Living in NW FL  [Change or Complain]

When you're living in Northwest Florida, there may be some adjustments that you would need to make in order to live happily ever after or just comfortably. However, there are certain things that you won't be able to change or adjust to, and you'll just end up having a complaint and move on. Well, in this video, I'm going to talk about a few of the concerns of living in Northwest Florida and should you change or complain about it. So, stay tuned.

Alright. So, living in Northwest Florida, should you change or complain?

Well, the first thing I want to talk about is something that can be changed and you can complain about it, it's about the traffic. Of course, a lot of people complain about the traffic. There are a few people out there that don't really mind it, especially if they don't have anywhere to be at a specific time, so they'll just sit in the traffic and walk out to their music, do some karaoke. However, there's a lot of people that complain, complain, complain about the traffic. I'm guilty of that, but mostly just when I'm running late to somewhere, don't like to be late. My father is in the air force, and he used to say that if you're on time, you're late, if you're early, you're on time, something like that. So, I always keep in my mind that I want to try and be early, however, on time is good enough for me. But, traffic will, of course, kind of get in the way of that. However, the road construction that you may come across here in Florida especially like in the Destin Miramar Beach area. There's a lot of road construction going on out there. It can get pretty hazardous during the peak season, spring and summertime because there's so many people that's coming to the area to visit. There's still a lot of locals too trying to get around, so traffic can get very congested. But then again, the road construction, that's the purpose is to kind of ease the flow of traffic in the future. Whether it takes few minutes for road construction, I'm sorry, a few months or several years. Just know that in the long run, this construction is going to help to flow of traffic and just get a little bit better. So, for now, we can complain about it all we want to, but just know that it'll change in the future and it'll become a lot better.

Now, this next thing I want to talk about is something you can complain about, it's the crowded beaches. I mean, everyone knows how beautiful our beaches are out here in the Panhandle area of Northwest Florida. Of course, everybody wants to come over and hang out on the beach, the beautiful white sands, look at the beautiful Emerald Greenwater. So, there's times where there's so many people coming out at the same time because the weather is absolutely perfect. Maybe it's spring or summertime. People have friends in town, they want to go have a beach day. Make sure that their friends and family from out of state have their opportunity to enjoy our wonderful beaches out here. So, can't get a little crowded again during this spring and summertime. You might be one that likes your own personal space out on the beach with your own umbrella and your towels and beach chairs and your own little set up. And, there might be another family that kind of sets up like five feet from you, maybe six feet. And, you kind of don't like them being that close because you don't want them listening in on your conversations with your friends and family. You don't want to hear the crazy things that they're talking about, especially if maybe they're having a couple drinks and getting a little loud and rowdy. They might have children that are playing. Of course, they're just having a good time. There might be frisbee's or balls being thrown and kind of end up landing in your little area that might bother you a bit. There are probably people that are setting up their umbrellas in front of you and kind of blocking your direct view in the beach. Or, even when you're out in the water, there's so many people out in the water too. And, you just don't feel like you can enjoy your little beach time because you keep bumping into the next person. Maybe somebody's boogie board went upside your head, I've had that happen before. It's just, it gets a little bit much, but then again, you can't really change that. There's so many people that's just trying to enjoy the same things that you like, which is the beautiful beach. So, that's something that you can just complain about it and you know, if you can't change the crowd, join the crowd.

Next is a change I'd like to talk about. There are a lot of businesses that have been short staffed, especially after corona hit the country. There are a lot of businesses that shut down and a lot of, of course, at this point, a lot of businesses are really doing well, doing much better since the pandemic. But there are still a lot of places that are having issues with their staffing, So, we're still seeing some of that where, you know, service might take a while or if you're staying in a hotel, you might not have your room cleaned in a timely manner or just little issues like that. You just have to be patient for those businesses that are short staffed. I know they're trying to hire, but something that you can do to kind of change that is, if maybe you live in Florida and you have the spare time, get a part time job and help one of these businesses. Especially, you know, one of our beloved local businesses that are struggling a bit. Try and see if you can join them and be part of the part time staff and kind of help keep the business alive and serve the community even if it's a job that, let's just say you're searching for employment now. However, there's lots of jobs that you see, a lot of places that you see that are hiring, but they don't really interest you. Just go ahead and and try it. Put an application and try to work in that position for a while. You never know, you might actually enjoy it. Or, if you know somebody that's looking for employment or they have the extra time, encourage them to try out one of the places of business that are hiring. Whether they have previous interest or not, and just help out some of these establishments. I mean, we really just can't help the fact that some of these places are, you know, running behind schedule or the services will slower because they're short staffed. So, the thing that you can do to change that is just to help grow their staff. Be a part of it, or find somebody that will willing to try out the position that's open, and you never know, it might be a good match.

Now, something else that is a huge complaint nowadays is the low housing inventory and rentals. Of course, this is currently a seller's market as of this video, it's April 2022. There's still a lot of buyers out there. I know I'm working with a handful myself trying to help them find the right property to either live in or to invest in. And, it's a very feisty market. So, when a great property hits the market, there's so many people that are fighting over it. You know, inventory is low, so whenever something really good hits the market, it doesn't stick around long. It will kind of go pretty quickly, but the bullet of an eye, who it seems like sometimes. So, that's a lot of the complaints that I hear when I have clients that reach out and just say, they saw a property that they're interested in, but by the time they were bringing it to my attention, it was already under contract. And they say that, you know, it happens so many times. And, you know, they might even put in, have an opportunity to put in offers. And of course, they're going to be competing in most cases, and they end up losing out. And, they end up having to wait for something else to hit the market that matches what they're looking for. And, sometimes that may take a while. Some buyers are lucky, and they're able to find the property that, the perfect property that they're looking for, put an offer and get accepted immediately. And there are some that'll put in several offers throughout time and just, you know, keep on trying and not give up. However, in the meantime, we'll just complain because, you know, it is very stressful situation when you really, really want to purchase property or invest in property, and it's just kind of hard in this fight that buyers have these days. So, yes, there are a lot of complaints about the low inventory and that includes rentals as well. There are people that are looking for a place to rent for six months to, you know, a year or even longer, and if that's even hard, especially with the increase in prices. Not everyone is in the position to where they can purchase a home, so they're looking to rent. And even that's hard to do nowadays.  I personally don't handle a lot of rentals, but when I do have buyers reach out, they are asking about rentals and I try and look for them and their, you know, homes that really don't meet what their family needs or they're just completely out of the budget. So, yes, it's low housing inventory and for rentals, that's something that is just a huge complaint about right now, but hopefully eventually that will all change.

Another thing that you should change especially if you have already been living in Northwest Florida or really anywhere in Florida. Of course, we are all aware of hurricane season. But there's a lot of times where strong storms even up to the hurricane status come through and homes get damaged. People complain about, you know, the the damage that has been done, and then it takes time for the repairs, for, you know, insurance to cooperate. Lots of things that they complain about after a storm. However, just don't think that these kind of things can't happen to you if a storm comes through. Don't think that your house is you know, just build of steel, unless it actually is. And then it just, you know, hurricane can't do any damage. No, if you're in the projected path, I would just say take whatever precautions you can take in order to protect your home. You can board up your windows. You can get sandbags and place in front of your doors and your garage just to prevent water intrusion. You want to  make sure you bring in all your out door items such as your patio furniture, maybe a basketball goal, just to keep these items from flying around during the strong winds and causing more damage to your home. It might fly and, you know, knock your windows out. It might, even worse, it'll go to a neighbor's property and damage their property simply because you didn't bring it in or secure it somewhere outside. But, you definitely don't want anyone getting hurt to. It could be, you know, a lot of people like to take that risk and stand outside during the strong winds and rains. They might think it's cool, but you don't want them to get hurt by, you know, flying patio chair that you didn't bring in before the storm. But again, just take the necessary precautions to protect your, you know, protect your home. Don't think that your home can't get damaged because it doesn't hurt to protect it. That way, it'll be less or no damage after the storm passes through. And, you won't have anything to complain about.

Next is another complaint. Recently, our electrical company, there's Gulf Power had merged with Florida Power and Light, and almost doubled some of the customers' light bill. I mean, they did expect, they were told they were going to get a, about a $15 increase, however that wasn't the case. Once Gulf Power merged with Florida Power and Light, lots of people bills either double or in some even tripled. However, that's something again, it's a huge complaint nowadays, and there are a lot of citizens that have signed a petition to fight against these increases. So, of course, you know, they're working on making that change by complaining and doing that petition. So, if you're new to the area or if you have already lived here, just know that there is a bit of a concern with the electricity bills with a lot of the residents here in the area, in the northwest Florida area. However, there are citizens out there that's really trying to help make a change. And, you know, with that petition that's in place. So, best of luck with everyone that is participating in that, and I hope it all works out of the end.

One more thing I want to talk about is a change that some of us can make and that changes, just don't be rude to the tourist. You can really can't complain or about people that are coming to the area because of how beautiful it is. And it's, you know, highly desired by people that live in areas where they don't have the beaches, the sand, the palm trees. A lot of the amenities that we have in our area, they might not have that where they're from. So, of course, they're going to want to come here to Florida or Northwest Florida. Or, you know, anywhere in the Panhandle, to be able to, you know, take some time, take take a break and enjoy everything that they don't have at home. And, it's the same thing that you would do too. You might leave to another area or even to another country to enjoy places that we don't have here in Florida. So, when we have a lot of tourists coming here, just don't be rude to them, just be polite, welcome them to our area, and maybe even give them some advice or some recommendations where to go or what to avoid. There's also, you know, when they're in traffic, they might not know what they're doing or where they're going. A little confused. GPS got a little confusing. That's happened to the best of us. So, don't get road rage out there because the tourists, they are lost and don't know what they're doing. Of course, everyone's trying to stay safe on the roads, but road rage isn't going to make that situation better. So, just please, don't be rude to our tourists. Just Keep in mind that if you like to travel, there are times where you are actually the tourist too in the other areas. You wouldn't want people to be rude to you. But, yep, that's a recommendation that I have as far as change. Please welcome all the people that are visiting our area.

Well, that's all I have for you today guys. Thank you so much for watching our video. If you have any questions, concerns or comments, please feel free to call/text us at 850.320.7757 or email us at Admin@WhittemoreGroupRE.com