SARASOTA, FLORIDA, March 5, 2018 – It would be something of a minor miracle if a serious buyer couldn’t find a match in the 2018 Parade of Homes set February 17‒March 11 that again offers a windfall of choices on Sarasota homes for sale.
Calendared a week longer than its past editions, this year’s blue-ribbon event of the Manatee‒Sarasota Building Industry Association (BIA) features 117 home designs positioned in seven price ranges starting from the mid-$100s and topping at builds priced over the $900s mark. As in previous years, single family homes and multifamily homes comprise the parade’s lineup entered by 39 builders that include major national and regional industry players.
Significantly, too, the entries to the BIA extravaganza are widely dispersed across 10 communities in Manatee and Sarasota counties. Besides those in Sarasota and Bradenton, the other featured home models are located at neighborhoods in Lakewood Ranch, North Port, Venice, Englewood, Nokomis, Osprey, Palmetto, Parrish, and Ellenton. The parade-entered residences in these market destinations are notably open for tours even after the builders’ showcase officially winds up on March 11.
The most number of parade entries could be found at Lakewood Ranch where 37 are entered including several at this master development’s first community in Sarasota—Waterside. These new home designs consist of models from all of the four designated builders in this community’s two neighborhoods—Shoreview and LakeHouse Cove. Open for tours here are the builds of Arthur Rutenberg, Lee Wetherington and Homes by Towne at LakeHouse Cove, and by Pulte Homes at Shoreview.
For budget-conscious buyers of Sarasota homes for sale, University Village is one parade destination to consider. They can view for evaluation in this community a Medallion Home design, the two-bedroom Casey, priced starting from the mid-$200s. Alternatives at roughly the same price range could be considered in Palmetto at the new communities of Trevesta and Old Mill Preserve where leading national builders D.R. Horton and CalAtlantic Homes respectively have parade home entries.
High-end parade listings abound as well and are not confined to new developments, with some selections available in older, well-established neighborhoods. At Sarasota’s waterfront Holiday Harbor, which could rate as highly as those communities West of the Trail just north of it, Legacy Builders on the West Coast offers parade visitors a close look at its new custom-built three-bedroom residence. This model is priced at $1.29 million and already in the MLS of Sarasota homes for sale. All told, there are some 30 of such luxury home builds at this year’s BIA showcase.
Aspiring home buyers focused on eco-friendly builds will likewise find a lot of parade entries for touring. Granada Park, a West of the Trail historic neighborhood, is one destination for such residences featuring new green designs and technologies. Sarasota-based MGB presents in this neighborhood the Buttonwood design of its Coastal Collection, which is green-certified by the Florida Green Building Coalition.
For the first time in the BIA home tours, remodeled homes too takes the spotlight this year via the entry of Gilbert Design Build in its grounds at Manatee Avenue East in Bradenton, as well as in Clark Road, Sarasota. Notably, several subcontractors for pools, interior design and landscaping are also participating in the 2018 Parade of Homes, providing inspiration not only to prospective home buyers but also offering ideas to homeowners with an eye for house improvement projects.
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