[onzalakers]

Good afternoon,

Reaching out to you all for some help and advice. There is a high likelihood our family will be moving to the Eglin AFB area. I would like to rent a single family house in the best elementary school, if possible. From the quick search, looks like Bluewater Elementary fits the bill. Do any of you know if it's hard to find a rental house in Bluewater community? Are there any parts of Niceville we should avoid? Is Bluewater Bay the only neighborhood zoned to this school? If not, what are the other ones?
Also, if we decided to live in Destin, what particular neighborhoods would you recommend? Safety is #1 importance. Looking for the family-oriented neighborhood with excellent schools. I will be commuting to Eglin. Having lived in DC and Los Angeles, I am not particularly scared of the traffic but of course would prefer to minimize it, lol

Finally, can someone please recommend an excellent real estate agent that you trust?

Please help
TIA

[beachmouse]

The rental situation in the broader region remains tight right now due to slow rebuilding following Hurricane Michael in the Panama City/Tyndall AFB area and hour to the east of here. Rents aren't going to be so bad compared to DC/LA but you definitely pay more and get less than you did 18 months ago. We bought in 2001 so I don't have a ton of recent data points, but Carriage Hills Realty does a lot of rentals in the Niceville area. If you know any of your future co-workers now, I'd also ask them if they've heard of any properties coming up for rent- I suspect a lot of the good options are going quickly via word of mouth.

The area south of Eglin AFB was mostly developed piecemeal with a few larger developments (Bluewater Bay, Swift Creek in the Niceville area, Regatta Bay, Kelly Plantation, Emerald Lakes in the Destin area) that came later on. So outside those developments, good areas and trailer parks can be somewhat street by street. If you can't get out here to look in person early on, I'd use something like Google Street view to get a better feel for the area a couple blocks from the property.

For both Niceville and Destin, a very broad rule of thumb is that the nicer and newer parts are toward the east side of town.

There are parts of Bluewater Bay that are zoned for Plew Elementary school because of overcrowding at Bluewater Elementary. With either of those good schools, you're getting the parent demographic you want- lots of highly educated folks with base or other white collar jobs that require a good amount of brain power.

While the crime numbers for the area as a whole are average to maybe slightly higher than average, a lot of the crime is either people actively looking for trouble or minor property crime of opportunity. I think the number one crime reported in Bluewater Bay is 'items stolen from unlocked vehicle'. I'm female and run alone during twilight times and never fear for my safety.

[onzalakers]

Originally Posted by beachmouse

The rental situation in the broader region remains tight right now due to slow rebuilding following Hurricane Michael in the Panama City/Tyndall AFB area and hour to the east of here. Rents aren't going to be so bad compared to DC/LA but you definitely pay more and get less than you did 18 months ago. We bought in 2001 so I don't have a ton of recent data points, but Carriage Hills Realty does a lot of rentals in the Niceville area. If you know any of your future co-workers now, I'd also ask them if they've heard of any properties coming up for rent- I suspect a lot of the good options are going quickly via word of mouth.

The area south of Eglin AFB was mostly developed piecemeal with a few larger developments (Bluewater Bay, Swift Creek in the Niceville area, Regatta Bay, Kelly Plantation, Emerald Lakes in the Destin area) that came later on. So outside those developments, good areas and trailer parks can be somewhat street by street. If you can't get out here to look in person early on, I'd use something like Google Street view to get a better feel for the area a couple blocks from the property.

For both Niceville and Destin, a very broad rule of thumb is that the nicer and newer parts are toward the east side of town.

There are parts of Bluewater Bay that are zoned for Plew Elementary school because of overcrowding at Bluewater Elementary. With either of those good schools, you're getting the parent demographic you want- lots of highly educated folks with base or other white collar jobs that require a good amount of brain power.

While the crime numbers for the area as a whole are average to maybe slightly higher than average, a lot of the crime is either people actively looking for trouble or minor property crime of opportunity. I think the number one crime reported in Bluewater Bay is 'items stolen from unlocked vehicle'. I'm female and run alone during twilight times and never fear for my safety.

Beachmouse, thank you so much for taking time to respond. Really appreciate your help.
So in Destin, Emerald Lakes is the only community to look for? Are there any other? Do you think it might be worth buying a house? I will not be in the region more than 3 years...from what you have seen, is it hard to sell the property? I am not looking to make money, although, that would be great, lol. But I would be happy if I broke even...bonus points if it's stress free. Meaning, easy buy and easy sell. What would be a "good" budged for a 3-4 bedroom house in the areas we talked about above?
Thank you so much for your advice and feedback. No matter how many times I have done this "move to the place I have never been before", it never gets any easier. Especially, now with the kids and pets. Thank you!

[beachmouse]

For Destin, I'd say anything roughly east of Target is the good side of town. The 'bad part' is more north of McGuire's where there are still a few small trailer parks and such and we hear a good number of calls to that area when we's listen to the police scanner.

The homes that are easy to sell are the ones in Niceville or Destin or the Shalimar area that an AF Captain or GS 11 can comfortably afford to buy. Our house (3/2/2 1700sf) has a few issues but because it would list for under $350K and is in the older part of Bluewater Bay that has quarter acre or bigger lots, it would probably be under contract in less that two weeks. I don't know what your budget would be, but anything over $500K is often going to take longer to sell because of the smaller buyer pool, which excludes some areas of more expensive homes like Swift Creek, Kelly Plantation, and Regatta Bay. (The new Deer Moss Creek development in Niceville is going to be very nice at build out but in your time frame, you'd be trying to sell a 'used' home when many new homes in the development are coming online)

[onzalakers]

Originally Posted by beachmouse

For Destin, I'd say anything roughly east of Target is the good side of town. The 'bad part' is more north of McGuire's where there are still a few small trailer parks and such and we hear a good number of calls to that area when we's listen to the police scanner.

The homes that are easy to sell are the ones in Niceville or Destin or the Shalimar area that an AF Captain or GS 11 can comfortably afford to buy. Our house (3/2/2 1700sf) has a few issues but because it would list for under $350K and is in the older part of Bluewater Bay that has quarter acre or bigger lots, it would probably be under contract in less that two weeks. I don't know what your budget would be, but anything over $500K is often going to take longer to sell because of the smaller buyer pool, which excludes some areas of more expensive homes like Swift Creek, Kelly Plantation, and Regatta Bay. (The new Deer Moss Creek development in Niceville is going to be very nice at build out but in your time frame, you'd be trying to sell a 'used' home when many new homes in the development are coming online)

Thank you so much for your help!