Living in NW Florida Everything you Need to Know

So, you're considering moving out here to Northwest Florida, and you want to know everything to be known out here, alright? Well, luckily for you, our entire channel has about three hundred plus videos, so go ahead and check those out. But in the meantime, we're going to go ahead and give you the key things that you need to know prior to making the decision of where to move down here. So, go ahead and stick around and you won't want to wait until the last point because that one might actually blow your mind.

Alright. So, let's get into it. What do we want to talk about in Northwest Florida? So where is it? We're right there on what we call the Panhandle. That's right, the north western part of it. Alright? So, no more central Florida over here. We are pretty much bordered with Alabama and Georgia. That's where we're at, and it does come right in. We love a little bit of that southern charm here in Northwest Florida.

Alright. So, here's some key things to expect when you do come in here. Let's rip them right out.

Alright. First, most areas that you're going to go in Northwest Florida, they're going to tend to be more conservative, just to let you know. Okay? At least at the time of this video, that's where everybody ends up going. They have a little bit more conservative values. When it comes to that, you can kind of look at the map for that. But I don't want to get into politics too much. Everybody here seems to be pretty diverse and what have you, so no issues there.

Next, typically, the closer you get to the gulf, well, the higher the prices are going to tend to be. So that kind of makes sense. Right? The closer that we're going to get down to the beautiful water, the more or less those houses are going to go up. And it's going to be specific of what communities are going to be that way because if you're closer to the water in Pensacola, versus say something in Destin, the price is differentials going to be pretty big. Why? Because it's a little bit more attractive to the tourist and things like, okay? Alright. And, thanks to the good old bodies of water around and, of course, Eglin Air Force Base, there's not a lot of alternative routes when trying to get around places, which is pretty frustrating if you've been somewhere where you have really, really great highway systems. Now, there's only one way. So if there's an accident somewhere, something that would have taken you thirty minutes, could take you an hour. Where you have to take the extra hour and a half to go around and still faster. Like, it's frustrating, but it's also one of the things that we got to deal with when being in this area.

Next is housing, alright? Housing can range this big old spread. Right? We're ranging from $184,000 all the way up $718,000 or more thousand dollars depending upon where you want to live. So, if you're curious, where's that 184 at, well, it's in the northern parts of Florida, or you're going to be looking more towards Pensacola in certain areas in there? And where the highest? Well, that's over in our30A, Walton County area. Those are where the more affluent neighborhoods are at.

Alright. Next, cost of living is slightly below the average.Actually, slightly below the average here in the state of Florida. So, it's actually a little bit more affordable to be in this area.

Next, well, there's not a whole lot of gators around here either. There are some brackish water where they typically hang out, so keep that in the back of your mind. However, there's not a whole lot of them around here like you would get in central southern Florida.

Now, you also have people to move here and they're like, what about sinkholes? Well, sinkholes are a big thing over by Orlando in that area, but they're not a whole lot out here. We haven't really seen anything about that here in Northwest Florida.

One thing to note as well is that, it does get cold here in Northwest Florida. In the wintertime it does. Now, cold is relative. If you're coming from the Dakotas or Minnesota or something like that, I'm sure it still seems like a a summer breeze when it's forty five or fifty degrees out. But for us Floridians, it get does get pretty cold. And when does it get cold, usually, sometime in December down to about March, we're going to get a consistent temperature mid 40's to mid 50's.

Other thing to note, hurricanes do happen. They do. The last one that came through here was 2018, and prior to that one was 2004. So, they can come up through this area, there's always a threat for those. And because of that, insurance rates are a little bit higher. They're actually a lot higher now than they used to since a whole bunch of other carriers just decided to drop Florida for whatever reason. I'm just like, here you go, good luck. Which is a little frustrating. But, just anticipate that we as Floridians, we have a infrastructure that can handle most of that. Some of these older homes have been through them. There's still standing. So, that's something to be said as well. So, kind of keep that in the back of your mind that that is something that is carried. Just know that that's not extra insurance. That's in every insurance policy that you're going to have.

Next, there are not a whole lot of large cities out here in Northwest Florida. What I would expect is a little bit more small town feel mixed with beachy vacation vibes. I guess that's the best way I could put that. Now, note that this area is growing and growing pretty fast. There's been a lot of people that are moving in because of political reasons to Florida specifically here in our Northwest Florida, and we are growing and infrastructure is struggling to handle it. So, just expect that as you move in here, you're going to see a lot of more construction throughout the roadways, infrastructure, as well as new housing and things of that nature.

Now, also know that we do get a lot of rain, but it's not like sucked in. Like, I grew up in the North East and you get sucked in for what seems like days. If you're out in Seattle, it's like it seems like years. Right? Sun never comes out. But here, it is the sunshine state, so we do get a ton of rain, but it's all in very short spurts. Maybe ten, fifteen minutes, maybe half the day at the most that you're going to get sucked in with that.

Now the community here does have a southern feel with a solid floridian base to it. AKA, everybody's friendly. If you meet people on vacation and they're miserable, that's kind of an oddity. Most people there on vacation are usually in pretty good mood, which is great. Because that gives that lively relaxed sort of feel when you go out and do things, you can go into the grocery store. So, that actually feels pretty good. Now in this area, there's six military installations through from Pensacola all the way up to Panama City. And because of that, expect that there's going to be a lot of uniform people. I had somebody that I talked to from YouTube as well, a couple of years ago, and he had said that, you know, I came to the area. I thought it was going to be real nice. I moved here and then I just saw all the uniforms around and scared me so I had to leave. But, no, this is just people going to work coming from work. So, yeah, there's a good amount of military and military support in the area.

Now, one other note or other portion of this, especially around the Crestview, Destin, Fort Walton Beach, Navarre area is there's a good portion of the land that's either a preserve or owned by the US government. That being said, there's not a lot of alternative crossways around here. So, you're kind of pigeonholed when it comes to traffic. Now speaking of that, traffic can get really really bad in the summer closer to the beach. And again, it's because there's not a whole lot of alternative routes and we get a lot of people coming down here to the Emerald colored water and that very fine white sand beaches. Which is, one of the reasons I think I moved here too.

Alright. So, the cheapest area to live is going to be in Pensacola, or in some of the more rural areas, as I've mentioned before, more in the north kind of eastern side of Florida. However, the most expensive is going to be down there in Walton County of the town's off of 30A.

Now, if you are going to be moving here, make sure to chat with somebody that's local that can help, especially if you're looking to purchase. Chat with a local real estate agent. You can contact us, we'd be happy to help or anybody of your choice. Just to get the current state of the market and determine if it is going to be better for you to rent in this specific area you want to go or to purchase. So, make sure to have that conversation, get some one on one time for your specific scenario, and you should be all set and making a choice of coming in here to Northwest Florida.

Of course, if you want more information, come on and check out our channel. We have hundreds of videos all about this area. So, if there's something specific you want to check out or we don't have it, please let us know leave it in the comments below, we'll make a video for it, and we'll get it out to you as as soon as we can as well. So, if you have any additional questions, please feel free to call/text us at 850.320.7757 or email us at Admin@WhittemoreGroupRE.com