About The Sunburst Companies  

The Sunburst Companies, Inc. offers property management services for vacation rentals, homeowner associations, and individual homes. Sunburst was founded in 2001 (as Coastal Management Company) by David Leuze to service homeowner associations along Northwest Florida's  Scenic Route 30-A.  Steve Howard partnered with David in 2003, additional services were added, and The Sunburst Companies was  incorporated.   

About the Owners 

Sunburst owners David Leuze and Steve Howard have known each other for over 25 years and have extensive backgrounds in finance /accounting and marketing/ advertising respectively.  Steve's family (thru his wife Payson) has ties to the Seagrove area that date more than 50 years.  Steve has an ABJ degree in Advertising from the Henry W. Grady School of Journalism at the University of Georgia and has spent close to 20 years in the marketing advertising world beginning with McCann Erickson Worldwide, and includes 14 years with New York Times owned GOLF DIGEST Magazine.  

Steve now heads up our vacation rental division, Sunburst Beach Vacations, holds an active real estate sales associate license with Davis Properties of Northwest Florida located in Seaside, and is a Certified Pool Operator thru the National Swimming Pool Foundation.  He also serves on the Board of Directors of the South Walton Little League.  

David holds a BS degree in accounting from the University of Tennessee and began his career as a CPA in Atlanta with Ernst & Whinney.  While his expertise focused on small and emerging business, he also spent considerable time with Fortune 500 companies such as Coca-Cola.  David's corporate background includes a stint at Coca-Cola Enterprises, where he assisted in the areas of corporate consolidation and mergers and acquisitions.  He spent more than a decade as the Controller/CFO of Leland Inc, an Atlanta based software developer and reseller.

David runs our Homeowner Association management division and is a licensed Community Association Manager (CAM).  He also serves on the local board of directors for The Seaside Neighborhood School and the South Walton Little league.   As well, David serves his church as a deacon and as its Treasurer.   

About our Associates 

Payson Howard

Payson Howard joined Sunburst the summer of 2004 as our Office Manager.   She also oversees the day-to-day operations of our vacation rental program.  When you call Sunburst, it is likely you will hear her voice on the other end of the line.   

Payson is Steve's wife of over 20 years.  She received her BBA degree from the University of Georgia with a major in management information systems.  She spent her corporate career performing computer consulting work for Deloitte & Touche and later network management and support for Georgia Pacific.  After moving to Florida, she became certified to teach middle school math and taught at South Walton Middle School before joining Sunburst. 

Leigh Leuze

Leigh Leuze joined Sunburst in 2004 to head up the Home Watch Division of Sunburst.  Leigh has considerable experience in the home watch field, servicing more than 30 clients along the 30-A corridor.  Her attention to detail and personal interaction with each client are the hallmark of her true professionalism.

 Leigh is David's wife of more than 15 years and has been a supporting force for Sunburst since it's earliest days.  Leigh holds bachelor degrees in History, Political Science, and Geology from Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville, TN.  Leigh's corporate career includes more than 10 years in the banking industry in Chicago and Atlanta.