5 Things You Need to Know Before you Move to Fort Walton Beach Florida

So. you're moving here to the Destin Fort Walton Beach area and you're curious about moving specifically to Fort Walton Beach. And, what are the things that you need to know before moving here? Well, my team and I came up with the top five things that you do need to know here prior to making that move. And you want to stick around to the end because number five might be the thing that's at the forefront of your mind that you might be worried about. But don't worry, we'll cover it in full. So, stay tuned. 

So, let's talk about the five things you need to know before moving to Fort Walton Beach. 

1. Panhandle Of Florida 

Alright! Number one on our list is that we are in Florida, but we're on the panhandle of Florida. What that means is that it can get cold during the winter. During the summer, you're going to see that we have temperatures anywhere between 75 to 89 degrees plus. And that's not to consider the humidity, so can get pretty warm here, Okay? The low of this area during the wintertime can go to 44 to 61 degrees. Heck, I've even seen it get down to 22 and that's when you're going to start seeing Floridians with like big old winter coats on. 

2. Median Area For Home Values 

Alright, and number two on the list is we are right here in Fort Walton Beach in the median area for home values for the Gulf Coast Area. So, what I mean by that is that your lower more bang for your buck sort of homes are going to be in different areas such as Crestview which is to the north, and Navarre which is to the west. And then your higher end more expensive communities like Destin and Niceville are going to be on your top end. Which leaves Fort Walton kind of right in the middle. So, what's that look like? Well, your median home values for Fort Walton Beach in 2020 were $259,000. That's a high of $1.7 million, which is a nice place on the water. Or a low of $65,000 which probably wasn't moving ready. Those are for single-family homes of course. If you're looking to rent, your average rent or your median rent going to be around $1,500 and that's anywhere between $725 a month, all the way up to $3,250 per month. 

3. In The Middle Of Things You Want To Do 

Alright! Number three is it central to the things that you want to do. Fort Walton Beach is kind of right in the middle. It's in the middle between Pensacola and Panama City Beach. You're right next to Destin without having to worry about all that traffic. The one thing I personally love about Fort Walton Beach is that you have alternative routes to get around things. If you look at a map, you can see that we have Highway 98 on the south, and you have 87 going north. As those get crowded during the summertime and when the tourist gets here or even if there's just an accident, it gets backed up. And since we live in an area with the bay and bayous and harbors, you have to go all the way around to get to another place and that can take quite some time. So, living in Fort Walton Beach, having a different way to go around, the traffic is really, really nice. 

4. Okaloosa Island 

Let's talk about Okaloosa Island. That is technically in Fort Walton Beach and it's one of the most popular places in Fort Walton. Now, most of Okaloosa Island is undeveloped and that's because of the 100-year lease that they have from the Air Force Base, just across the way. Due to that, more than half of the island is actually just an untouched beach that you can go out and hang out and enjoy. Now, if you want to be on the other side of that, you also can hang out at the harbor walk or any of the places just behind all the condos that are on the beaches. You've got restaurants, beach volleyball, the pier, you've got an aquarium, and a lot more. There's just a ton of stuff to do there, and it's great. And I can't talk about Okaloosa Island without going all the way out to the Destin bridge in mentioning Crab Island. Now, it's not a traditional Island like you might think, it's about a waist-deep water world people will take their boats out. They'll anchor up, they'll play some music, have some delicious libations and then just enjoy the environment. It is a great place to go check out if you never have. 

5. Hurricanes 

And last on our list is hurricanes. I know you're probably worried about that if you've never come down here. But, quite honestly, it's not that bad. There is a potential for it to come through. Typically, we have them start during hurricane season, which is usually June 1st through November 30th. This area is actually been really, really lucky with the exception of hurricane Michael that came back in 2018 that hit Panama City and 2005, which was Hurricane Ivan that actually hit the Destin Fort Walton Beach area and did some good damage there. But there's a big spread of time that goes through that. Most of the time these hurricanes somehow, someway, go around one way or the other and we rarely ever get hit with them. So, your insurance, you're probably worried about having hurricane insurance while everybody here has to. That does reflect what it would cost for a hurricane to come through destroy the house and whatnot. So, yeah, the prices are a little bit higher. Now, if you're trying to get quotes for that, definitely contact us or a real estate professional or better, an insurance agent that's local to here. And will point you in the right direction of what it will actually take to get it insured here. Speaking of insurance, you're thinking since we're on the gulf coast. Well, everybody needs have flood insurance. That's actually not the case. Most areas in Fort Walton Beach are in a Zone X which is minimal. And, that doesn't necessarily mean that you need to have flood insurance if you have a VA, FHA, or any of the other loans out there. There's actually pockets in certain areas of Fort Walton Beach that have one side of the street that every other house is in a flood zone. It's strange, I know. 

So, that's all that we have for the five things that you need to know before moving to Fort Walton Beach. If you have any questions about anything we talked about here, please feel free to call/text us at 850.320.7757 or email us at Admin@WhittemoreGroupRE.com