Buying a farm, nursery or agricultural service business in Southwest Florida

• A grower or production manager who knows the crop and plans to stay. In a nursery, much of the know-how lives with that person.
• Repeat buyers spread across landscapers, builders and retailers, not one big account.
• Inventory that is counted, healthy and in the sizes and varieties that sell in your area now.
• Reliable water: wells, pumps and irrigation in good repair, and a water use permit that covers what the business actually pumps.
• A clean record with state plant inspectors: no stop-sale orders or quarantines.
• Shade houses, greenhouses, tractors and trucks that weren't patched together after the last storm.
• Records good enough to show which crops or services actually make money.

• Land. Is it included, leased or a separate deal? For a leased farm or nursery, the lease's length and renewal terms can matter more than anything else.
• Inventory. Count and grade it with someone who knows plants. Buyers and sellers disagree most over what plants in the ground are worth, and pests or disease can lead to a stop-sale order.
• Weather. Ask about hurricane and freeze damage, what was lost and what insurance or disaster programs paid.
• Labor. How the business finds and pays seasonal workers, whether it uses a labor contractor or the federal H-2A visa program, and whether it follows housing and wage rules.
• Water and environment. Compare what the permit allows with what's actually pumped, and look at fuel tanks, chemical storage and old dump spots. An environmental site assessment is common when land is part of the sale.
• The building cycle. Nursery demand rises and falls with home and commercial construction.

• Which plants or crops make you the most money, and which do you grow mostly out of habit?
• Who are your biggest buyers, and how long have they been buying from you?
• How did the place come through the last few hurricanes or freezes, and what did you change afterward?
• Who grows the crop day to day, and would they stay on after a sale?
• In a dry spring, how much water do you pump compared with what your permit allows?
• When did the state plant inspector last come out, and did they find anything?
• How do you find enough workers at your busiest time of year?
• What would come with the business: the land, the equipment, the plants in the ground and in containers?

This region covers Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Sarasota and Manatee counties on the Gulf coast and Hendry, Glades and DeSoto inland: Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Naples, Bonita Springs, Punta Gorda, Port Charlotte, Sarasota, Venice, Bradenton, LaBelle, Clewiston, Moore Haven and Arcadia. The coastal economy runs on people who choose to live or spend the winter here: retirees, seasonal residents, and the construction, real estate, health care, financial and home services that follow them. Tourism, golf and boating add to it.

Inland, the economy is agricultural: sugarcane around Clewiston, citrus, cattle and vegetables, with Immokalee in Collier County a center for farm work. The building trades, pool, landscaping and pest control companies, property managers, medical and dental practices, and marine businesses tend to do well along the coast.

This is one of Florida's most seasonal markets. From roughly January through April, restaurants, shops and service companies run at full speed. Summers are slower, so look at monthly revenue, not only the yearly total. The coast has taken two major hurricanes in recent years: Ian came ashore at Cayo Costa in Lee County in September 2022, and Milton at Siesta Key in Sarasota County in October 2024. Rebuilding brought a wave of work for contractors that won't last forever, so ask how much recent revenue came from storm repairs. Insurance costs and flood zones weigh on every property.

Housing costs near the coast make hiring hard, especially around Naples. New communities east of Interstate 75 in Lee, Collier, Charlotte and Manatee keep service companies busy.