I have owned two of the boats talked about. The 25 Nordic Rage is a light boat and really feels closer to a 23' boat. With a 496HO it is a 80 mph boat on fairly smooth water. It is a fun boat on fairly smooth water. Not so much of a good ride on rough water. The 29' Shockwave is a really comfortable ride. It handles the rough water very well. It has the feel of a larger boat. Lots of freeboard and a huge midcabin area. Mine had a mild 540 and it was a good 65 mph boat. All of my driving of boath boats was on Arizona lakes.

Nordic and Shockwave (for the most part) add the swim step when molded in - into the length of the boat.
So it probably is a 23ft boat.
Shockwave goes back and forth how they measure and most often include the swim step in length.

Its really hard to gauge what you are buying as so many vendors measure their boats differently.

UD

Many were built with the HO. With the MAG it is a low 60's MPH boat in fresh water at @660 ft. above sea level. i think I saw 63 MPH in the one I ran.

It is one of the better layouts as well with good room split between all 3 sections. The bow area is deep so it is secure for young ones. No finer gel/mold work than on a Checkmate.

The Shockwave 29' Magnatude is a full 29' boat. It does not have a molded in swim platform. They usually have bolted on ones. As I recall, the 25' Rage measured about 24 1/2' including the swim step.

Looks like alot of the owners of the boats you are lookat into are chiming in. Remember to also go to their specific forums to ask the same question as you may get others opinions as well.

FWiW when I was shopping last year I found FL boats to be atleast 33% higher than those in other parts of the country, that goes for the surveyor's and mechanics as well, prices are lower on the FL West coast as opposed to East. Hell I had my boat bought in MS (Fresh water) transported it to New Port Richey FL 1st for vinyl work then came back 3 weeks later to ultimately take delivery. Still saved $8k+ as I would have buying in state. Also, you're pretty much guaranteed salt usage with a FL boat and in your price range it's going to be an older unit like mine that gets you thinking.
If you do buy out of state get the survey, get a sea trial and engine diagnostics and go see the boat for yourself, something I didn't do but ultimately it didn't have a negative impact. Remember the boats up north are requiring winterization at this time of the year so you may be able to "steal" one from someone not looking to incur the cost and definitely use that fact as a bargaining chip. If you need a transporter down the road mine was excellent and was around $1.25/mi.

PM sent CLASSIC

They do! I had one and it was a great boat. I do miss having a MCOB.

To the guy who ripped on the sunny and Nordic, ignore him. That's no different than a ford vs Chevy argument. What I will say is the Nordic is a 22 degree dead rise bot versus the sunnys 24. That aspect alone will provide a better ride. The Nordic are nice but I went sunny based on the cabin alone. For where I boat and how I boat I liked the ability to close it down versus the open flow through I had seen on nordics.

Forgot to mention that mine was a 496 Mag as well ran 62/63 every day the HO is only 50 more HP and the 288 HO boats seem to be about 5 -7 MPH faster. I really wanted the HO too but found the right boat at the right price when I bought my 288. If you find a Mag boat you really like its a simple conversion if you have mechanic skills just a cam and computer reflash, not sure it makes sense if you have to pay someone but its an option.

Surprised nobody mentioned Active Thunder. The 25 Tantrum for sale in classifieds is a great boat and a great deal at $25,000