Moving to NW Florida - Lifestyle and Fun Still in High Demand

Are you wanting to move to an area to where even if you are currently working, you still want to make sure you have a lot of fun during your non-working hours or maybe you're retired and still just want to have tons of fun. Well, I would say moving to Northwest Florida would be a great option for you as lifestyle and fun is still in high demand. I'll talk more about that in just a second.

Alright. So, moving to Northwest Florida and how lifestyle and fun is still in high demand. Of course, there's a lot of people that may live somewhere where, maybe there's not a whole lot of water. Maybe, they're in the mountains somewhere in the near the desert and they just feel like, they just want to have a time of their lives out in the water and live close to it to where they don't have to set aside vacation time to come travel to an area where there are some type of fun. Well, here in Northwest Florida, we are able to accommodate all kinds of water activities, water sports. So, if that's what you're looking to do, maybe you want to ride jet skis, go on boating trips or fishing charters, paddle boarding, kayaking, canoeing, whatever it is that you like to do out in the water, you can definitely do that here in Northwest Florida. There's a play area in Destin called Crab Island. You haven't heard of that already. It's really just an area where it's like a big boat party. There's floating tiki huts where you can, if you have a larger group, you can rent a pontoon boat with friends and family and just enjoy a day out on the sun and the beautiful emerald green waters and the water is about waist deep. So, you could even just get out of the boat. It's not like you have sit there, just sit still in the boat all day. You can get out in the water and have a good time, meet other people that are out there at Crab Island as well. It's a great place to meet new people and have lots of fun, play some music. Can have a couple drinks but drink responsibly. That's just an amazing thing to be able to do even as a local. But of course, tons of visitors come here and make sure they also have it on their list of things to do to check out Crab Island. However, again, if you're a local, that's just something you can just do on a regular basis, which is great in this area. It doesn't have to be Crab Island, but there are plenty of their beaches and places that you can go to rent pontoons or jet skis. There's a lot of companies and local businesses that will allow you to be able to rent from them to be able to enjoy your time out on the water.

Now, also when it comes to relocating here to Northwest Florida, of course, right now here, it's still a seller's market. Right now, it's currently April 2022. So, inventory is just a little bit lower than what it used to be. We do have a lot of people out of states that are reaching out to us needing to find some property here. A lot of people have these specifics where it may might, you know, be a little difficult to find exactly what they're looking for, but we can come pretty close to it. Now, a lot of people are asking about beachfront properties and the price range. But of course, beachfront properties are going to be a little higher in price and highly desired as well. We have a lot of people that are looking to invest in property to be able to have that passive income while they're not here in the area using their own property. They want to make money off of it, of course, while they're not using it. So, there's still a lot of people looking for that same type of property, whether it's a beachfront or not, maybe walking distance to the beach or just hop in a golf cart and shoot on down to the beach. A lot of those properties are going pretty quickly for what I've seen. I do have a lot of people that are looking for that a good rentable type property and something that they would love to use for personal use when they come down to the area and visit. So, there's a lot of people that are fighting over these same properties, a lot of buyers getting very competitive. So, as long as you connect with a realtor that would be a great help, a huge help to you in figuring out the location you want to purchase, the type of property that you want to purchase, and make sure that you can submit a competitive offer. Just, of course, if you don't have a realtor, feel free to reach out to us here at the Whittemore group, we'd love to help you out. But, especially during peak season, which is spring break through the fall going into October. We still have a lot of snowbirds coming during all seasons too. It can get a little tricky getting into some of these properties to preview them because there's a lot of visitors here that are occupying these units during peak season and then the off season, we have a lot of snowbirds that come. So, there are chances where you may have to purchase property site unseen, with the exception of a realtor doing a video tour for you. So, I like to make sure I get into these units for buyers that are not able to make it themselves. I do a virtual tour. I'll either get on FaceTime or whatever video app that whoever likes to use, or I'll just record a video walk through and send that off for them to look at, at their earliest convenience to see if they are willing to move forward with an offer. But again, a lot of these properties are high demand because a lot of people who want to purchase here. It's just one of those things where you have to, you know, be sure that you're comfortable with submitting an offer site unseen. But, you'll still have your opportunity to come down while you're under contract and view the property and probably have a little fun out here too while you're at it. And just make sure that the area is right for you, the amenities, the surroundings, and make sure that the unit is exactly what you're looking for. Again, you can have a realtor help you figure that out. You'll just have to make sure that you're, especially if you're financing, make sure you have your preapproval letter ready to go or if you're cash, have your proof of funds letter. That way, you can quickly move on the property that you highly desired in this area and just be prepared for a little friendly competition with the other buyers. Again, there's a lot of people that are wanting to move here and invest in property here Northwest Florida. So, you can't really be mad at them. So, just make sure you're prepared to either make a quick trip down here or just go off of the virtual tours that your realtor or here at the Whittemore group we would do for you.

Now, if being in the water is not your idea of fun and not the lifestyle that you like to live, there are still plenty of other options for you here in Northwest Florida. If you like to do, I would say more dry activities or maybe indoor activities, again, there's tons of things for you to do. There's, if you like to go golfing, we have plenty of golf courses for you to enjoy out in the area. If you like to do laser tag or paint balling, that's a fun option as well. There's, of course, a lot of festivals here in the area, especially in Destin, Miramar Beach and downtown Fort Walton Beach. If you like to do wine tasting or painting, there's a place called painting with a twist where you can do both. You can drink wine and paint at the same time. If you have little kiddos, there's little activities for them to do as well, there's miniature golf, there's arcades, and again, laser tag for children to be able to enjoy too. And there's also at the Harbour Walk, you can have the option to go on those boat tours, you're not actually in the water. However, you can do a sunset dolphin cruise or get on a pirate ship or you can visit the Gulfarium on Okaloosa Island Fort Walton Beach. If you want to go ahead and see those fun little sea animals, dolphins and seals. They have some reptiles there as well. Again, there's lots of opportunities for you to have fun, a great lifestyle here in Northwest Florida without you actually be in the water if that's not your thing. I know I'm not in the water all the time, but anytime I have the opportunity to go try something new, I am down, try it out.

Another great thing about the lifestyle in Northwest Florida is that you get to enjoy great weather all year round. Not saying it's complete beach weather during the winter months. However, it's still very comfortable to where you can still just grab a jacket and it's spend some time outdoors. There's a lot of people that still walk the beach even when it's pretty chilly outside. It's still a great place to go to clear your mind or just hear the waves and watch the sunset or Sunrise, if you're an early bird. There's still a lot of things to do as far as the cooler weather that you wouldn't want to do in the summer heat like camping or even if you like to go out on the boat still and go fishing. You can just bundle up. Some people don't like to be out there in the dead heat of the summer, so you can still have the opportunity to do that in the cooler months as well. But again, if Florida has, it's, you know, it's up and downs with the temperatures, but I know we're known as the sunshine state here. But, even with the sun being shiny and bright most of the time and with the occasional rain showers, of course, we do have great weather, I would say, in the wintertime. It would get maybe average around the forty, forty to fifty, but when we say that it gets chilly, we're talking about like 30s. There has been times where it dropped to the 20s, so that wasn't cool at all for us. No pun intended. But people that are from up north and come down here as snowbirds during the winter months. Of course, that temperature is nothing to them. I know I was showing condos out of Navarre Beach during the November time frame and the weather was about fifty to sixty degrees outside and there were still people out there in the water just having a great time. You won't see me out there in that temperature but I'm glad to see other people are still able to enjoy that regardless of what time of the year it is.

Well, that's all I have for you today. If you have any questions or want to know more, please feel free to call/text us at 850.320.7757 or email us at Admin@WhittemoreGroupRE.com