Sell for More Without Spending a Fortune: My 5 Favorite Low-Cost Fixes Before You List

By Scott Swonger, HomeSmart Realtor   After years of walking sellers through the process of listing their homes, I've learned one thing that surprises almost everyone: you don't need a big renovation budget to sell for top dollar. Some of the biggest returns I've ever seen came from changes that cos

Gran Paradiso: A Tuscan-Inspired Community with a True Florida Story

Gran Paradiso: A Tuscan-Inspired Community with a True Florida Story By Scott Swonger Drive south out of Venice on Tamiami Trail and, about three miles down the road, you'll pass an entrance that's hard to miss: grand columns, fountains, and lush landscaping announcing Gran Paradiso. The name means

The Story of Venice Island: How Florida's "Island City" Came to Be

    Here's a fact that surprises a lot of visitors: the historic heart of Venice, Florida is an actual island. When locals talk about "the island," they mean the walkable, palm-lined stretch of downtown between the Intracoastal Waterway and Venice Beach — a place you reach by crossing one of three d

From Cattle Ranch to Boomtown: The History of Wellen Park

Today, Wellen Park is one of the fastest-selling master-planned communities in the entire country — a vibrant, growing town with a downtown built around a sparkling lake, a Major League Baseball spring-training stadium, and thousands of new homes. But not so long ago, this corner of southern Sarasot