Moving to Destin and more things you will want to know

So you're thinking about moving to the Destin area or any of the surrounding areas and you're wondering, what do I specifically need to know about Destin prior to making this choice to move here? Well, in this video my team and I came up with the top six reasons and things that you should consider prior to moving out to this point.

So let's get into Destin. What do we need to know about Destin? Well, if you don't know where Destin is located, it is actually located just about halfway between Pensacola and Panama City Beach, and what we like to collectively call the Emerald Coast of Florida. Destin has about a population of about 13,702 people, that's pretty specific. And it's best known for, if you already know, it's beautiful beaches, its awesome, awesome fishing, and of course, the tourism that it brings to our area.

1. Home Prices

So number one on the list that I want to talk about is well, home prices. This is a real estate Channel, let's talk about what that looks like. Right now we're looking at the fall of 2021 when the real estate market started to slowly but surely level off. So let's talk about what it's like for single-family homes and what those prices look like.

So, for a single-family home, you're looking at a median price of $799,000. Now, it's a high all the way up to $5.75 mil and a low of about $240,000. Now, if you're looking to live a little bit more of that condo life, the condo median home price is about $419,000. Now, that's a high all the way up to $2.8 million and a low of about $117,000. Now, thinking about that $117,000, those are ones that don't necessarily have a water view. They may have higher HOA's or it's a one-bedroom one-bath which was the case with this other condo. Now, if you can't or just not in the market to purchase, there's plenty of rental options here. Although you got to be quick because they go pretty quick, thanks to the four military installations around our area we do have a good pool of renters that keep everything moving. Although the rental median out in this area, so your average so to speak is around $2,200 per month. Now, that's a high all the way up to $3,900 per month and about as low as $950 per month.

2. Popular Places

Okay! So if you're coming to Destin some other things you need to know, number two is the popular places that people want to live. So, I divided it into three different categories. Probably the most affluent that people want to move to, the best gulf rep communities, and the most affordable.

So, let's jump into our first one which is the most affluent. So, the most expensive than the most things and amenities that you're going to get in Destin is going to be Kelly Plantation and Regatta Bay. And those areas are more in the northeastern part of Destin and it's a very very gorgeous place, both gated communities. These wonderful green spaces all throughout the areas, Regatta bay was, its actual marina was in boating magazine. A couple of times is one of the best places in the entire State of Florida for boating. It's just absolutely phenomenal in these communities.

Now, the best gulf-front community, I'm talking about the Gulf of Mexico, not the going out and playing golf and me hitting balls into the woods. Is going to be Holiday Aisle and Crystal Beach. Now, Holiday Aisle is by far the most expensive community to purchase anything in the Destin area. And that's where it's sitting there on Destin Harbor, it's got really close to Noriega point and Crab Island and all the things that people love to do at least on the western side of Destin. Or a lot of people go on vacation, lots of restaurants and things of that nature because it's so secluded and because it's got access to that bay. It really drives those prices up, but you can't really beat that location being there and being able to live in that sort of community, which is why the price point is the way it is. Now Crystal Beach also encompasses where Henderson beaches and it goes all the way East until we start to hit Miramar Beach. Now, that's where we have a lot of vacation rentals but single-family homes, all throughout this community, have access to the public beach. You've got the Crab Trap of Destin, you've got all that access and hopefully just a little golf cart ride, or maybe a short bike ride to get down to the beach or even walking distance depending on where you're going to go, but just gorgeous and awesome community there.

Okay, So the most affordable, the place where most people end up living when they go here is pretty much anywhere in the Northwestern part of Destin. A lot of my favorite communities that are out there are say Indian Bayou, you have Indian Trail, really nice kind of secluded but they're on the backside of Destin so that you can get around the thing that really drives people crazy around here in the Destin area which is traffic. And you could at least get around the traffic on 98 when you're back in those communities. Now, another good one as well is that Heritage run, which is probably in the most North Western part of Destin. So definitely, those are those areas that are what we almost consider old Destin, if you want to look at it that way, and just a nice little eclectic community that's back there, and I mean that in the best of ways.

 3. What to do here?

Alright! Number three, What to do here? What do you, what are the things to do in Destin? Well as a local and most locals in this area, everybody seems to travel to Destin when they want to do things. Why? Because that's where most of the stuff is. What are the big attractions out to Destin?

Well, number one is Crab Island. If you haven't been there. It's not really an island. It may have been at some point. But it's this area where a lot of people just bring in their boats and it's over there by the Destin bridge. And it's pretty shallow, most of the time where everybody puts anchors in goes around and it's just, this big old boat party people or play music. Have a delicious libation. It's a great party to go out on a paddleboard or whatever boat you want to hang out. It's a fantastic time. Don't forget the Beaches you have Noriega Point throughout their Henderson Beach. And that's just in Destin in a short trip across the bridge into Okaloosa Island, in Fort Walton Beach. You have six miles of untouched gorgeous beach as well as everything down there by the condos and the boardwalk this out in their Fort Walton. Of course, Destin's known for fishing. If you've ever seen their slogan, it's the luckiest fishing village and the fishing here is phenomenal, and deep-sea fishing, you'll see people out on the shore fishing. It's a really, really nice community an area for that.

Not only that, but we also have the Harbor Walk, which is on Destin Harbor and there's tons of stuff to do. There are restaurants, there are bars, there are things for the kids, there's a zip line, there's just a whole community that you can just kind of walk down and enjoy for you and the family. And of course, it has access to all the different boating options that you do have like dolphin tour, snorkeling, the fishing that I mentioned, all those sorts of things.

Now, venture a little further down, and you have Big Kahuna's Waterpark, and that's the big water park you have here for the kids with the Lazy River, the slides, all those sorts of things. And Destin does have by far the best food restaurants all in this area. So, some of the best Mexican definitely the best seafood. Well, I guess that's debatable and just a lot of really good restaurants all throughout their and thanks to the tourism it keeps them going and it's great. Not only that but we have tons of golfing throughout the community, there's plenty of golf courses to go check out.

And well, the Nightlife. The Nightlife in Destin is the best in the area by far hands down. Of course, we have the HarborWalk area, and it kind of goes up all the way into an area called where the red door is and there's this really nice pizza place called Land Sharks, all the different lovely libations and music and everything else all throughout their. One of the more popular places to go towards the end of the night is AJ's. And AJ's, there's a couple of them throughout their, but the original ones out there in Destin or most people will end up towards the late evening time. They typically always have live bands, especially throughout the weekends. Just a really good place and there are tons of places to go out and check out.

 4. Biggest Employers

All right, number four is well, who are the biggest employers in this area? As I already mentioned, there are four military installations all throughout this area. So, the government and contractors are really big in the Destin area. And that's where a lot of the young military guys will end up, and of course retirees and what have you, because that's just, this is where everybody filters into. But it is a big employer, but it still isn't the biggest employer in the area. You probably guessed it, it is sales and retail actually has the biggest employment throughout this entire area of Destin. It's a destination spot and that's not a bad pun I swear. No, there's tons of Tourism throughout most of the year. We have about a four-month low where the locals finally get that back and that's when it starts to get a little bit cool around here, starting towards the end of November and picks back up towards Spring break when it starts to heat back up again. Of course, Health Care is a big part of this area as it is in most. And one of the other really big industries that we have here is management, mostly hospitality which either has to do with the different condo, hotels, hotels, condo vacation management, rentals, those sort of things throughout their management is a big part of the employers that are here.

5. Weather

Now, I did mention the weather. Let's talk about number five, which is the weather. In Destin, it does get hot. It is Florida, everybody thinks oh man it's going to be hot. That's all relative depending on where you come from. If you're coming in from Canada, you're going to think that the 46 degrees Fahrenheit is feeling pretty warm and comparison there too. But let's talk about the summertime, anytime during the summer we're going to see temperatures between 77 to 90 degrees. And the thing that really kicks it off is its average humidity, especially towards the fall, is close to 90%, it's rough. That's what makes it so hot in the hot index is because of that humidity. However, it does start to cool down. It does get cold, quote-unquote cold, and it will get anywhere between 46 degrees to 62 degrees Fahrenheit, and it still has that bite with the humidity in it. Even in the cold, that humidity makes a big difference. So feel much much colder when it's sitting around 40 50 degrees during our wintertime here than it would typically in a dryer place with the same temperature.

 6. What steps should I take?

Okay, So we're on to our last one. number six, what steps should I take if I am moving to this area? The first thing that you want to do is look into the areas that you want to move to. Maybe it's not Destin, maybe those price points are a little too much or maybe it's just too busy. Well, look around our area, we have Fort Walton Beach, Mary Esther, Niceville, you've got Miramar Beach 30A, Freeport all the way out in Navarre, which is the most relaxing beach in the entire State of Florida. Find out exactly where you want to live. Talk to a real estate professional. You can talk to us. We'd be happy to point you in the right direction. When that happens, figure out what you want to do. Do you want to rent or are you looking to buy a little piece of paradise when you do move to our area? And if you are looking to purchase if you have made that decision or are still on the fence, I'm not sure if I want to rent or purchase, please give us a call. Give us a call, give us a text, whatever you got to do, and let's schedule a time to either get on the phone or do a video chat to do a consult with either myself or any of our fabulous agents here on the Whittemore group. We'd be happy to help you out any way we can and all the way through the process if you're looking to buy or invest here on the Emerald Coast.

So, that's all that I do have for you. If you do have any questions about anything that entered here, please call/text us at 850.320.7757 or email us at Admin@WhittemoreGroupRE.com