About Us

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For nearly four decades, Cape Coral has been Shane Crabtree’s home. During that time, he has watched the city grow from a community of approximately 50,000 residents into one of Southwest Florida’s largest and most desirable places to live, invest, and vacation. That firsthand perspective gives Shane a level of local knowledge that cannot be learned from market reports alone.

Shane has been a licensed real-estate professional and REALTOR® in Cape Coral since 2004. After successfully guiding clients through strong markets, difficult markets, and nearly every type of market in between, he founded Waterside Villas Realty Inc. in 2017. Today, Shane serves as the company’s owner and broker. He is also the owner of Waterside Villas Vacations, a vacation-rental and property-management company serving Southwest Florida.

Through these two specialized companies, Shane assists buyers, sellers, property owners, investors, and vacationers throughout Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Sanibel, and Pine Island.

Shane has continued to expand his professional knowledge through specialized education in buyer representation, new-home construction, and residential property management. His credentials include:

• Accredited Buyer’s Representative (ABR®), earned in 2025
• New Home Certified Professional, earned in 2024
• Certified Buyers Agent, earned in 2024
• Certified Florida Residential Manager (CFRM™), earned in 2020

These credentials complement more than two decades of practical experience in real-estate sales and property management.

Single-family residential sales make up the largest part of Shane’s real-estate business. With more than 20 years of property-management experience, he has developed a practical understanding of what to examine when evaluating the condition, usability, maintenance requirements, and long-term potential of a home.

Waterfront real estate is one of Shane’s primary specialties. Purchasing or selling a waterfront property can involve considerations that do not apply to a typical residential transaction. Canal location, bridge restrictions, Gulf-access routes, seawalls, docks, boat lifts, flood zones, homeowners insurance, and flood insurance can all affect a property’s value and suitability.

Shane helps clients identify the right questions, recognize potential concerns, and consult appropriate insurance, inspection, marine, construction, environmental, or legal professionals when specialized advice is required. His combination of real-estate experience, property-management knowledge, and familiarity with the Cape Coral boating lifestyle helps clients make better-informed decisions.

Shane’s Accredited Buyer’s Representative designation reflects additional education focused on representing buyers throughout the purchasing process. He helps clients clarify their priorities, evaluate properties carefully, understand local considerations, prepare competitive offers, negotiate effectively, and move confidently from the initial search through closing.

Whether the buyer is searching for a primary residence, waterfront home, seasonal property, investment property, or future vacation rental, Shane’s objective is to protect the buyer’s interests while providing straightforward and practical guidance.

Cape Coral offers a wide variety of vacant residential land, but selecting the right property requires careful research. Utility assessments, flood considerations, lot conditions, protected wildlife, environmental restrictions, construction requirements, and the type of home a buyer wants to build can all affect whether a particular property is appropriate.

As a New Home Certified Professional, Shane brings additional education to the new-construction process. He has also developed relationships and familiarity with many Cape Coral builders and can help buyers identify builders whose homes, budgets, construction methods, and architectural styles align with their goals.

Shane and his team help clients investigate issues involving burrowing owls, gopher tortoises, protected vegetation, utilities, site preparation, and other conditions that may affect a building lot. When necessary, they help connect buyers with the appropriate builders, inspectors, engineers, environmental professionals, and local authorities.

Shane has more than 20 years of property-management experience and earned the Certified Florida Residential Manager designation in 2020. His experience includes single-family homes, residential investment properties, annual rentals, seasonal rentals, and vacation rentals.

He understands Cape Coral’s fast-moving annual and seasonal rental markets and helps clients act decisively when an appropriate home or condominium becomes available.

As the owner of Waterside Villas Vacations, Shane also helps guests find professionally managed vacation homes and condominiums in Cape Coral and on Sanibel Island. Select properties offer boat-rental options, allowing guests to experience Southwest Florida’s waterways, beaches, islands, and waterfront restaurants as part of their vacation.

Waterside Villas Vacations provides professional vacation-rental management for property owners seeking knowledgeable local oversight, responsive guest service, and experienced care for their investment homes.

Clients appreciate Shane’s honesty, responsiveness, negotiating experience, local knowledge, and straightforward advice. He takes his responsibilities seriously without making the process feel stiff or impersonal. Shane believes clients should enjoy working with their real-estate professional, feel comfortable asking questions, and always know that someone knowledgeable is protecting their interests.

Under Shane’s ownership, Waterside Villas Vacations received the News-Press Community Choice Award for Best Vacation Rental Company in 2023, 2024, and 2025—three consecutive years of recognition from the community.

Whether someone is purchasing a waterfront home, selling a property, buying vacant land, building a new home, relocating to Southwest Florida, searching for a memorable vacation rental, or selecting a trusted company to manage an investment property, Shane’s objective remains the same: provide honest guidance, strong representation, genuine local expertise, and an enjoyable experience from beginning to end.

Shane Crabtree, ABR®
Owner and Broker, Waterside Villas Realty Inc.
Owner, Waterside Villas Vacations
Serving Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Sanibel, and Pine Island

Come see Cape Coral for yourself. We rent beautiful waterfront vacation homes. You can even rent the boat while you are here. Live like a local and take the boat to the beach and near by waterfront restaurants.  Make it a holiday you will never forget. Click the vacation rental tab at the top of the page to book now.