Info On Jax Area Please!
 

I'm contemplating a move to the Jax area in a couple years. I like that there is freshwater boating on the St. Johns River and also the ocean of course. Thinking about south of the city and I'm not rich so also thinking $400,000 ish. Inland a ways and in a rural area would be ideal as long as we are not too far from water! We will need a pole barn and half acre minimum land. I know nothing of the Jax area and of course want to avoid bad areas. Any suggestions of where to look or real estate agent recommendations would be appreciated. I love the Great Lakes but getting so tired of the north winters. Thanks in advance for any help.

*St. Johns

Unfortunately $400K would have gotten you a killer home two years ago but now it gets you almost nothing here, but two more years could change things who knows. Everyone wants to move here, including a lot of the people from South FL who think its too populated down there. The million dollar question is do you have school age kids? You want to make sure you stay out of Duval if you do, Clay and St Johns both have good schools. If you can swings something on Fleming Island that is a great boating area as Doctors lake and the river (essentially the same thing) are right there, but you are far from Ocean/Intracoastal. Anything closer to the Ocean which is st johns or st Augustine is going to get pricier. Stay away from West side of Jax north of the Navy Base.

oops, fixed it!

Buddy of ours lives on Julington Creek off the St John's South of Jax. Its spectacular boating. Gotta have your head on a swivel for crab pots and getting used to the color of the ice tea water. They couldn't be happier living there & they have 3 kids in mid/high school

Thanks, areas to avoid is what i really need to know. No children. I'm retired. We don't need to be that close to the ocean but just want to be near a large metro area so there will be concerts and sporting events and malls, etc. You know, stuff to do besides boating. Now I am in metro Detroit (north) but 35 miles to downtown and Canada and Lake St. Clair.

Thanks, I was told to look south of Jax but we wouldn't mind being inland a little bit too if it's more affordable.

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Father from cost the cheaper it gets, particular with home insurance. Its a mess right now. But be aware of elevation, inland can flood to, the last two storms really hit a lot of areas with flooding inland.

I live in Fleming Island, few minutes away from public ramp. Pretty ok ramp. Good size properties, I have the boat in the back yard under a shed. Fleming is probably the best spot to be to avoid the riff raffs. The only problem, low areas, can flood.

Avoid low areas. Good to know! Dealing with hurricanes will definitely be a new thing.

Jax is a HUGE city (largest in America by square miles). Its got waterfront mansions and its got ghettos, you really need to visit to understand the size/economic levels.


Hurricanes are realistically a every 3-5 year thing. I've lived in S Florida since the 70s, never had any significant damage from any storm. In 2004 we had 2 storms in 38 days! That was easy, the house was already shuttered up, generator was running so it was no big deal. The house I live in now I've been in for 20+ years, I've put the storm shutters up 6 times. 33 windows/door openings, I get day labor and they can button it up in 2 hours. Impact glass is a nice option if you find a newer house or one that has been updated. To retrofit impact glass at my house it is 65-75K, I've been getting prices recently.


You can likely look in St Augustine in addition to the areas you already mentioned. A neighbor from my area was moving to Jacksonville to be near her son but ended up in St Augustine because she liked the area better and that was 20 minutes from her son's house.


The land/pole barn idea will be harder to figure out than if you were coming down to buy in a gated/HOA type community. I'd try to rent something the winter prior to you moving down and give yourself 2-3 months to scout out the area before you make the big commitment to move/buy something.

Jupiter has a good suggestion on renting first. We had been all over Florida both sides for most of our adult lives before we moved but still ended up renting in 3 areas before we bought. Granted, when I say 3 areas I mean Citrus county, St Pete and then Orlando! LOL

It really does help to live here for a while before you buy, just don't come down to Cocoa Beach, you will hate it here.:whistle: