Conversation first
A call before a contract. Your timeline, your budget and what the move actually has to achieve, before anyone opens a search portal.
About
A Connecticut kid who grew up here, and has watched Southwest Florida change block by block.
Originally from Manchester, Connecticut, Steven relocated to Southwest Florida as a child and has lived here for more than twenty years. That length of time in one region is the difference between reading a market report and knowing why Estero prices differently from Cape Coral, or why a Bonita buyer and a North Naples buyer are rarely looking for the same thing.
Before real estate he spent close to two decades in client-facing sales, which is where he found the part of the work he actually loves: helping people picture something and then getting them there. That background is why the service standard is stubborn — returning the call, chasing the detail, and giving the honest version rather than the easy one.
He is a husband and a father of three, so the practical side of a move is never an afterthought. The school run, the yard, the neighbours, the feeling you get walking through the door: those are part of the brief, not a footnote to the square footage.
Steven works out of Realty Group of Southwest Florida, a family-owned, boutique brokerage founded in Estero in 2001 by Ingrid and Michael Wittmann, with a full property management arm behind it. Boutique means the person you call is the person who prices your home and sits at the negotiating table.

The process
No hand-off to a junior associate, and no drip campaign. The person you call is the person who does the work.
A call before a contract. Your timeline, your budget and what the move actually has to achieve, before anyone opens a search portal.
Buying: the communities that genuinely fit and what they cost to own. Selling: a price backed by comparable sales, and a preparation list.
Showings, marketing, offers and counters. You hear from Steven when something changes, not a week later.
Inspection, financing and title coordinated through to the table. Afterwards you still have his number, and the brokerage behind it.
Specialties
Residential buying and selling across Lee and Collier County, with the brokerage's rental and management side available when a property needs looking after.
Pricing built from what has actually closed in your community, plus a preparation list of what is worth doing before it goes live and what is not.
Search strategy, showings and an honest read on condition, flood exposure and community fees before you write an offer.
For buyers moving down from out of state: insurance, HOA and CDD costs, gated versus open, and how seasonal life here really works.
The snowbird purchase, treated as the financial decision it is rather than a holiday impulse.
What a property costs to hold, what it realistically rents for, and whether the numbers survive a bad season.
Annual and seasonal rental programmes and full property management run in house at Realty Group of Southwest Florida.
Where Steven works
Five markets, each with its own rhythm. Here is the shorthand before the conversation starts.
Lee County
Where our office sits. Newer gated communities, quick access to the Gulf beaches and RSW, and the most consistent demand in the corridor.
Lee County
The broadest range in the region: historic downtown, established mid-century neighbourhoods and new construction pushing east.
Lee County
The quieter stretch between Estero and Naples. River and Gulf access, and a strong seasonal market.
Lee County
Canal living. Gulf-access lots, freshwater canals and the widest spread in price per home in Southwest Florida.
Collier County
North Naples on up-market. Buyers usually arrive with a very specific brief, and it pays to know which communities actually meet it.
Southwest Florida
Sanibel, Fort Myers Beach, San Carlos Park and the inland communities. If it is in the region, it is worth a phone call.
ESTERO TO NAPLES
An honest read on the community, the fees and the flood exposure before you write the offer.
Start the conversation
PRICED ON REAL COMPARABLES
What is actually closing in your community, not the number that is easiest to hear.
Start the conversation
SEASONAL AND ANNUAL
What it costs to hold, what it rents for, and who looks after it when you are not here.
Start the conversationThe region
Homes and communities across the markets Steven covers, from canal-front Cape Coral to the Estero corridor.
Photography supplied by Realty Group of Southwest Florida. These are regional images rather than Steven's own listings — his listing and community photography can be swapped in at any time.
Before you call
Estero, Fort Myers, Bonita Springs, Cape Coral and Naples, which is Lee County and northern Collier. If you are looking just outside that, call anyway and you will get an honest answer about whether he is the right fit.
With how you want to live here, not with listings. Beach access, gated or open, seasonal or year round, insurance and HOA costs. Those decide the shortlist far more than square footage does.
No. The most useful conversations happen six to twelve months out, while there is still time to decide what is worth doing to the house and what is not. There is no cost to that call.
From what has closed recently in your community, what is currently competing with you, the condition of the property and your timeline. You get the reasoning attached to the number.
Representation and compensation are agreed in writing before you tour anything, so there are no surprises later. Ask directly and you will get a straight answer.
Yes. Realty Group of Southwest Florida runs annual and seasonal rental programmes and full property management, so the right person comes from inside the brokerage rather than a referral to a stranger.
Steven does. Calls and texts go to his phone and he is the one at the negotiating table, with a boutique brokerage and its management team behind him.
Same day, nearly always. Call or text (239) 834-5905 if it is time sensitive.
Get in touch
Call or text and you get Steven, not a call centre. If you would rather write it out, the form reaches him directly and gets a reply the same day.
Steven Cosenza is a licensed Florida real estate agent affiliated with Realty Group of Southwest Florida, a family-owned brokerage founded in 2001 and based in Estero, Florida. Office (239) 949-0404 · Fax (239) 949-0626. REALTOR® · Equal Housing Opportunity.