The Top 19 Things You Need To Know Prior To Moving To Shalimar, FL

So, you’re moving here to the Destin Fort Walton Beach area and you're considering moving to Shalimar. And, you're wondering, what are the things that I've got to know prior to moving to this area? Well, in this video, my team and I came up with, get this, 19 different things that you have to know about this area prior to moving. And you want to stick around to the end because always that last one that we put in here, always gives you just that little bit of insight that you may not know that might make or break your decision.

Well, I promised Shalimar. So, let's get into it. Let's start talking about Shalimar, Florida. First off, where is Shalimar? So, Shalimar is located just south. It's the first like, little suburb if you call it that first little city. Just south of the Eglin Air Force Base area. So, if you're looking to be stationed out this way, or you got a job that's going to be working off that installation, it is right there. You can't beat that location unless you're going north. But, it's the first southern location there. Now, it's not that big of an area. It's kind of divided. Well, it is divided between the Shalimar bridge into the Fort Walton Beach area. Okay, so some things you want to know, the things you must know before moving into Shalimar. So, just to give you a little about a bit of a background, so, I'm being as a prior turned to a military guy, got back here over 10 years ago when I was first stationed out here. And, I didn't know much about this area. I really, really wish that somebody would tell me about Shalimar because the only thing I knew about it, was one of the ones that we're going to mention here, so, let's go.

1. TRAFFIC TO EGLIN PARKWAY

Alright, there's really only a couple of ways to get around to get up into the base. And there's a big old gate the right up there at Eglin and everybody's going to transition through Shalimar that lives in Fort Walton Beach, that lives in certain parts of Destin, that will be going up through Eglin Parkway to get to that gate. And that also is the same gate that gets into the hospital. So, there's a lot of traffic at certain times of the day. Now, it is three lanes on either side. So, it does move, but just anticipate that in the morning and things like that, there's also a school zone in there that you want to be aware of. So, leave ample time to get to work if you are going up to Eglin or if you're going south into the other places in Fort Walton Beach, Destin, or wherever you're going.

2. PROXIMITY TO WORK

Okay, number two reason that people want to move here is because of that proximity to work. If you work on the installation at Eglin Air Force Base, you're like five minutes away from the gate, maybe less depending on where you're at. That's super awesome and convenient, plus this area in Shalimar is really, really nice. The whole bunch of other amenities. So, you really don't have to leave far, you're not actually on the base. So, you don't have to worry about base housing and all this crazy stuff that goes on with that. You're actually as close as you can get in the civilian population and not have to worry about it. And, if you're going somewhere close in Fort Walton Beach, that's where you're working, you're actually not too far away because Eglin Parkway actually is a straight shot three-lane, just roadway system all the way down to Highway 98, which is super nice.

3. GOLF COURSE

Okay, number three is that, if you live in Shalimar, you going to actually live on the golf course that's out there called Shalimar Pointe. And you don't actually have to be in the community of Shalimar Pointe and pay the HOA dues and still be have a golf course, like back front property. It's really, really nice as part of Lake Lorraine, where you can go into certain areas in their have a golf front type property and not have to be subjected to the HOA. How cool is that? If you're a golfer and you want to look out and just see some people just chipping on the green, that's a pretty nice option for you right there.

4. TOP NEIGHBORHOODS

I want to talk about the top neighborhoods here in this area. Your top neighborhood is, first and foremost, is that Shalimar Pointe. It is the gated community that we have here and that gated community does encompass, the Shalimar Pointe Golf Course and a bunch of other amenities that go in there. It's pretty popular place. Just outside of that, what I have mentioned that was just around that area is the Lake Lorraine area, and that's actually really nice. There's actually Golf Course front property that you do have out there. And, of course, one of the other really popular areas is Poquito Bayou. Poquito Bayou isn't in the main part of Shalimar. If you are actually heading towards north going towards Eglin Air Force Base, you see like it kind of the traffic veers off a little bit and then you just go into which looks like the woods at over there. Well, quite honestly as you go through there and you take a left down at the Four-way stop sign, there's this big old Community. It's a little bit older but it's a really, really nice community in Poquito Bayou. It also encompasses a little bit older home, some newer homes in there and just a very active community. And, you just always see people out running, walking around, walking their dogs, it's just super nice. Plus, they also have access to the boat launch in the park.

5. PARKS

Alright, let's talk about number five, which is the parks. Like I just mentioned there. We have Longwood Community Park that's actually up in Poquito Bayou. You can go out there get a picnic. You can launch your boat out that way. It's actually a really nice area for you to check out. You can also check out Cherokee Park, which is actually right there, right next to where the main city hall is in Shalimar. It's actually pretty close to that next to where the Eglin Parkway is at and it's just a small little place for you to kind of hang out there. And of course, you have Shalimar Fields, which does have a bunch of ballparks and all-purpose fields for the kids, and what have you out there. So, there are some nice Parks here.

6. COST OF LIVING

Now, the cost of living when we go through these is usually on a scale between 1 and 100 or so. We're 100 is like the average across the United States, right? So, if you're high or low depends on where you're at, and if it's above or below average. So, hundreds right in the median. So, let's talk about what the overall for Shalimar is. Well, it's when 16, which means it's 16 percent higher than the average in the US, and the Continental US at least. Now, we can break those things down into different categories as we do in a lot of our videos where we have goods and services on the index. It's a 96 which is four percent below the national average. Your groceries is that a 102, there's a Publix right across the street. So, that's two percent above the national average. Your health care is a 98, which is nice, it's two percent below the national average. We have housing. Well, housing is a little expensive in our area. It's 153 on a scale of 100. So, that's 53 percent above the national average. Don't forget their gorgeous homes here and they are on the water. Your transportation is a 94, which is 6 percent below the national average, and utilities? Utilities are at 119. Yes, it gets hot here and it does get cold. So, you are going to use both sides of that HVAC unit. So, you will be heating and cooling your house which does drive the price up just a little bit.

7. AVERAGE HOME PRICE

We talked about housing, this is Real Estate Channel. So, let's talk about the average home prices. Your median for a single-family home here in Shalimar is $330,000. That's a high all the way up to 1.7 million and a low of $87,000.

8. AVENUE VS STREET

Now, here's a real fun one with Shalimar, is that the Avenues versus Streets in this area. Yes, it can get pretty confusing. So, if you're on a street, like 7th Street, that's going to be going north and south. Now, if you're on an Avenue, that Avenue is actually going east to west. Alright, so remember that. If you are going from north to south, that's Seventh Street. If you're going on Avenue, it's east to west. It's still confusing, I'm so confused about it.

9. BUILDING AND REPLACING

Okay, moving on. The next one that we have is that in some of these areas, it's kind of eclectic as you go through because there's a million-dollar houses sitting there on the bay across the street from the 300,000. A couple of blocks from a trailer park, which is just kind of how our area is. However, they are building up new houses all the way through this area. So, if you are looking to get a newer construction around this area, they've pretty much cleared out an entire trailer park that was going all the way down one of the streets there and now they're all putting up brand new housing. So, that means property values are going up. If you want to jump in on it, then give us a call.

10. OKALOOSA SHERIFF OFFICE

Okay, jumping on over to number 10. One thing to note in this area is, there are lots of Patrols. Why? Because it has the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Department. One of their offices is there and you have Shalimar PD, all in the small area of Shalimar. There are plenty of patrols, lots of police presence here, which is good for you and the family.

11. CHEERS

Number 11 is kind of a little Hidden Gem. If you don't know Shalimar that much and there is a little bar that's back there called Cheers. Yep, just like the show, Cheers. It's actually tucked away right behind the Fairfield Inn and the old real estate office that's right there kind of looks like a castle. But they have a ton of beers on tap, some really good food. It's just a nice place, it's tucked away that if you didn't know was there, you would know it existed.

12. ACCESS FOR BOATS

Okay, number 12 is where to access the water if you've got a boat. Well, if you don't have access through your HOA's and they don't have that boat launch for you or your property is not right next to the water, you know, you were going to have to go find someplace to go ahead and put in. And, the best place for that is over in Poquito Bayou. They actually do have a public place where you can go ahead and put your boat in.

13. WATERFRONT HOMES

Just go ahead and take a drive around and typically the gates open down there at Shalimar Pointe, and you can just drive around to see all these beautiful, beautiful waterfront properties. Absolutely gorgeous. They've got all sorts of different things because they've been built all throughout the different times, you know, so you can see different sort of structures. I'm an avid runner, so I run through this neighborhood sometimes and just like, wow, that's super cool. So, they've got all sorts of great ones that you can get on the water in here, at least, that's the date of this video, anywhere from about $600,000 to 3.5 million-plus, depending on your price point. Let us know. And the good part about this area specifically, is that you are on the northern part of the bay. So, you have the straight look, all the way out to Destin, and on a clear day, you can see right out there to Crab Island. And, you get the Sun that comes up in the morning, it's absolutely gorgeous. Just a great place to own waterfront property.

14. POPULAR MARINA

Alright, and number 14 is that we have a really popular Marina over in Shalimar it's called, Two Georges Marina. It's a full-service Marina that they do have out there. They have slip reservations. They've got all sorts of great stuff. You can always see when you go over that Shalimar bridge. And if you go ahead and look out towards the Destin area, you'll always see all those boats just parked out there in that Marina. It's kind of cool site. 

15. LIKE SAILING?

Alright, number 15, if you like sailing, if you're a sailor, or you have a sailboat, there's one thing that you'll need to know. And, you know, you got those big long masts in the center there, and it's just tough to get around. So, be sure that you're going to be on the right side of the Shalimar Bridge so that you're able to access the bay, which enables you to get to wherever you want to go. So, do make sure that your south of the Shalimar bridge, to ensure that you'll be able to get your boat out there.

16. OKALOOSA TAX COLLECTOR

Okay. So another one, number 16 on our list is the Okaloosa County Tax Collector is actually in Shalimar. So, pretty new building, and the tax collector here in Florida that's pretty much where your DMV is at. It's also where you file for Homestead and all sorts of different things there. It's nice that it's right there for you, if you want to go and vote, that's typically where they go out and do that, as well. It's one of those areas. So, it's really nice to have it right in your community.

17. DON'T GET CAUGHT

Well, this one I learned from experience. If you're going through Eglin Parkway and you're trying to head up towards Eglin Air Force Base to get into the gate. If you're in the far right lane, getting out of the main part of Shalimar, you're going to end up in the elementary school parking lot. That's right. So, that last Light, make sure that you're in the left two lanes so that you don't get stuck in that one. I see that happen all the time people are not used to it. Just cruising along in the right lane and then back in everybody else up, as they're trying to turn left. 

18. LIKE TO GOLF?

Well, if you like to golf as I mentioned before, we have the Shalimar Pointe Golf Club. It's a really nice course. If you're anything like me as a golfer you're going to end up in the woods or somebody's backyard or donating a whole bunch of balls. Some of these fairways are a little bit narrow, so if that's the case for you, go ahead and check out the Fort Walton Beach Golf Club. It's a little bit more forgiving. But Shalimar Pointe Golf Club is really nice. It is in the Shalimar Pointe area or neighborhood. It's an 18-hole golf course, it's out there. It's got a pro shop and they offer lessons. There's a driving range, like, you would anticipate and it's just a really cool place to go check out if you like to golf.

19. LAKES

Alright, last but not least, is number 19. Did you know that there are three lakes in Shalimar? Yeah, there are actually lakes there. There's only one of which that doesn't have access back into the bay. Can you guess which one it is? Alright, so we have Lake Lorraine, Lake Vivian, and Lake Clyde. Which one do you think? It's actually Lake Lorraine. Lake Lorraine does not have access into the bay. But still a beautiful place if you end up going by it. So, absolutely, absolutely gorgeous out in Shalimar. 

Well, there's all that we have for you for the top 19 things you must know prior to considering moving to Shalimar via anything else that you would like to add to this. If you've been through Shalimar and you're like, hey Tim, you forgot this, make sure to go ahead and leave it in the comments below. If you have any questions or want to know more about the area, please feel free to call/text us at 850.320.7757 or email us at Admin@WhittemoreGroupRE.com