— MEET YOUR GUIDE —
Venice has always been home
Third-generation Venice native. Army Special Forces veteran. Dad of three. Your local guide to the Gulf Coast.
I grew up here in Venice, and my family's roots go back even further. My mom and grandparents were born and raised here too, so I've had a front-row seat to watching this area change.
When I was a kid, there really wasn't much once you started heading east from downtown. Areas that seem perfectly located today, close to the beaches and convenient to everything, felt like the far edge of town back then. Some of the roads we drive every day didn't exist. I remember places where you could still ride horses that are completely built out today.
Venice really was a sleepy little town. People still describe it that way, and there's some truth to it, but it's nothing like the Venice I remember growing up.
We've always had retirees and snowbirds. That's been part of Venice for as long as I can remember. What's changed significantly is the number of younger families moving here and just how much the overall population has grown.
And with that growth have come some growing pains. Things are still pretty easygoing during the off-season, but when season arrives, you notice the difference. Beach parking gets harder to find, even at some of the spots locals used to consider their quiet ones. Restaurants get busier. Traffic gets heavier. New roads, restaurants, schools and businesses continue to come, but in some ways the area is still catching up with how quickly it's grown.
I've also watched the real estate market go through some pretty dramatic changes, from the housing crash and everything that followed to the incredible growth we saw after COVID and the changing market we're experiencing today.
Having lived through all of that gives me a perspective on Venice that's difficult to get from market statistics or from simply selling real estate here for a few years. I don't just know what Venice looks like today. I remember how we got here.
I don't just know what Venice looks like today. I remember how we got here.
— JUSTIN BAUEREISS —
I took a pretty unusual route into real estate
Real estate wasn't always the plan.
I left Venice and eventually served in the Army as a Special Forces soldier. I'll be honest — I didn't fully know what a Green Beret was before I set my sights on it. I just read the job description and something about it lined up with who I am.I've always been a pretty hardcore person, and it felt like the right fit.
What eventually brought me home wasn't one big moment — it was simpler than that. I was tired of not having control over my own life, of being wherever I was told to be, whenever I was told to be there. My wife and I wanted kids and a different kind of lifestyle than the one that came with continuing to serve.
When I came home, I used my GI Bill to put myself through nursing school while working at Sarasota Memorial Hospital. It wasn't as random a jump as it might sound — I'd built a strong foundation in the human sciences during my SF career, including live-tissue training, and I was comfortable working in high-intensity situations. I'd also had my Fire/EMT license before the military and planned on going back into that, but nursing offered a broader range of paths if I ever wanted to grow beyond it, where Fire/EMT felt more limited.
I actually have degrees in both education and nursing, so becoming a Realtor probably wasn't the obvious next step.
But a close friend and fellow Special Forces veteran — someone entrepreneurial-minded who was always challenging the people around him — handed me a copy of Rich Dad Poor Dad, along with a couple of other books. It ended up being a genuine perspective shift. One thing led to another, and I found myself getting into real estate in 2016. I haven't looked back since.
Why I focus on helping people understand Venice
For me, helping someone relocate here isn't just about knowing which neighborhoods have pools, which communities have CDD fees, or how far a house is from the beach.
It's understanding what kind of life someone is actually trying to build here.
I'm now raising three daughters in the same community where I grew up. So when a family is considering moving here and wants to know what it's actually like to raise kids in Venice, that's something I understand personally.
At the same time, I'm watching my own parents enter a different stage of life. My mom is going through the process of downsizing, and I'm seeing first hand how different the priorities become when you're thinking about retirement, maintenance, accessibility, proximity to healthcare, and what you want the next chapter of life to look like.
That's given me an interesting perspective as a Realtor because the right answer for a family with school-age kids may be completely different from the right answer for someone moving here at 65.
It's understanding what kind of life someone is actually trying to build here.
— JUSTIN BAUEREISS —
— WHAT THIS IS REALLY ABOUT —
The right move is different for everyone
That's really what I want Living in Venice, FL to be about.
I'm not interested in convincing everyone that Venice is paradise or that every community here is perfect. They're not.
Some people will love living here. Others may discover that Wellen Park, Nokomis, Englewood, or somewhere else entirely makes more sense. And occasionally, the right answer may be that this area isn't the right fit at all.
I'd rather give you the information I would want someone to give me: what's great, what isn't, what you should know before buying, and what questions you may not even know to ask yet.
Because after growing up here, leaving, coming home, raising a family here, and helping people buy and sell real estate here since 2016, I've learned that the right place to live depends a lot on the chapter of life you're in.
Want to get to know Venice before we talk?
Watch my videos about Venice neighborhoods,communities, real estate, and everyday life — or, if you're ready to talk about your move, let's set up a call.