Happy New Year.
Avoid "Holley By The Sea" due to its HOA. Unless you like a homeowners association that is invasive, expensive, unpredictable, inconsistent, unreasonable, and tangibly disappointing.
Tons of new construction, but not enough infrastructure improvements to support:
-So, if you have kids, I'd goto the applicable schools and ask face-to-face what the CURRENT situation is concerning ballooned class sizes, teacher ratios, temporary facilities, etc.
-avoid a house that needs a sewage "grinder pump" to get the nasty stuff UPhill away from your home to the next pump station or downhill-portion of the sewage system. There are plenty of power outages, especially during storms. Those folks are the ones who have extra concerns and really should have a generator hooked up and functional just to maintain basic hygiene. (and that's not even addressing the times the pump becomes broken due to some kid flushing a toy that get caught in the grinder pump, etc)
-look for at least one access point (2 or more is better) to 98 at a traffic LIGHT. The rush hour traffic can make it difficult to impossible to merge without a light, and even if You are good at judging vehicle speeds/gaps and accelerating your vehicle, you Will be stuck five cars back while some inexperienced/incompetent driver upfront is waiting for the entire state of Florida to drive by and leave them one mile of empty road.
Trash and recycle each get their own large plastic "square" bin with fliptop. Usually trash twice a week, recycle is added to one of those. Responsible homeowners put the trash/recycle out the morning-of due to wildlife getting into it overnight (bears, raccoons, etc). Depending on where you are in their route, the WastePro folks might go by your house at 6:30am. So, if early wake-up to put out the trash is a concern, call them up with an address and ask what are the days. They can change by what side of the street you're on.
The Eglin range gets used heavily. So, depending how far north you are, you will hear (and sometimes FEEL) the sounds of freedom and ordinance. I consider it a positive. I love my AC-130 private air shows from my yard, but others may not.
AT&T signal strength is crap in some areas. And the U-Verse is not as fast in the area due to their own lack of appropriate fiber-optic stations.
You know about 98. There is a TON of new construction on it. Who knows what that'll do to future plans for more lights, or turn lanes, etc. Just scout your area with a critical eye.
Then . . . there is the cost of insurance. OUCH !!! --- SAWMAN
Then . . . there is the cost of insurance. OUCH !!! --- SAWMAN
It's not too crazy expensive. I live just off 98 in Gulf Breeze and it runs me roughly $1100/year for the run of the mill hurricane deductible etc... curious as to what other folks are paying in the north end of the counties. I'm not in a flood zone and haven't even really had any close calls as far back as Ivan. There's plenty of high ground in the area.
Thanks for all the responses guys. We do not intend on staying more than 3-5 years. Ultimate desire is to re-sell, break even, and head north for TN. I work at Hurlburt, we currently live south of Crestview, but rarely head north into town. The housing boom here is making it increasingly painful to get in/out of what was once a peaceful neighborhood, and we pretty much avoid Crestview, so.....
We found a place on the north end of HBTS that fits our needs, is bordered by wooded lots, and the military turn-over fits with our intent to re-sell. I'm not thrilled by the HOA, but do welcome a bit of peace and quiet, and the family is all about the gym and rec facilities. I really have no intent on doing anything with the house/property except living there and then selling in 3-5 so their rules are pretty much n/a IMO. Eglin range noise is no problem for me. I've been around that stuff for decades.
Our current house sold in two weeks(!), and in three months of looking, we could not find a decent place without septic or a freakin' sewage grinder. House we're going to has a commercial grade grinder, the power lines are under ground, and it will definitely get wired so I can hook the generator to it. The move is honestly more for my family than me. They are simply miserable near Crestview, so I'll deal with things as I always have; it's always something.
I appreciate ya'll's input/honesty. Thanks and keep it coming.
Yep. I started going in early to avoid the Crestview traffic coming and going so will stay with the early hours. Thanks.I work near the back gate on Hurlburt and I've learned if you can adjust your work times to avoid the normal work schedule traffic is better. Lots of times it's even better to go out that back gate and go around on 98 as the front gate starts to back up if you leave after 3:15 in the afternoon.
Traffic typically isn't bad when Schools out unless there is an accident. The problem is Florosa Elementary sits on Hwy 98 1.5 miles to the West of Hurlburt and the school light starts flashing yellow at about 3:10, as soon as that happens the traffic starts backing up and getting off base going West becomes a pain! I've learned if I need to get home in a timely manner I leave work by 3pm! I'm not sure what idiot in this county thought it was cool to put schools along a major highway not far from a military base, just stupid. They spent all that money to build the Hurlburt Overpass and it has done nothing to relieve the traffic issues thanks to the school being there! You'll see once you move, right now traffic is great because the kids are out on Christmas break, things will go to crap again on Tuesday when they go back to school!
That area you describe with the underground power lines is also the highest elevated portion of HBTS I believe. Did a lot of weekend yard sale shopping in HBTS. We lived two blocks behind the CVS on 98 just up from the bridge to the beach on a street named Wilburn Cove. Like you it was a temporary situation, due to employment in my case. Love to fish but I had to be on the beach before sunrise or the traffic was just to much for the little bridge there, especially in summertime. I got into a carpool and most days we would cut through Hurby on our route from the Walmart in Navarre to our work at Eglin. I wasn’t familiar with that portion of 98 but research showed it was super dangerous (among the top 15 or so in the US). I spoke with a few troopers who told me in the area for some reason it is not a question of if alcohol is involved but how much. There were a few higher crime areas behind the Wynn Dixie and back off East Bay but we left in early 2016, as soon as we located schools we wanted our children in. I did enjoy shooting at the Oak Ridge rant there. It wasn’t as crowded as it appears now and the guys who worked there were very cool. Most weekdays I could shoot for hours and they did a good job putting a new trigger in one of my rifles. My wife liked one of the sushi restaurants and the Thai restaurant across the street from Culvers where my wife liked the ice cream. We rented there but should have bought several and then rented them ourselves looking at the rental prices of about 1400 a month for a 3/2 around 1600 sq ft per my current colleagues who sell real estate. Be interested to hear your thoughts after residing there awhile. It solidified my like of more acreage and less neighbors.