Things To Consider When Moving To The Emerald Coast

So, considering moving here to the Emerald Coast of Florida? Well, if you are, this is the video for you. Alright? If you're thinking about the things to consider prior to moving here, well you're in the right video, so stick around.

So, let's talk about it. What are some things to consider while moving here to the Emerald Coast. Now, the Emerald Coast is a very sought out after whatever location for homeowners and renters alike. And, it's mainly due to the constant sunny climate you know, the beautiful beaches, the charming coastal towns that aren't condo city. All these different things are just putting people into this area. It's, you know, one of the many reasons that I live in this area. But there are some things to consider moving forward. So, let's think about that.

So, what do you need to know prior to moving to here? There are 5 different things I want to go over.

1. CLIMATE

Now, first is the climate. Now, we think sunny Florida, you know, sometimes we think Miami and it's not necessarily the case. Okay? In the Panhandle Florida, it's kind of like lower Alabama, right? As far as temperature's concerned, when you are between January and March, it can actually get pretty cold. It's relative, you people up north in like the Montana's, like, in Montana's. In Montana, Dakotas that's what I was thinking. I mean, this isn't cold to you guys whatsoever. However, you know, down in our area when it gets somewhere in the 40's and 50's, that's cold to us. It can sometimes get down every once in a while, into the 20-degree range, but it's very rare. Now, once you get into March and get into the spring, you're going to see somewhere around the 60’s to 70’s is what we typically see up to the 80’s. And then once we get into our summer, it's somewhere between, it starts the day at 80 degrees with like 97% humidity, and it just kind of goes up from there. Our hottest months is usually in September. And then, it starts to decrease back down. So, the fall, probably best time to come here to visit if you're curious about that.

2. COST OF LIVING

Now, the cost of living here is generally higher than most areas in the United States. Not by a whole lot, but the thing that really makes a pricey to live here is the rents and purchasing a home. So, those are all kind of higher end right now. That's going to be the big factor for you deciding to move here. And depending upon where you move will depend upon what that factor is necessarily.

3. JOB MARKET

Now, the job market here, this area specifically where we are in the Destin Fort Walton Beach area. The big employer is the US military, in particular, the air force and the army. There are four or five different military bases from Panama City Beach all the way to Pensacola. There could be more actually, but that's when I can think off the top of my head. But that's a huge thing for contractors, for military personnel, for support staff, all those different things. Now, of course, in the beautiful area that we are, you also have tourism is a big part of health care, education, and there's a bunch of other smaller industries here. Just know that when you do move to this area, this is 2023 at the recording of this video, a lot of people can work anywhere now. They can telework and don't necessarily need to be in their office. So, if this is something that you're considered by retaining your previous job, talk to your employer and see if that's something that that could possibly do.

4. EDUCATION

So, education, there are a lot of highly rated like public and private schools all throughout here. I encourage you to take a look at niche.com that N I C H E dot com, and look at the reviews. Not necessarily the ratings, but the reviews that they have for specific schools if you're looking to put your kids. And, in specific elementary, middle and high schools, I could tell you that the most highly rated high school in the area is in Niceville.

5. TRANSPORTATION

Now, for transportation, there is a lot of ways to get in and out of here. You have very good highway systems throughout this area. You also have several different airports to get in here. The main one to get into is the Destin Fort Walton Beach airport, it's right in the middle. Of course, you have Pensacola, and you have Panama City Beach to get in here. Just know that the public transportation system isn't all that great, so you will need a vehicle to get around.

WHAT'S THE EMERALD COAST KNOWN FOR?

BEACHES

Alright. So, what's the Emerald Coast known for? The big thing is the big sandy beaches. Not just that, but it isn't condo city here and somebody has characterized this before. There are just trees or very like houses that sit on the actual coastline. It isn't all that built up, not necessarily yet in certain areas. Some places are part of the US military base or preserve. So, they won't build anything on those as well. So, imagine these beautiful white sand beaches with that emerald-colored water flanked by trees and forest in the back. It's absolutely gorgeous.

WATER ACTIVITIES

Now, beaches also go to number two, which is our water activities. There are tons of different things. Some of the best fishing and boating you're going to find in the United States it's here on the Emerald Coast specifically in the Destin area. But, you also have Crab Island in the Destin area as well, which is a big popular come out and dock your boat sort of thing and party all day. You also have fishing, dolphin tours. There's tons and tons of water activities, snorkeling. They're actually building and being they're sinking ships to create artificial reefs to bring in fish into the area. The area is just growing and it's phenomenal for water activities.

CUISINE

Now cuisine, obviously seafood is the big part here that has the most flavor. However, there are tons and tons of different things in here. Because of the high tourism traffic that we have to our area, it is bringing lots of really good food to the area which of course we all appreciate.

FESTIVALS AND EVENTS

And, number four for what to know for the Emerald Coast is the festivals and events. You know, the Emerald Coast hosts several festival events throughout the year including music festivals, seafood festivals. We also have different ones for tacos and tequila's coming. There's a craftathon if you like craft beer. There's wine tasting festivals all over the place. Just high end to low end whatever you're looking for, there's tons of stuff happening here.

BEST PLACES TO LIVE ON THE EMERALD COAST

Now, let's talk about the best places to live on the Emerald coast due to popular demand. There are five different places.

1. DESTIN

Smack dab in the middle of the Emerald Coast. Why? It's the destination place. No pun intended. But, people come here because that's where everything else is at, right? That's where everybody kind of flocks to. So, you want the best restaurants, you want all the things to do, you know, you want to be where all the people are. Destin is the place for you to go. Obviously, attractions to the water, sports, and everything else.

2. SANTA ROSA BEACH

Now, number two on the list is Santa Rosa Beach. Now, Santa Rosa Beach is our 30A community and everybody wants to come here. It's the most affluent area in the entire Emerald Coast and actually in the entire panhandle. It showcases places like Alys Beach, if you haven't looked at that, we have a video for that too, check it out on our channel. Absolutely gorgeous out there. You can look at Rosemary Beach kind of looks like an old German European town sitting on the water. You have Seaside, all sorts of different things throughout the 30A area. Very, very affluent and just absolutely gorgeous and it's simply just homes. It's not a whole lot of condos out throughout that area. And it's just, well, I can't say it anymore, it's gorgeous. It's one of those places that even us locals that stay here in the Destin area. We'll go down there to do a little staycation because it's that good.

3. PANAMA CITY BEACH

Alright. And, number three is Panama City Beach, it's the most affordable in the area or one of the most affordable outside of Pensacola. But, it's a tourist destination. It's going to offer a lot of lively atmospheres, plenty of dining, shopping, entertainment options. And, it's kind of a small city in that area to go to Panama City, outside Panama City Beach. So, a lot of people love going to that.

4. NICEVILLE

And primarily, Niceville is kind of inland, just north of Eglin Air Force base. But the reason people like to move here is, it's another affluent community. Not as affluent as Santa Rosa Beach, but it's still affordable to go here. But the reason that it is, it's a very popular places for families to go and that would be because of the high school and the school system. It's the best rated in the area. It's one of the higher rated ones in the entire State of Florida actually. So, that's why people like to go there. Very nice, older communities. There are newer communities that are popping up as well with newer homes. But really, really nice in Niceville.

5. FORT WALTON BEACH

And last but not least is number five which is Fort Walton Beach. Fort Walton Beach, it's kind of the happy medium throughout our area. Fort Walton Beach will, is kind of in the middle of everything. The reason I like it, is because there's alternative rights to get places and you don't have to go all the way around Eglin range or anything like that. But it, also gives you access if you want to go to Navarre, Niceville, Crestview, you know, where you have access into Destin on Okaloosa Island. Fort Walton Beach is also really good as far as home prices. But, when you go to Fort Walton Beach is also very eclectic. What I mean by that if you haven't seen previous in my videos, Fort Walton Beach is kind of like that. Where you're going to have a multimillion-dollar house sitting on the bay and then across the street maybe a $400,000 home and then six blocks from that is going to be a trailer park. Now, most of those are getting cleaned up because of the high rate of demand for housing, so a lot of those have been bought up and new construction been put on it. But, it still exists throughout our community.

MUST DOS PRIOR TO MOVING

Alright. So, must dos prior to moving to Florida. Right? So, we've already decided we're going there. So, let's figure that out.

1. RESEARCH THE NEIGHBORHOODS

Now, first things first is, you got to research the neighborhoods that you want to go to. So, figure out the towns that you want to go to and then be like hey, do I want to go to Destin, Niceville, Valparaiso, Crestview, what have you. So, figure out exactly where you want to go.

2. DETERMINE THE BUDGET

Then, determine the budget. Is it going to be a rental budget? Is it going to be purchasing a house? What does that even look like if I can purchase a house when I move there, those sorts of things. Figure out what that budget's going to be and what the cost of living is going to be down here to make sure that you can afford to be here.

3. PLAN FOR THE HEAT

Also, number three is plan for the heat. It does get hot if you're not from an area that's predominantly hot throughout the year. Get ready to get set because it gets really warm here. Some places in the northeast specifically that they don't have air conditioning there because it doesn't necessarily get hot enough. And this area, it's a requirement. Not it's a requirement, but to be comfortable it is. Because it gets just so darn hot during the summer months. So, plan for that heat and you're not going to necessarily need a winter coat. Let's just say that.

4. UNDERSTAND THE WILDLIFE

There are things here that you may not necessarily have in your community with snakes, alligators, you know, all sorts of different Florida bugs that are around here. So, kind of understand that there's going to be different things when you do get down here.

5. PREPARE FOR HURRICANE

While they're still rare, they can be a significant threat. So, make sure that when you get down here, you understand how to button up your house if you have to evacuate. Know your evacuation routes. Have a, what we would call a bug out bag for you and your family to pick up. Throw in the car and get out of here if you have to. Making sure that you have plenty of things here just in case the power goes out for several days. Those sorts of things. So, make sure that you prepare for the worst, hope for the best. We don't get a ton of hurricanes here or tropical storms or things of that nature. At least none of significance, but be prepared. You'll need to be prepared if something like that does come through.

So, that's all I do have for you for the things to consider when moving here to the Emerald Coast. If you have any questions or comments about anything I mentioned, please feel free to call/text us at 850.320.7757 or email us at Admin@WhittemoreGroupRE.com

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