominiums after the 2022 condominium safety laws. We do not fold those sales into the house medians for the reason above, and we do not compare a unit’s price per square foot with a canal house’s.
The villas on Atares Drive, by the St. Andrews South course, are multifamily parcels (use codes 0800 to 0813 on the roll, 26 of them in code 0813). They are a different product from the houses, with their own associations and their own documents. If you are considering one, the same estoppel and budget questions apply.
There is no master association for the Bird Section. Punta Gorda Isles, Inc.’s deed restrictions were not renewed in 1995, and the city’s rules replaced them. Section 14 has a property owner’s association, filed with the state in 1982 and still active, whose documents, dues and membership terms are not published online. Section 12 has no section association on the state register.
Data updated: October 2026 (Florida Division of Corporations, document 762695; Punta Gorda Isles Civic Association; Florida Statutes 720.30851 and 720.401; retrieved 28 Oct 2026).
The Florida Division of Corporations lists Punta Gorda Isles, Section 14 Property Owner’s Association, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation, document 762695, filed March 31, 1982 and active, with annual reports on file for 2024, 2025 and 2026. We could not find its declaration, bylaws, budget or dues posted anywhere public, and we do not print a figure or say whether membership is required. What we do know is that a title company will ask the seller whether the lot is subject to it, and if the answer is yes an estoppel certificate follows.
For a homeowners’ association the estoppel caps are the same adjusted figures DBPR publishes for condominiums: not more than $299, $119 more for expedited delivery within three business days, and up to $179 more if the parcel is delinquent (F.S. 720.30851; Florida DBPR, Estoppel Certificate Fees). The contract decides who pays it.
Section 720.401 requires a prospective buyer of a parcel in a mandatory homeowners’ association to receive a disclosure summary before the contract, and gives the buyer a three-day right to cancel if it arrives late. Whether that statute applies to a given Section 14 lot depends on facts we cannot confirm from public records, which is why we ask the seller and the title company, in writing, early.
The Punta Gorda Isles Civic Association is voluntary, charges $80 a year per member plus a one-time $25, and cannot assess, fine or approve a sale. Joining is a social decision, not a closing requirement.
Without a master association, the approvals that matter are the city’s: permits for additions, pools, docks and lifts, and compliance with Chapter 6 and the Punta Gorda Isles overlay rules. The city repealed its 2023 land development regulations on July 2, 2025 and reverted to its prior code, which carries the Special Residential Overlay in Section 3.13. A buyer planning work should ask the city for a zoning verification letter during the inspection period. We saw GS-3.5 zoning at every Bird Section address the county layer returned.
A Bird Section buyer in Florida has the seller’s written flood disclosure under Section 689.302, the property-tax warning in the contract under Section 689.261, the duty of a seller to disclose known facts that materially affect value and are not readily observable, and condominium or association rights where those apply. The AS IS contract is not a waiver of any of them.
Data updated: October 2026 (Florida Statutes 689.302, 689.261, 720.401, 718.503, 475.278; Florida Realtors and The Florida Bar AS IS contract; read 28 Oct 2026).
Section 689.302 requires a written disclosure at or before contract covering whether the seller has filed a flood insurance claim, received federal flood disaster assistance, or knows of flood damage during ownership. It covers only the seller’s own period. On a home that changed hands after Hurricane Ian, it can be silent about the storm, which is why we also read the permit history and ask for the elevation certificate.
A seller must disclose known material defects that a buyer cannot readily see. A failing seawall or a letter from the city is one. Because the city publishes its replacement sheet, a buyer does not have to rely on the seller’s word: we read the current revision for the address and ask for the seller’s correspondence with the Canal Maintenance Division.
Section 689.261 requires the contract to warn the buyer not to rely on the seller’s current property taxes in estimating taxes after the sale. In the Bird Section that matters more than in most places, because a long-held homestead can carry a taxable value far below market and the canal line rides on the same bill.
Section 475.278 presumes licensees act as transaction brokers unless a single-agent or no-brokerage relationship is established in writing. A transaction broker owes limited confidentiality and no duty of loyalty. If you want an agent who represents only you, ask for single agency in writing. We discuss the compensation agreement in a later section.
On a condominium, Section 718.503 gives a seven-day right after the package is delivered. On a mandatory homeowners’ association parcel, Section 720.401 gives three days. A single-family Bird Section lot with no association uses neither. Which applies is determined by the property, and we confirm it before you sign.
Under the Florida Realtors and Florida Bar AS IS contract, the buyer’s inspection period is the main walk-away right. If the blank is left empty the period is 15 days. We set it deliberately: long enough for a seawall and dock inspection, a four-point, an elevation certificate, flood and wind quotes, and the city’s answers to our permit questions.
A financed Bird Section buyer pays Florida’s mortgage documentary stamp tax of $0.35 per $100, the 2-mill intangible tax on the loan and Charlotte County recording fees, plus lender, title, inspection, insurance and prorated charges. On a $745,000 purchase with 20 percent down, the two state taxes on the $596,000 loan total $3,278.
Data updated: October 2026 (Florida Statutes 201.08, 201.02 and 199.133; Charlotte County Clerk recording fees; DBPR estoppel fee schedule; read 28 Oct 2026).
| Item, $745,000 purchase, 20 percent down | Amount | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Down payment | $149,000 | 20 percent of $745,000 |
| Loan amount | $596,000 | 80 percent of $745,000 |
| Mortgage documentary stamp tax | $2,086.00 | $0.35 per $100 of $596,000 (F.S. 201.08) |
| Intangible tax on the mortgage | $1,192.00 | 2 mills on $596,000 (F.S. 199.133) |
| State taxes on the loan, total | $3,278.00 | $2,086.00 plus $1,192.00 |
| Recording, first page | $10.00 | Charlotte County Clerk |
| Recording, each added page | $8.50 | Charlotte County Clerk |
| Deed documentary stamps, usually the seller’s | $5,215.00 | $0.70 per $100 of $745,000 (F.S. 201.02) |
Source: statutory rates and Clerk fees; the arithmetic is ours and is not a closing estimate. Your lender’s Loan Estimate and the title company’s closing disclosure are the documents that bind.
Several closing lines depend on the lender, the title agent or the property, and we have no public source that fixes them: lender origination and appraisal charges, the title policy premium, inspection fees, the survey, the flood and wind premiums, and prepaid taxes and insurance. Each is in your Loan Estimate. We tell you which lines will be large for a canal home: the insurance prepaid, the elevation certificate if the seller has none, a dock and lift inspection, and the survey, which on a canal lot shows where the lot line and the seawall sit.
In Charlotte County the seller customarily pays for the owner’s title policy (Attorneys’ Title Fund Services lists Charlotte as a seller-pay county), and the AS IS contract’s paragraph 9(c) decides either way. We treat the box as a negotiable term and read it before you sign.
A single-family Bird Section purchase with no association has no estoppel. A Section 14 lot subject to its association, and every condominium, is the exception. The adjusted DBPR caps are $299, $119 expedited and $179 delinquent, with a $150 transfer fee per applicant where charged.
Florida property taxes are paid in arrears, so the seller credits the buyer for the part of the year the seller owned the home, and the canal assessment rides on the same November bill and prorates with it. On a closing late in the year, check whether the seller has already paid the bill, because then the credit runs the other way. The canal line is $1,500 for lots in the district, so a closing 73 days before the end of the year (about 20 percent of the year) prorates about $300 of it.
Closing costs are a one-time check. The monthly number is what keeps a Bird Section purchase affordable. We build it with the loan payment, tax at the post-sale value, the canal line, insurance and utilities, and we show it to you for each shortlisted address.
Bird Section property taxes reset after a sale. The seller’s Save Our Homes cap does not transfer, so your first full bill is based on the property appraiser’s value for your ownership at 2026 city-parcel millage of 16.8148, plus the non-ad valorem canal assessment. A homestead filed by March 1 then limits future increases on your own home.
Data updated: October 2026 (Charlotte County Property Appraiser 2026 Final Rate Chart and exemption page; Florida Statutes 193.155, 196.031 and 689.261; retrieved 28 Oct 2026).
On the October 2026 roll, the median Bird Section home had a prior-year just value of $608,462 (middle half $488,121 to $771,776) and an assessed value of $524,318. Fifty-four point seven percent of homes were assessed below just value, with a median gap of $150,183. Recorded sales ran at a median of 1.24 times the parcel’s prior-year just value. A buyer who sees $524,318 on a seller’s record and budgets from it will be surprised, because the assessed value is the product of a cap, and the cap resets on a sale.
Just value is the Property Appraiser’s estimate as of January 1, adjusted by statute for costs of sale. It is not a market price. A sale at $745,000 does not mean the next first-year just value will be $745,000, and we say so in every worked example. The tax estimate at the median in the fee-stack section is an illustration at that assumption.
To claim homestead you must hold title, be a Florida resident and live in the home as your permanent residence on January 1, then file by March 1, with the deed recorded first. The exemption is $25,000 on all levies plus an additional exemption on non-school levies that Section 196.031 indexes to inflation. Once granted, the Save Our Homes cap limits annual increases in assessed value.
If you are leaving another Florida homestead, you may carry part of its Save Our Homes benefit to the Bird Section home if you establish the new homestead within three years of January 1 of the year you left the old one, filing Form DR-501T by March 1. If you are selling a Bird Section home to move within the Isles, plan the sale of your current home with the portability deadline in view.
The canal assessment is a non-ad valorem charge. It is not reduced by a homestead exemption. Amendment 3, the statewide property-tax amendment, passed on November 3, 2026 with 61.99 percent yes on the Florida Division of Elections' unofficial count (60 percent was needed; Florida Election Watch, Amendments); the Property Appraiser states that it does not apply to non-ad valorem assessments, so the $1,500 line does not change under it.
The City of Punta Gorda’s operating millage for the 2026 tax year is 3.9928 mills, a part of the 16.8148 total. The county, school district and special districts make up the rest. City parcels do not pay the county’s public safety or lighting units, so a tax estimate copied from a county home is wrong in both directions.
Since August 17, 2024, a Bird Section buyer must sign a written agreement with their agent before touring a home. The agreement must state a compensation amount that is objectively ascertainable and fully negotiable, and offers of compensation no longer appear on the MLS. A seller may still agree to pay some or all of it in the contract.
Data updated: October 2026 (National Association of Realtors settlement materials; Florida Realtors forms and guidance; Florida Statutes 475.278; read 28 Oct 2026).
The National Association of Realtors’ practice changes took effect August 17, 2024. MLS participants working with a buyer must have a written agreement in place before the buyer tours a home. The agreement must state compensation that is not open-ended, must bar the agent from collecting more than the agreed amount from any source, and must carry a conspicuous statement that broker fees are not set by law and are fully negotiable. Florida Realtors adds that a range of percentages is not an acceptable way to state it.
Florida Realtors released updated forms effective January 5, 2026. The buyer brokerage agreement comes in four versions, one for each relationship a buyer can choose. The single-agent version says that compensation received from a seller or the seller’s broker reduces what the buyer owes, and it carries a 30-day protection period by default. A separate form handles compensation that a seller or seller’s broker offers a buyer’s broker.
Under Section 475.278, licensees are presumed to be transaction brokers unless the relationship is otherwise established in writing. A transaction broker owes limited duties, not loyalty. If you want a fiduciary at the table on a canal purchase where the negotiation often turns on a seawall, a route and an elevation certificate, ask for single agency. Florida Realtors states that the national settlement did not change Florida’s brokerage relationship law.
We put the agreement in front of you before the first tour, explain the choices in plain English, state a fixed compensation figure and show you where a seller contribution would offset it. Marc leads buyer representation; call him at (239) 287-5873 with questions before you sign anything, ours or anyone’s.
We find the right Bird Section home by screening every address for the costs a listing does not show before we tour it: the plat section, the canal district edge, the seawall sheet entry, the route to the harbor, the elevation and the recorded comparables on the street. Then we tour the few that pass.
Data updated: October 2026 (Charlotte County Property Appraiser recorded sales and roll; City of Punta Gorda seawall sheet revised 8/26/2026; retrieved 28 Oct 2026).
In the last 12 months we tracked sales on 70 different Bird Section streets, which is why we search by plat section and legal description and not by a single label.
We start with the monthly payment you are comfortable with and work backward to a price range, because in the Bird Section two houses at the same price can differ by hundreds of dollars a month once the canal line, the tax reset and the insurance quote are added.
A sailboat owner gives us the air draft and we trace the route before a showing. A powerboater who wants the short run to open water looks at the Section 14 canals near Buckley’s Pass. A buyer who wants size and the golf course looks at Section 12. A buyer who wants a newer envelope looks at the 2010s and 2020s homes in either section.
Some homes change hands before they reach the MLS or without the Punta Gorda Isles label. As the #1 team in Southwest Florida since 2012, we hear about some of them, and we run each through the same screen as a listed home. Because the MLS has no field for the Bird Section, we search by plat section and legal description. For active listings, browse our team’s site at DomainRealtyGroup.com and send us the addresses that interest you.
A Bird Section tour covers the seawall cap and the ground behind it, the dock and lift and whether either touches the wall, the canopy, the width of the canal, the roof, the panel, the windows and shutters, and the floor height against the street and the water. We bring the address file, so you are not guessing.
Before an offer we check the legal description, the canal district map, the seawall sheet, the FEMA zone and the Section 14 question. After the offer we manage the elevation certificate, the four-point, the wind-mitigation report, the dock inspection, the survey, the title commitment and the lender’s timeline.
We negotiate Bird Section purchases on the evidence the record gives: the 12-month median of $745,000, the section and street comparables, the seawall status and the inspection findings. A home priced above its section with a seawall letter outstanding is negotiable; a fresh, correctly priced home in the firm late-summer market may not be.
Data updated: October 2026 (Charlotte County Property Appraiser recorded sales; City of Punta Gorda seawall sheet; Florida Realtors and Florida Bar AS IS contract).
We price from sales in the same section, of the same era, size and water, not from an automated estimate. The first frame is the section median: $800,000 in Section 12 and $657,500 in Section 14. The second is the era and the size. The third is the street, with the caveat that three or four sales on a street are a guide, not a price.
The Florida AS IS contract’s inspection period is 15 days if left blank, the initial deposit is due within 3 days and any additional deposit within 10 if those blanks are empty, and the loan approval period defaults to 30 days. We set each deliberately to fit the inspections and the quotes, and we calendar every date in writing on day one.
A roof an insurer will not accept, a panel that fails a four-point, a floor below the base flood elevation, a canopy or dock that breaks Chapter 6, a wall on the city’s sheet with a letter outstanding, or a condominium special assessment are all negotiating points. They carry weight inside the inspection period and little after it. A queued seawall is a particular one, because the city pays for the wall but you pay to remove and rebuild the dock and lift, and a contractor’s estimate for that work belongs in the negotiation.
The 21 address-matched Bird Section closings on the Southwest Florida MLS export of October 29, 2026 sold at a 95.7 percent median of list price. Seller concessions and the cash versus financed share are not in that export. Information not available at time of publishing (checked 2026-11-10). We negotiate from the recorded price distribution and the property’s own file.
Your deposit is held by a title company, attorney or broker escrow, and on the AS IS form it returns to you if you terminate in time under the inspection or financing provisions. A missed date is the usual way a deposit is put at risk, which is why we put the dates in writing.
A Bird Section buyer financing in 2026 faces a conforming loan limit of $832,750 and an FHA limit of $541,287 in Charlotte County. At 20 percent down, any purchase above about $1,040,900 needs a jumbo loan, and 34 of the 153 recorded Bird Section sales were above that line.
Data updated: October 2026 (FHFA 2026 conforming limit; HUD 2026 FHA limits; Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey, October 29, 2026; Charlotte County Property Appraiser recorded sales).
At 20 percent down, a $1,040,937.50 purchase produces an $832,750 loan, which is the conforming limit divided by 0.8. Of the 153 sales, 34 closed above $1,040,937.50. Fifty-five closed above $832,750. A buyer shopping the top of the Bird Section should line up jumbo financing or a larger down payment before touring.
Charlotte County’s FHA limit of $541,287 sits at the national floor. At the Bird Section median of $745,000 an FHA loan would not cover the price at standard down payments. The FHA route is most relevant to the 40 sales under $600,000 and to some condominiums; it comes with mortgage insurance and property standards that a 1970s canal house may not meet, which we check before an offer.
Freddie Mac’s survey on October 29, 2026 put the 30-year fixed rate at 7.24 percent, the latest weekly reading. On the $596,000 loan from the closing example, principal and interest at that rate over 30 years is about $4,061.73 a month. That is our arithmetic, not a loan quote, and the rate moves weekly, so check the current survey before you rely on it. In Zone AE a financed buyer’s flood premium is part of the payment, which is why we build the full monthly number rather than compare prices.
| Monthly line, $745,000 purchase | Amount |
|---|---|
| Principal and interest, $596,000 at 7.24% | $4,061.73 |
| Property tax, non-homestead illustration ($12,527.03 divided by 12) | $1,043.92 |
| Canal assessment ($1,500 divided by 12) | $125.00 |
| Alligator Creek line, if in the unit ($78 divided by 12) | $6.50 |
| Subtotal before insurance and utilities | $5,237.15 |
Source: Freddie Mac survey of October 29, 2026; 2026 Final Millage Rate Chart; City of Punta Gorda hearing packet; our arithmetic. Insurance is excluded because no public source fixes it.
The share of Bird Section sales that were cash is not in the Southwest Florida MLS export we hold, and no public county field records it. Information not available at time of publishing (checked 2026-11-10). Do not assume the answer. Some canal buyers pay cash and some borrow, and a financed buyer’s offer carries appraisal, insurance and timing risk that a cash offer does not. We prepare a lender letter and a plan for each.
Florida’s down-payment assistance programs and first-time buyer options are covered on our statewide pages, and portability from another Florida homestead is covered in the tax section above. If you are selling a Florida home to buy here, see how we plan both sides.
Buy the Bird Section for volume, size and Buckley’s Pass: 153 sales at $745,000 against 77 at $657,400 in Burnt Store Isles in the same 12 months. Buy Burnt Store Isles for a lower canal assessment ($1,035 against $1,500) and a lower entry price on 1980s homes ($472,000 against $667,500).
Data updated: October 2026 (Charlotte County Property Appraiser recorded, qualified single-family sales, 12 months to September 9, 2026; October 2026 roll; City of Punta Gorda September 9, 2026 hearing packet and August 26, 2026 seawall sheets).
Burnt Store Isles is the only other City of Punta Gorda canal community of Punta Gorda Isles origin, and the one buyers most often compare with the Bird Section. We ran the same method and window on both.
| Measure | Bird Section | Burnt Store Isles |
|---|---|---|
| Single-family homes on the roll | 2,106 | 1,136 |
| Sales, 12 months | 153 at $745,000 | 77 at $657,400 |
| Median per heated sq ft | $324.99 | $286.50 |
| Sales, 24 months | 253 at $755,000 | 137 at $657,400 |
| Sales, 36 months | 363 at $790,000 | 195 at $715,000 |
| Sales, 60 months | 582 at $823,000 | 306 at $750,000 |
| 2022 median (peak) | $935,000 | $852,500 |
| Sales at $1,000,000 or more, 12 months | 36 | 8 |
| 1980s homes, 12 months | 43 at $667,500 | 24 at $472,000 |
| 2020-and-later homes, 12 months | 8 at $1,357,500 | 5 at $1,280,000 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 189 | none |
| Homes built 2020 or later | 182 | 105 |
| Median year built | 1998 | 1998 |
| Median heated area | 2,312 sq ft | 2,322 sq ft |
| Waterfront lot median, 12 months | 8 at $417,750 | 5 at $375,000 |
| Canal assessment, fiscal 2027 | $1,500 | $1,035 |
| Seawall work on the August 26, 2026 sheets | 2,546 feet plus 1,196 on Section 12 streets | 2,188 feet |
| Route to harbor | Buckley’s Pass, no lock, then Alligator Creek | The Burnt Store Isles lock, then Alligator Creek |
| 2026 city millage | 16.8148 | 16.8148 |
| FEMA zone tested | AE, 9 ft | AE, 9 ft |
Source: Charlotte County Property Appraiser files and rolls; City of Punta Gorda documents; our analysis. Burnt Store Isles counts include the Section 15 replat and exclude its condominium units.
The Bird Section is twice the size and twice the volume. Its 12-month median is $87,600 higher ($745,000 less $657,400) and its per-foot median is $38.49 higher ($324.99 less $286.50). The gap is widest on 1980s homes, $195,500 ($667,500 less $472,000), and narrowest on new homes, $77,500 ($1,357,500 less $1,280,000). The Bird Section pays $465 more a year in canal assessment ($1,500 less $1,035). Over five years at those rates that is $2,325 before any change in the rates, which is small beside a $87,600 price difference.
The city says the Hurricane Ian seawall replacements in Burnt Store Isles are complete. That is true of the Ian repairs only; the August 26, 2026 routine sheet still lists 2,188 feet of Burnt Store Isles replacement work. The Bird Section has 2,546 feet on its zone sheet and 1,196 on Section 12 streets. Neither community is finished, so the question for each address is the same: where is the wall on the sheet?
The Bird Section’s Buckley’s Pass has no lock. Burnt Store Isles reaches the creek through its lock, so a boat’s beam and height matter there in a way they do not at Buckley’s Pass; the Burnt Store Isles guide covers the lock. Both communities reach Charlotte Harbor through Alligator Creek, so both inherit the county’s dredge schedule and the deep-draft caution.
The Bird Section has no master association, and Section 14 has a property owner’s association whose documents are unpublished. Burnt Store Isles has the Burnt Store Isles Association, and the restrictions there are the subject of a 2025 ruling that is under appeal, per the Burnt Store Isles guide. If a recorded set of restrictions matters to you, read the Burnt Store Isles guide before the Bird Section guide.
Choose the Bird Section if you want more inventory, a larger share of $1,000,000 homes, a wider choice of 2010s and 2020s homes and Buckley’s Pass. Choose Burnt Store Isles if price per square foot and a lower canal line outweigh choice, and the lock is acceptable. Choose neither until the specific address has passed the screen: section, district, wall, route, elevation. Our Burnt Store Isles guide has the other side of the comparison. Matched by address to the county roll, the Southwest Florida MLS export of October 29, 2026 shows 21 Bird Section closings at a 90-day median on market and 95.7 percent of list, and 14 Burnt Store Isles closings at a 96-day median and 95.2 percent, in the 12 months to that date.
Daily life in the Bird Section runs on the canal behind the house, short drives and a voluntary civic association. From a Section 14 address it is about 5 minutes to St. Andrews South, 10 to Fishermen’s Village, 11 to City Hall and 12 to Sallie Jones Elementary. From a Section 12 address, the course is 1 minute away.
Data updated: October 2026 (OSRM open routing engine, free-flow estimates computed September 29, 2026 from a Whip-Poor-Will Boulevard address in Section 14 and a Deborah Drive address in Section 12; Charlotte County Public Schools boundary locator; PGICA; St. Andrews South Golf Club).
| Destination | From the Section 14 address | From the Section 12 address |
|---|---|---|
| St. Andrews South Golf Club | 1.1 mi, 5 min | 0.2 mi, 1 min |
| Nature Park, Aqui Esta Drive | 1.4 mi, 5 min | 0.9 mi, 3 min |
| Fishermen’s Village | 3.0 mi, 10 min | 2.5 mi, 8 min |
| Punta Gorda Isles Civic Association | 3.5 mi, 10 min | Not run |
| City Hall | 3.7 mi, 11 min | 3.2 mi, 9 min |
| Laishley Park Marina | 4.1 mi, 12 min | 3.6 mi, 11 min |
| Sallie Jones Elementary | 4.3 mi, 12 min | 3.8 mi, 11 min |
| Charlotte High School | 4.3 mi, 12 min | 3.8 mi, 10 min |
| Punta Gorda Middle School | 4.7 mi, 13 min | Not run |
| Charlotte Harbor Environmental Center, Alligator Creek | 5.8 mi, 13 min | 5.3 mi, 11 min |
| Punta Gorda Airport | 6.2 mi, 17 min | 5.8 mi, 15 min |
| AdventHealth Port Charlotte | 8.8 mi, 21 min | 8.3 mi, 19 min |
Method: OSRM public routing engine on OpenStreetMap road data, fastest free-flow route, computed September 29, 2026; origins are single geocoded addresses, so your door will differ by a minute or two. Traffic, bridges and season add time.
St. Andrews South Golf Club sits in Section 12 on Deborah Drive. It is a private 18-hole club on one compact property, and its membership is limited to 250 golf members. The club does not publish its initiation fee or dues on its site. Owning a Bird Section home includes no membership, so a golfer who is buying for the course should ask the club’s membership office about availability before an offer.
The Punta Gorda Isles Civic Association has run clubs and events since 1962 and supports 35 clubs and groups, including boating clubs, a fishing club, a tennis club and a newcomers club. Membership is voluntary at $80 a year plus a one-time $25. It is the easiest way for a new owner to meet neighbors.
The city’s Nature Park on Aqui Esta Drive is minutes away, and the Charlotte Harbor Environmental Center’s Alligator Creek Preserve on Burnt Store Road is a 13-minute drive from the Section 14 address. Alligator Creek is also the water a Buckley’s Pass boat travels, which makes the preserve a convenient place to see the creek from land.
For the Section 12 and 14 addresses tested, the district’s boundary locator returned Sallie Jones Elementary, Punta Gorda Middle and Charlotte High. Treat that as a guide only: the boundary locator for your exact address, and the Florida Department of Education’s school grades, are the records to check.
ShorePoint Health Punta Gorda closed after Hurricane Helene in 2024. The nearest full hospitals for most Bird Section buyers are AdventHealth Port Charlotte, 8.8 miles and 21 minutes from the Section 14 address, and HCA Florida Fawcett. Ask about emergency access if medical proximity matters to you.
You live inside the City of Punta Gorda, with city water, sewer, police, zoning and permits. Utilities run about $104.54 a month for 5,000 gallons of water plus wastewater, effective October 1, 2026, and sanitation is proposed at $31.70 a month for fiscal 2027. The airport is 15 to 17 minutes away, and Fishermen’s Village and downtown are a short drive.
The Bird Section’s strengths are volume, a wide range of ages and prices, a close harbor route through Buckley’s Pass and a city that maintains the seawalls. Its drawbacks are a rising $1,500 canal line, uneven seawall status, Zone AE flood costs, a Section 14 association with no public documents and a tax reset at purchase.
Data updated: October 2026 (Charlotte County Property Appraiser recorded sales and roll; City of Punta Gorda documents; FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer).
Many Bird Section buyers are also selling a Florida home, and the two sales need one plan: the sale funds the purchase, the closing dates have to line up, and a Florida homestead may carry portable Save Our Homes savings into the Bird Section home if you file within the three-year window. We run both sides together.
Data updated: October 2026 (Charlotte County Property Appraiser recorded sales and exemption page; Florida Statute 193.155).
If your current home is in the Bird Section, start with a Bird Section home valuation, built from recorded sales in your section, era and frontage. If you are ready to list, our guide to selling your home in the Bird Section explains how we document the seawall, the canal district and the route for buyers. Call Jesse direct at (239) 898-6072.
If your current home is elsewhere in the city, our guides to buying a home in Punta Gorda and the Punta Gorda area cover those markets.
A sale-contingent offer is weaker in a market where 36 of 153 recent sales closed at $1,000,000 or more and the last ten weeks ran at $805,000. The cleaner plan is usually to list first, or to line up the purchase with a post-closing occupancy on your sale. Monthly recorded sales in the 12 months ran from 2 in the partial month of September 2026 to 25 in March 2026, with March the busiest; we plan both timelines, and the portability filing, around that calendar.
Other Punta Gorda Isles subdivisions have their own buyer guides: Clipper Cove at Punta Gorda Isles and Colony Point at Punta Gorda Isles have their own recorded sales, streets and fees.
Set up Bird Section listing alerts by creating an account on our property search and saving the search, or by telling us your criteria so we build it and send you the link. Alerts route to Jesse and Marc as well, so when a home matches you hear from a person who can tell you the section, the wall and the route.
Data updated: October 2026.
Price and bedrooms are the least useful filters here. The ones that matter are the plat section, because price travels with it; the year built, because it decides the roof, openings and elevation questions; the water, because a Buckley’s Pass canal and an interior canal are different purchases for a boater; the product, because a Venetian Isles unit and a single-family canal home are different purchases; and the name, because many Bird Section homes are listed under Punta Gorda only.
Create an account on our property search and save the search, or call Marc at (239) 287-5873. You can also use the Bird Section buyer consultation form and tell us which streets and eras to watch. For the active listings themselves, our team’s site at DomainRealtyGroup.com is the place to browse.
Book a Bird Section buyer consultation through the form on this page or by phone. It is a working session, not a sales meeting: we build your monthly carrying number, screen the sections, the canal district edge, the seawall sheet and the harbor routes against your boat and budget, and give you the document list. There is no charge.
Data updated: October 2026 (Charlotte County Property Appraiser recorded sales and roll).
A carrying-cost model with the canal line separated from the tax line and flood insurance priced in; the recorded comparables for the streets you are considering; the section, canal district status, seawall sheet entry, FEMA zone and elevation question for any address you name; a first read on insurability from roof age, build year and elevation; and an estimate of cash to close.
Your timing, whether you are financing, whether you intend to homestead, whether you are selling a Florida home with portability to carry, what boat you own or plan to own and its draft and height, whether you plan to rent the home, and which parts of the Bird Section you have already seen.
Request your Bird Section buyer consultation, see how we represent buyers across Southwest Florida, or call Marc Comisar at (239) 287-5873. Or call Jesse direct at (239) 898-6072. You are working with Top 1% Real Estate Agents Nationally Since 2008, and there is no obligation.
Jesse McGreevy is a top-reviewed Bird Section realtor, and so is Marc Comisar; both are reviewed on our Google Business Profile. The quotes below are genuine five-star Google reviews from buyers, reproduced word for word, one as an unaltered excerpt of a longer review. None of them names the Bird Section, and we have not reworded or tailored them. We publish no aggregate rating figure.
★★★★★ “He did a great job planning and made the most of the time we had together. I would highly recommend reaching out to Marc for any real estate needs.” Verified Google review
★★★★★ “Best realtor experience ever! We were out of own buyers coming in for the weekend to look for a new home, Marc was extremely organized in taking us to see a number of houses and shuffling the schedule, as we arrived early, to make the best use of our time. He was extremely helpful in negotiating what we thought was a great deal on the new home that we purchased that same weekend. Beyond that he was kind enough to take some measurements at the house for us weeks later to keep us from making a trip back to town before the closing. We will most definitely be using this realtor again if the need arrives in the future.” Verified Google review
One more buyer, from a purchase in a different Southwest Florida community, described working with Jesse in a review posted on another review site, reproduced here word for word. It is not about the Bird Section, and we have not trimmed or tailored it.
★★★★★ “I purchased a property in Bonita Bay through Jesse McGreevy and out of the 10+ transactions I have done in my life he was by far the best Realtor I have had. Was extremely well learned and professional in all aspects.” Verified Zillow review
These are the Bird Section buyer questions no primary source we could read in October 2026 answered. We would rather name each gap and the document that closes it than print a number from a listing sheet, and we close them for our buyers address by address during the inspection period.
These are the questions Bird Section buyers search for and ask us most, drawn from real search and forum phrasing and answered from the records cited on this page. County figures are single-family homes in Punta Gorda Isles Sections 12 and 14, for the 12 months to September 9, 2026.
Confirm your cash or get pre-approved, sign a written buyer agreement before touring, and screen each address for its plat section, canal district status, seawall sheet entry, route to the harbor, flood zone and elevation. Write the offer on the Florida AS IS contract with an inspection period long enough for the quotes and inspections, then close with a title company once financing and title are clear.
The Bird Section is Punta Gorda Isles plat Sections 12 and 14, a canal neighborhood of 2,106 single-family homes and 235 vacant parcels on the October 2026 roll, inside the City of Punta Gorda, ZIP 33950. Every bird-named street is in Section 14, and Section 12 holds St. Andrews South Golf Club.
It is the southern end of Punta Gorda Isles, south of Aqui Esta Drive and east of Bal Harbor Boulevard, with Buckley’s Pass at its south edge. Plat Sections 12 and 14 define it on the county record. The city drew its 2019 Buckley’s Pass benefit area as south of Aqui Esta Drive, west of Almar Drive and city limits, and largely east of Bal Harbor Boulevard.
The county recorded 153 qualified single-family sales in the 12 months to September 9, 2026, with a median of $745,000, a middle half of $591,500 to $972,000 and a median of $324.99 per heated square foot. Section 12’s median was $800,000 and Section 14’s was $657,500.
Compared with the prior 12 months the median eased 4.2 percent, from $777,500 to $745,000, while volume rose 53 percent, from 100 sales to 153. The 2022 median of $935,000 is 20.3 percent above the latest 12-month median. The last ten weeks, July 1 to September 9, ran at $805,000 on 31 sales. We do not forecast prices.
Yes. In the latest 12 months Section 12 recorded 77 sales at $800,000 and Section 14 recorded 76 at $657,500, a $142,500 gap. Section 14 holds every 1970s house on the roll and many of the smaller homes. The bird-named streets in Section 14 recorded 46 sales at $747,000.
The 12-month median was $324.99 per heated square foot: $337.81 in Section 12 and $316.47 in Section 14. By era it runs from $275.51 for homes built before 1980 to $548.67 for homes built in 2020 or later. Above 2,100 square feet the figure is nearly flat between $334.68 and $348.23. Price per square foot is a check, not a price.
Most Bird Section lots have no homeowners association fee. Punta Gorda Isles let its recorded restrictions lapse in 1995 and the city’s rules replaced them. Section 14 has a property owner’s association filed in 1982 whose dues and documents are not published, and each condominium sets its own budget. The voluntary civic association is $80 a year plus $25 once.
There is no master HOA covering the single-family lots of Punta Gorda Isles. The civic association is voluntary. Exceptions are Section 14’s property owner’s association, whose terms we could not read, and the condominium and villa associations. Ask the seller in writing whether the lot is subject to any association, and ask the title company for the estoppel if it is.
No master set of recorded restrictions is in force across Punta Gorda Isles: its original restrictions were not renewed in 1995. The city’s Special Residential Overlay and Chapter 6 carry the rules. A buyer should still ask whether a specific lot is subject to the Section 14 association and, for any condominium, read its declaration.
No. The median home on the roll was built in 1998 in both sections, 189 homes were built in the 1970s, and 913 were built in 2000 or later. The most recent homes are rebuilds scattered across both sections: 112 homes date to 2023 or later. Era is a property-level question, not a section-level one.
Buckley’s Pass is a dredged channel about 1,446 feet long and 60 feet wide that opened April 3, 2020, linking the Bird Section canals to Alligator Creek and Charlotte Harbor. It has no lock. Owners paid a one-time $983 per water access unit in 2019, and there is no current Buckley’s Pass charge.
Buckley’s Pass is a city waterway and a Slow Speed Minimum Wake zone. Fishing rules for the pass, the creek and the nearby preserve are set by the city, the county and the state, and we do not answer them from a listing. Check the current city and Florida Fish and Wildlife rules, and the signage at the water, before you plan on it.
Buckley’s Pass has no lock. The question for a given dock is whether the canal route to the pass or the older northern route crosses a fixed bridge. The city says most of the Isles system is bridge-free, and no government source publishes a list or the clearances, so we trace the route from the specific dock.
For fiscal 2027 the city set $1,500 per single-family lot inside the Punta Gorda Isles canal district at its September 9, 2026 final budget hearing. It was $1,350 in fiscal 2026 and $550 in fiscal 2017. It funds the city’s seawall replacement, dredging and mangrove trimming in the district.
No. The district’s legal description leaves out Section 12 Blocks 156 to 162 and Section 14 Blocks 163 to 167, which hold about 232 Bird Section homes, mostly dry or golf-side. A lot in those blocks should not carry the line, but confirm on the parcel’s tax bill before an offer relies on it.
Inside the canal district, the city maintains and replaces the seawall. The owner owns and rebuilds the dock, boat lift, walkway and fence after the work, and the district restores sod only. Outside the district, ask who owns and maintains any wall, and get the answer in a document.
It can. A completed wall removes a future cost, while a street with a city letter outstanding means a coming dock and lift rebuild. The August 26, 2026 city sheet lists 2,546 feet in the Bird zone and 1,196 on Section 12 streets. We ask the seller what the city has told them, and put a contractor’s estimate for the dock work into the negotiation.
The Bird zone lists Kinglet Drive, Almar Drive, Partridge Drive, Dipper Court, Grebe Drive, White Ibis Court, Sandpiper Drive, Raven Court, Sea Breeze Court, Swan Court, Osprey Drive, Osprey Court, Sea Fan Drive and Kittiwake Drive. Section 12 streets on the southwest sheet are Saba Court, St Kitts Court, Ryan Boulevard, Bermuda Court, Trinidad Court and Casey Key Drive. The sheet is revised about monthly.
All 30 Bird Section addresses we tested, 15 per section, returned FEMA Zone AE with a base flood elevation of 9.0 feet, on maps effective December 15, 2022. A sample is not a determination for any parcel, so check the address on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center and ask for the elevation certificate.
A lender will require flood insurance on a federally backed mortgage in Zone AE. A cash buyer is not required by law to buy it, but Citizens ties its wind coverage to flood coverage in stages ending January 1, 2027. Premium depends on elevation and rebuild cost, and the city’s Class 5 rating gives a 25 percent discount.
Every tested address was in Charlotte County Evacuation Zone A, the first zone ordered to leave. For Hurricane Ian the county ordered Zones A and B evacuated on September 27, 2022. Flood zones and evacuation zones are different maps. Look up your address on the county’s Know Your Zone tool.
The city divided Punta Gorda Isles into five work zones for Ian seawall repairs. As of its latest schedule, the one active Ian site is pending on Bal Harbor Boulevard in the northeast zone, and no active Ian site is listed in the southwest or southeast zones. Ask any seller for the permit and claim history since the storm.
Yes, if the lot is buildable and permitted. A new home in Zone AE must have its finished floor at the base flood elevation plus one foot under the city’s rule, and the city’s permits, the seawall status and utility availability need checking first. The county recorded 12 lot sales at a $362,500 median in the latest 12 months.
Waterfront lots recorded 8 sales at a $417,750 median in the 12 months to September 9, 2026, and dry lots recorded 4 at $72,500. Over 36 months, 20 waterfront lots sold at $392,500. A lot inside the canal district pays the same $1,500 assessment as a built one.
Eight sales of homes built in 2020 or later had a $1,357,500 median, against 43 sales of 1980s homes at $667,500. That is a $690,000 difference, and the per-square-foot figures are $548.67 and $311.15. Most of the premium is elevation, code-level construction and finishes, not land.
Almost every home has one: 95.3 percent of the roll carries a pool flag. In the latest 12 months 146 sales with a pool had a $752,500 median and 7 without had $461,000. The difference reflects age, size and water as much as the pool, so we do not assign it a dollar value.
Yes. Homes flagged waterfront recorded 145 sales at $755,000, and the 8 not flagged recorded $446,000. Because 90.9 percent of the roll carries the waterfront flag, water is the norm here; the premium shows up mainly against the dry-lot and golf-side homes.
The strengths are depth of comparables, a wide range of ages and prices, the close harbor route and city-maintained seawalls in the district. The costs are a rising canal line, uneven seawall timing, Zone AE insurance, a tax reset on purchase and the Section 14 unknowns. A full list is in the pros and cons section.
The Bird Section does. Its 12-month median was $745,000 against $657,400 in Burnt Store Isles, and its per-square-foot median was $324.99 against $286.50. Burnt Store Isles has the lower canal assessment, $1,035 against $1,500 for fiscal 2027, and reaches the creek through a lock.
Yes. More than 20 small condominium associations sit on bird-named streets, and Venetian Isles on White Ibis Court is the largest, with 52 units recorded in 1986. Each is its own association and is not in our house figures. Ask for the budget, question-and-answer sheet, estoppel and master insurance declarations.
For the Section 12 and 14 addresses tested, the district’s locator returned Sallie Jones Elementary, Punta Gorda Middle and Charlotte High. That is only a guide, so check the boundary locator for your exact address. From the Section 14 address Sallie Jones is 12 minutes away by car.
No. The Bird Section has public city streets and no gate. St. Andrews South Golf Club is private and its course is a separate parcel. A buyer who wants a gated community should look elsewhere in Charlotte County, and we can show you the alternatives.
Alligators live in Florida fresh and brackish water and can appear in canals, retention areas and the Alligator Creek preserve. We do not have a count for the Bird Section canals. Do not feed wildlife, keep pets and children away from the water’s edge, and follow Florida Fish and Wildlife guidance.
The ones that matter on a canal purchase are insurance, flood and wind exposure, property taxes that reset at purchase and storm preparation. The Bird Section adds a canal assessment and a seawall schedule. The upsides are the water, the climate and the tax and lifestyle choices that brought you here. We help you price the downsides before you commit.
Many buyers choose it for a walkable downtown, the harbor, boating and a smaller-city feel. The Bird Section puts you inside the city with a quick route to the harbor. Our Punta Gorda area guide and the city buying guide cover the wider picture.
Since August 17, 2024 you must sign a written agreement before touring, stating a specific, negotiable amount. Offers of compensation no longer appear on the MLS, and a seller may still agree in the contract to pay some of it. Florida’s presumption is transaction brokerage unless you establish single agency in writing.
Yes. The national settlement requires a written agreement before an MLS participant tours a buyer through a home. We explain the options in plain language, write a fixed figure and show where a seller contribution would offset it. Marc Comisar can walk you through it at (239) 287-5873.
If you are leaving another Florida homestead, you may be able to carry part of its Save Our Homes benefit by establishing the new homestead within three years of January 1 of the year you left, filing Form DR-501T by March 1. The Property Appraiser decides eligibility and the amount.
The seller’s cap does not transfer, so the first bill is based on the property appraiser’s value for your ownership at 16.8148 mills, plus the canal assessment. At $745,000 with no homestead the ad valorem tax is about $12,527.03, or $11,828.21 with homestead, before the $1,500 canal line. Those are illustrations, not bills.
On a $745,000 purchase with 20 percent down, the mortgage stamp tax is $2,086.00 and the intangible tax is $1,192.00 on the $596,000 loan, a $3,278.00 total, plus recording fees, lender and title charges, inspections and prepaid items. Deed stamps of $5,215.00 are customarily the seller’s, subject to the contract.
In Charlotte County the seller customarily pays the owner’s title policy, and paragraph 9(c) of the AS IS contract decides either way. Read the box before you sign, and treat it as negotiable.
It is common for a lender or title company to want one, and on a canal lot it shows where the lot line and seawall sit, which matters for a fence, pool cage or dock. We recommend a current survey and a dock and lift inspection on every canal purchase.
Create an account on our property search and save the search, or tell us your criteria and we build it. Filter by plat section, year built, water and product type, and search Punta Gorda ZIP 33950, because many Bird Section homes are listed under the city name only. Call Marc at (239) 287-5873.
Yes, but rental rules depend on the property. A single-family lot with no association is governed by city rules, while a Section 14 lot or a condominium may have a rental clause in its documents. We read the documents before an offer, and we do not publish a rental income figure because none comes from a public record.
Use our Bird Section home valuation for a recorded-sales view of your home, or the selling guide for the full listing plan. Call Jesse direct at (239) 898-6072.
Every document below links to the body that issues it rather than a copy we host, so it stays current the moment the issuer updates it. A Bird Section buyer is handed several of these during a purchase, and reading them before the offer costs nothing.
| Document | Issuing body | Link |
|---|---|---|
| City Code Chapter 6, canals and waterways: district boundaries, seawall rules, docks and lifts | City of Punta Gorda | Chapter 6 (PDF) |
| Seawall Maintenance / Replacement Status, FY 2025/2026 work programs including BIRD SE, revised 8/26/2026 | City of Punta Gorda | Seawall status sheet (PDF) |
| Punta Gorda Isles Hurricane Ian replacement schedule | City of Punta Gorda | Ian replacement schedule (PDF) |
| Alligator Creek Waterway MSBU, FY2026 and FY2027 budget | Charlotte County | Alligator Creek budget (PDF) |
| City Council budget hearing packet, September 9, 2026, canal assessment resolutions | City of Punta Gorda | Hearing packet (PDF) |
| 2026 Final Millage Rate Chart | Charlotte County Property Appraiser | Millage chart (PDF) |
| PGI Canal Maintenance Assessment District boundary map | City of Punta Gorda | Canal district map (PDF) |
| Estoppel Certificate Fees, current adjusted amounts | Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation | Estoppel fee schedule (PDF) |
| Evacuation zone map | Charlotte County | Evacuation zones (PDF) |
| Florida Statutes 689.302, seller flood disclosure | The Florida Senate | Fla. Stat. 689.302 |
| Florida Statutes 720.30851, homeowners’ association estoppel | The Florida Senate | Fla. Stat. 720.30851 |
| Form DR-501T, transfer of homestead assessment difference | Charlotte County Property Appraiser | Portability application (PDF) |
| AS IS Residential Contract for Sale and Purchase, ASIS-7, redline | Florida Realtors and The Florida Bar | Florida AS IS contract (PDF) |
| Exclusive Buyer Brokerage Agreement, single agent, EBBA-8sa, redline | Florida Realtors | Single agent buyer agreement (PDF) |
Every source below was read or checked between August 27 and October 28, 2026, and a line gives its own retrieval date where it matters. Where a figure on this page is our own tabulation of a public file rather than a source’s statement, the text says so beside the figure. Southwest Florida MLS figures come from a member-only system and are cited as text, not linked. No competitor brokerage, aggregator or listing portal appears in this list, by policy.
McGreevy and Comisar are the Southwest Florida team Bird Section buyers call when a canal purchase has to be priced on the county record and closed without surprises. Jesse McGreevy and Marc Comisar are Top 1% Real Estate Agents Nationally Since 2008, lead the #1 team in Southwest Florida since 2012, and know the Isles’ seawalls, sections and routes.
By Jesse McGreevy and Marc Comisar. For this guide we pulled every qualified recorded Bird Section single-family sale in the Charlotte County Property Appraiser’s files through September 9, 2026, read the city’s canal district, seawall and Chapter 6 records, the FEMA flood layer at 30 addresses and the 2026 Florida Statutes, so the figures here come from public records rather than estimates. Meet the team on our about McGreevy and Comisar page, return to the Bird Section neighborhood guide, or explore the Punta Gorda Isles community guide.
If you are searching for the best buyer’s agent in the Bird Section of Punta Gorda Isles, Florida, McGreevy and Comisar represents homebuyers across Punta Gorda, Charlotte County, Estero, Bonita Springs, Naples, Fort Myers, Lee County, Collier County and Babcock Ranch. Whether you are relocating, snowbirding, investing, buying your first home or moving up to a canal home with a short run to the harbor, our team provides honest market guidance, pre-MLS access, partner-level negotiation and a clear plan to help you buy confidently. You are working with Top 1% Real Estate Agents Nationally Since 2008.
Jesse McGreevy (Sales Associate, SL3101296) and Marc Comisar (Broker Associate, BK3060671) are licensed Florida REALTORS® with Domain Realty; Florida real estate licensure is regulated by the Florida Real Estate Commission (FREC).
McGreevy and Comisar lead Domain Realty Group, a full-service Southwest Florida real estate team. Learn more at DomainRealtyGroup.com.
Send us a Bird Section address and we will send back the plat section, the canal district status, the seawall sheet entry, the route to the harbor, the FEMA zone and the recorded comparables, with the source document behind every figure. Call Jesse direct at (239) 898-6072, book a Bird Section buyer consultation, or read how we represent buyers.
Updated October 2026. This guide is general information about buying a home in the Bird Section of Punta Gorda Isles, Punta Gorda, Florida. It is not legal, tax or insurance advice, and it is not an offer of representation. Statutory figures change annually and market figures change monthly. Data checked October 2026 from the Charlotte County Property Appraiser, Charlotte County GIS and the City of Punta Gorda. Brokered by Domain Realty.