Living in NW FLORIDA - Why Are You Moving Here And Others Want To Leave

Living in NW FLORIDA - Why Are You Moving Here And Others Want To Leave

So, let's talk about Northwest Florida. Why people are wanting to move this way and why others want to leave? Wait, somebody wants to leave? Well, anyway, yes, we are going to go over that. So, if you want to know why people are coming and just want to get out of here, stick around we got the information coming right at you.

So, let's talk about moving it here to the Emerald Coast. Where is the Emerald Coast? Well, it's in Northwest Florida, which you probably already figured out. But we classify that locals do from Pensacola all the way down to Panama City, Panama City Beach. That's our beautiful Emerald Coast area. We're best known in this area for the Emerald Color Water. Emerald Coast, makes sense, right? Of course, we got that white sandy beaches that are just flanked by forest on the other side. It's not quite condo city around here, at least for the most part, comparatively to like, South Florida. It's just absolutely gorgeous relaxing area to be in. So, that should be it, right?

Why are people wanting to move here?

COST OF LIVING

Well, first and foremost, it's the cost of living. Cost of living is at least average if not less than certain areas throughout the United States. If you watch some of our cost of living video, you'll notice that we're really right around the average, maybe a little bit more depending upon which community you move to here on the Emerald Coast. So, cost of living could be good, but that's also going to be comparative of where you're moving from. You're moving from, you know, LA in California, obviously, this is going to be a significant difference in your cost of living.

RELAXED ATMOSPHERE

Now, another reason people are wanting to move here is the relaxed atmosphere and just good people. As I mentioned before, I'm from a military background and moved every one to two years for 14 years straight. It was exhausting, right? But, one of the places I loved the most was coming to this area and it's hard to explain, but in here we have four or five military installations just throughout here. Because of that, it really helps give this diverse people from all different cultures mixed in with the northwest Florida, which is pretty much lower Alabama. So, we get this southern charm sort of thing all put together. And because of it, it's just a really nice atmosphere to be around. I’ve witnessed nothing like it in my travels all around the world.

JOB RELOCATION

Next one is, why people moving here is because of Job Relocation. We get a lot of that. As I mentioned before, five, six military installations around here, people are moving in and out every single year all the time. So, if you're wondering, no, it's too much in capacity. Absolutely not. People are transient through this area just constantly because of that. Not only that, but because of the military here, there's lots of military contractors. So, there's a lot of job opportunities for military contractors as well. And, they keep moving in and out as well to support the military here. Obviously, hospitality is a big one as as well. This is huge vacation area. And it's because it's, it's amazing. You've got the beaches, the vibe, everything out here. And of course, the beautiful white sandy beaches and the condos and all the stuff going on here. So, hospitality is huge. We do get seasonal workers come in surprisingly enough here. We do have seasons where people are coming in. So, what's a hot season for hospitality? Well, it's when it warms up, right? No, just kidding. It's right when spring break kicks off, which is mid to late March, all the way until pretty much kids go back to school, September time frame typically. And that's where we're going to get most of the influx of tourism here in our area. Now, one other thing that's been a new thing that has happened since COVID is, a lot of jobs got to a point to where they could telework and there was no need for them to come back to a specific office. That's pretty awesome, because now you can talk to your employer, pick up your computer, move anywhere with good Internet connection. And now you're still getting paid exactly what you would have in say, a bigger city and you can move down here and still have that same sort of employment and get something really nice. I'm kind of jealous that you're able to do that. But I've met and helped a lot of people that have moved here because of that. So if you're not thinking, hey, I can't move to Florida, that's one thing that you may be able to talk to with your employer. But teleworking? Yep. We're getting a lot of people being able to do that. As I mentioned before, we also get to that beach vibe and that vacation vibe. So, people are moving here to have that consistently throughout the year. So, if you were kind of feeling down and you're like, man, I just want to feel like, let loose for a little bit. Just hop in your car, take a 5, 15, 30 minutes drive down to the beach, walk the beach with all the vacationers. You'd be surprised how much that just like, brings you up to see everybody else around you. They're just like in the vacation, you kind of get into that vibe, it's pretty nice.

BEST BOATING

Now, next is if you like fishing, boating, this is a fantastic area to do so. Destin was actually featured a couple of times of boating magazine to be in some of the best boating in the entire state of Florida. We've got Crab Island out there. If  you'd like to do that, there's tons of fishing, there's deep sea fishing, there's tours. Of course, you can go out and see the dolphins, go snorkeling, scuba diving. There are tons of things to do around the water when the season and everything starts to speed up. And it's just absolutely gorgeous out there just to be out anyway.

WEATHER

Let's also talk about the weather. People like Northwest Florida because it's not as devastatingly hot as South Florida. As a northerner coming from New York, yeah, it was nice for it to kind of cool down. Now, obviously, I've been here long enough before I've gotten used to it. So, now 40, 45, 55 degrees feels very, very cold to me now, which is crazy. But in any case, we do have pretty good weather all throughout. It's mostly sunny, most of the time. And, as far as temperature is concerned, we do have about four months where it can get down into the 30s sometimes. But, consistently it's around 40s to mid 50s through the coldest parts of the year. When is that? Typically towards December, late December, all the way until about mid March.

GREAT INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Not only that, people move here because there's some great investment opportunities as well. You know, there's Tim as a real estate agent, right? Yeah. Well, there are, there are. That's one of the reasons that I specifically moved here 5, 6 years ago, we'll move back here I guess, is because of the military crowd and the amount of transients throughout here, the rental market was amazing to be an owner. And just the quality of rentals and the amount of money for that specific thing. Not only that, but there's also vacation rentals and investment opportunities there. This area is growing so much and so fast that it's just such a great time to get into even if you're purchasing a house to resell it later when you decide to get out of here, even if you're in the military. Such a great opportunity to to capitalize on so many investment opportunities throughout the entire Emerald Coast.

Alright. So, we talked about the great things. Those are easy, right? So, let's talk about why people are leaving, right?

1. HOUSING PRICES

It's a real estate channel, right? Housing prices, they're rising. I'm not just talking about housing prices to purchase, I'm talking about rents as well. They seem to go up right around the same time. So, housing costs are going up and because of that, it's forcing a lot of people to go. Rents keep hiking up and those that can't afford to purchase and have to rent, either have to pay or move. And, there's just not a lot out here. A lot of people that are renting who contact us even though we can't help you necessarily with the rental part of the market. We give you the best opportunities to succeed, but it's not easy. And you really have to be proactive to get a lower rental place around here. Unfortunately, that's been the case for quite some time.

TOO CROWDED

Next, it's becoming too crowded according to some people. And, without the change of infrastructure, the traffic is awful. Certain times a year, I just, you know, book on a tape, you know, we don't have tapes through your phone now. But, you know, audible, I'll throw that on into the car, and just sit there because I'm like, alright, well, I'm in Fort Walton. It's this time of day, alright. It's going to take me twice the amount of time to get from here to here, right? And because there's bodies of water all throughout here, you have like, two different ways that you can get around traffic if you can, or you're just stuck in it. So, they are continuing to build out the infrastructure. If you've been in Miramar Beach for the last decade, they've been doing roadwork for that amount of time, at least it seems that way. But now, they're kind of building it out and you ask me in my personal humble opinion, is still not enough to mitigate that. Downtown Destin, there's just not much to do about that, unless you rerouted it around which they've been talking about doing. But yes, it is crowded, but it's also a vacation town. So, depending upon where you're at, it is getting a little bit crowded, which is why people might want to leave.

TOO HOT

People will leave because they think it's too hot. If you don't like humidity, this is not a place to come. So, it is very humid. We're talking somewhere between 80 to 90 in the summertime all the time. Even in the wintertime, it doesn't really dry out that much. So, a 45 to 55 degree temperature, with that humidity feels so much colder than it actually is. I just thought that I got used to the temperature and I'm just a big baby about it. But no. Now, the humidity does make it a little bit worse. Talking about the humidity, as an extreme, I just want to tell you a quick story. So, in the military, I actually got to work in upstate New York with the, what they called C-130s with skis on them. And, they would go ahead and resupply in Antarctica like south pole station and all different places down in Antarctica, and then it would also do some work in the Arctic Circle in the North. But, I remember that Antarctica is one of the most driest continents on earth. So you go down there and be like -20. Of course, you get used to this, and I know that sounds terrible. It kind of was. But, you go down there and then -20, you're like, okay, you know, I kind of get used to this. It's cold, but, you know, it seems bearable. And then, we go in the other season, go to the Arctic Circle, and I remember being up in Cambridge Bay, which is in Canada, up in the northwest territory, in the Arctic Circle, getting out -20 degrees. And I remember walking just around the perimeter of the plane coming in my face was beet red. Why? It's because of the humidity. The humidity made it so much colder. I'll never forget that. Anyway, going back.

NO CHANGE IN ELEVATION

People are also leaving this area because there's really no change in elevation, relatively speaking. There's a couple of hills here and there, but there's really no big elevation change. So, if you like the mountains and the hills or something like that, this wouldn't necessarily be a good place for you.

THERE'S NOT ENOUGH TO DO

People also say that there's not enough to do. Now, if you asked me, there's plenty to do. But, some people that are coming from, like a big city, like New York City or Chicago, or something like that. They're within blocks of going to, like a musical or going to see a show or something like that. We don't really have that here unless you're willing to travel. So, five hours away, you have Jacksonville, you know, Tallahassee has some good things. Locally, we do have some things out in Pensacola as well as Panama City. But for the most part, if you're looking for, like, big shows and things like that, you have to go out to Mobile, places like that in order to see that. So, if you're really looking for that sort a big city culture, it's just, it doesn't exist here in Northwest Florida.

And that being said, the last thing why people are leaving and things are really spread out. Now, if you ask somebody in Texas, if this is spread out, they're going to laugh at you. But people, again, it's all relative, right? That things are pretty spread out. There's not a really good public transportation system. Again, if you're coming from some place that does, like a medium to big sized city, there's really not much for you to be able to get around. So, no matter where you're going, you better have a car to get to where you need to go.

Alright. Well, that’s all I got for you for why people are moving here and why others want to leave. If you got any questions about anything I mentioned here, please feel free to call/text us at 850.320.7757 or email us at Admin@WhittemoreGroupRE.com