Free Guides
Guides to move smarter
Practical, fact-driven guides for every kind of move in Southwest Florida, no fluff, just what actually matters. Free to read; one quick step unlocks them all.
Featured · Free
Lakewood Ranch New Home Guide
All 40+ villages with builders, pricing, home types & amenities, plus Q1 2026 market intelligence, what’s coming next, and a village matcher. The most complete Lakewood Ranch guide anywhere.
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Wellen Park New Home Guide
All 25 communities with builders, pricing, availability & amenities, plus Downtown Wellen, schools, medical, and a community matcher. The most complete Wellen Park guide anywhere.
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Parrish New Home Guide
Every Parrish community with builders, pricing, home types & amenities, plus roads, schools, the CDD picture, honest trade-offs, and a community matcher. The most complete Parrish guide anywhere.
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Longboat Key Community Guide
All 103 Longboat Key communities, with unit counts and build years verified against both the Sarasota and Manatee tax rolls. Why 58% of the buildings predate 1980 and what that means for reserves, flood zone AE against VE, and the two-county split nobody explains.
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Sarasota Community Guide
All 155 Sarasota communities and buildings, with unit counts and completion years taken from the county tax roll rather than listing sites. What a condo fee actually buys, why houses here carry less than Lakewood Ranch, and the three documents to demand before you close.
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Bradenton Community Guide
All 35 Bradenton communities with amenities, home counts and real carrying costs. The only area where the CDD figures are assessed amounts from the county tax roll rather than listing estimates, plus the three ways golf is priced here and a community matcher.
First-Time Home Buyer’s Guide
A step-by-step guide for first-time buyers: financing, the buying process, Florida-specific costs, and assistance programs.
Read the guide →Relocation Guide to Southwest Florida
The areas everyone shortlists, what HOA and CDD fees really cost, the insurance reality, and how to buy from out of state.
Read the guide →Veteran & VA Loan Buyer’s Guide
How VA loans work: benefits, eligibility, the process, the funding fee, and tips for winning offers.
Read the guide →Vacation Home & Investment Property Guide
Short- vs. long-term rentals, financing, taxes, STR rules, and the factors that actually drive returns in SW Florida.
Read the guide →Florida Homestead Exemption & Property Tax: The Complete Guide
How the homestead exemption works, who qualifies, how to apply, Save Our Homes cap, portability, millage rates, additional exemptions, and what buyers need to know about property taxes in Florida.
Read the guide →What Your Home Is Worth, and What You Would Actually Net
A seller's guide to the only two numbers that matter: what your home will realistically sell for, and what you walk away with after payoff, agent compensation, documentary stamps, title and closing fees, association dues, and prorated taxes.
Read the guide →What Golf Club Membership Actually Costs Here
A buyer's guide to the real cost of golf club membership in Southwest Florida: the three separate numbers every club charges, why a bundled-golf community changes your HOA rather than your club bill, equity versus non-equity initiation, waitlists, and how to compare two clubs honestly.
Read the guide →Buying into a 55+ Community in Sarasota and Manatee
A buyer's guide to age-restricted living in Southwest Florida: how HOPA age restrictions work, which local communities are genuinely 55+ and which are resort communities without an age rule, what the fees buy, and the questions that decide whether age-restricted is right for you.
Read the guide →The New Construction Buyer Playbook
A buyer's guide to buying new construction in Southwest Florida: why the on-site agent is not your agent, the registration rule that decides representation, builder contracts versus resale contracts, preferred-lender incentives, design-center reality, and the CDD and property-tax surprises specific to new communities.
Read the guide →The Florida Condo Due Diligence Guide
A buyer's guide to Florida condominiums after the post-Surfside safety reforms: what a milestone inspection and a Structural Integrity Reserve Study are, why some buildings raised fees or levied assessments, how to tell a well-run older building from a risky one, and the document checklist that separates them.
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