Generally, you get what you pay for, so what are pros/cons of each and does either have deal killers for you? If it matters, I would only consider beach front. Tia.
Florida people: condos in Panama City beach look vastly cheaper than the Tampa /st. Pete area
- Thread starter Tenacious E
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Not a great time to buy, HOA's are skyrocketing.
But, yeah, the sheer volume of PCB condos helps keep the cost more in line.
I love PCB, but it's pretty crowded (driving anywhere can suck bigly) and commercialized - been going there for a few years. If I was in the market to buy, I would go with a house or small condo complex in the Mexico Beach/Port St Joe/Cape San Blas area an hour or two SE of PCB.
But, yeah, the sheer volume of PCB condos helps keep the cost more in line.
I love PCB, but it's pretty crowded (driving anywhere can suck bigly) and commercialized - been going there for a few years. If I was in the market to buy, I would go with a house or small condo complex in the Mexico Beach/Port St Joe/Cape San Blas area an hour or two SE of PCB.
@DFSNOLE is a GC and lives near there. He’s likely going to know more than anyone else on here.
I seem to recall @FSUTribe76 being from there or around there too…
Do you or anyone know if the beaches are crowded around condos or is that more of a hotel area thing? On the HOA front, this is more in the exploratory stages for a long range plan, maybe 10 years down the road - give or take a couple of years - and I want to vacation to spots we would consider buying. Another question would be if dogs allowed for the most part, or would we need a house or townhouse for dogs.
It gets a LOT colder in the winter in the panhandle vs. the peninsula...
The beaches in the Gulf stretch near PC are amazing. Cost of living is likely lower. As mentioned earlier, PCB traffic is pretty rough. The area is hit by hurricanes relatively often. If it matters to you, it is known as the Redneck Riviera and votes strong red.
I can’t comment much about the Tampa Bay Area except to say that traffic there is also pretty tough beachside and Clearwater Beach is a good one.
I can’t comment much about the Tampa Bay Area except to say that traffic there is also pretty tough beachside and Clearwater Beach is a good one.
Yeah, I figured that might be driving it. Given we would most want to spend time there January and February, that is a huge factor. The bummer is that places in Panama City beach are 33% to 50% of places in Clearwater beach and such. So a small condo for just us or a larger place where one day more family can visit and enjoy, if you kids have kids…
We have always really liked the Indian shores area of Tampa - St. Pete. There’s a beachfront condo there we’ve stayed a few times. The beaches were never what I would considered crowded at all and most have nice pools as well. Also, only a 90 minute drive to Disney/Universal which always made for a good day trip. I can’t remember about dogs being allowed on the beach, but I assume they are?
The closest we’ve stayed to Panama City is Destin a couple times when the kids were younger. Liked that a lot also, but we all preferred Indian shores as a repeat family beach vacation in FL.
My sense from being in Marco island, Clearwater beach, Naples, and Sandestin is that traffic sucks everywhere along the gulf. But it surely sucks more in different areas. My hope would be that this would be a place we would mostly stay put with, and have fun things be walkable. And not full of only old people. Maybe that’s a pipe dream.
I can’t think of too many places in this state where the traffic isn’t awful.
It's been a minute, but my mom (no pics) used to spend the months of November and December in PCB. I visited a couple times and it was pretty sweet. Beautiful beaches and the weather that time of year was fantastic.
We used to take our kids to St. George Island (several counties east of PC) every year for the Christmas/New Years week. They always got in the water, we flew kites all day, and hit up the docks of East Point for fresh seafood daily. Sure, it sometimes was “cool” but not freezing.
Ya gotta understand tho, a lot of the Panhandle beach areas are shall I say, not cultural hotspots.
Yeah, that could be a problem. But I wouldn’t plan on giving up trips and such. But certainly, it would be a bigger PITA going to shows, concerts, etc.
Came here to say this. Tampa bay typically has a couple weeks of cold in the winter. Panama City? Bring ya parka kid
Bro, you can easily get stuck behind a truck and a few buses full of migrant workers for 30 miles on those roads around Lake Okeechobee and crossing the interior of the state.
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