Returning Home

If you're thinking of buying a home in southwest florida, you're part of a growing trend. Chances are, like most of us, you discovered this paradise while on vacation, attending a business conference or visiting friends and family. During your first visit, as you soaked up the sun on a beautiful beach or sipped a cocktail under a tiki hut, you probably entertained a simple thought: I could get used to this. And you returned, only to return again and again before realizing it made sense to buy your own home here.

That's what my husband and I did some years ago, and I only wish we'd had a magazine like this to help us in our search for the perfect Southwest Florida home. This is a big geographic area, offering a world of different neighborhoods and flavors. We help you hone in on the right community for you with our tour of Lee and Collier neighborhoods, which tells you about the history, flavor and home prices in each. You'll also find the region's only comprehensive new community listings, so you can see at a glance which have the amenities, location, home styles and lifestyle you're seeking. You can check out every public school in the two-county region on charts that include such important information as average class size and test scores; we've also listed the leading private schools. You'll also learn about some of the amenities and features that have made Southwest Florida a leader in sun-splashed luxury living.

"Home and family are the new center of life," according to Walker Smith, the president of Yankelovich Partners, a consumer research company based in Chapel Hill, N.C. He calls the trend "hiving," or a "return to home." Southwest Florida realtors agree, reporting a growing emphasis on family-friendly homes and communities, with amenities that range from stately clubhouses that are the center of sporting and social life to friendly public parks teeming with activities from youth sports to concerts on the green.

A number of real estate studies cite Southwest Florida as the top spot in the country for vacation homes, and Walker says second homes can evoke even stronger emotional connections than primary homes. "Second homes are the center of emotion for what people put into a home," he says, noting that second-home owners tend to be "more connected and engaged in the community."

We hope this magazine helps as you begin the process of connecting and engaging with your new community. Welcome home-to Southwest Florida.