[Bruce Pate]

I wanted property in Florida. I looked for a few months in late 2018 and finally found 1.2 acres for what I thought was a good deal in Florida. It’s in Crestview, in the Pan Handle, but about a 45 minute drive to the beach in Fort Walton. It is outside of an incorporated area (outside city limits), but still within walking distance of Publix and some restaurants and a movie theater. The county will not allow you to live in RVs. They’re trying to bolster their expensive property values and I suppose there are concerns about hurricanes, even 30 miles inland. I plan to landscape the property for maximum privacy and build a garage for my Promaster van camper. That will get around RV living restrictions. I’ll position the garage on the lot where someone could build a house later, but I doubt I will ever build a normal home there. In Florida, property taxes are high, so the less you can build, the better. Power is adjacent the the property. All they have to do it install a transformer on the nearby pole and run about 50 feet of line to the property’s pole. I have yet to get that done. Water is available, but the water company wants $2,500 to set a meter. You don’t have to drill very deep in Florida to hit fresh water. I may consider a well instead because I don’t want a water bill. I will need a septic system to go with the bathroom in the garage. So, all in, it won’t be inexpensive. The most critical thing the property needs right now is a gravel drive since it is mostly a mix of sand and clay soil. I’m afraid to drive my van on the property until I get the drive done.

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