In coastal Sunset Village, opportunities like this do not come along often.

This two-lot package includes 205 S Brooks Ave and 207 S Brooks Ave in Port St. Joe, Florida, totaling approximately 0.67 acres in an X Flood Zone near the Hwy 98 coastal corridor, St. Joseph Bay, and WindMark Beach. For buyers, builders, and developers looking for land near the Gulf of America and St. Joseph Bay, this is the kind of site that deserves a closer look.

The package includes 205 S Brooks Ave at approximately 0.31 acres and 207 S Brooks Ave at approximately 0.36 acres. Together, these contiguous homesites create added room for future planning, thoughtful site design, outdoor living, garage space, or a custom coastal residence. Buy both for a larger…

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St. George Island Lights Up the Fourth of July Week with the Coast's Priciest Closing

Somewhere between the boiled peanuts stand on Highway 98 and the fireworks over the bay, this stretch of the Port St. Joe to St. George Island run does its own kind of celebrating every July. Boats stack up at the ramps. Porches fill with families who've been coming back for thirty summers.  This year, the market threw its own small fireworks show: a $1,712,000 closing on Cape San Blas and a $1,574,120 sale on St. George Island reminded everyone that the high end of this coast is still very much alive, holiday week or not.

For the week of June 29 through July 5, 2026, 18 homes closed across the five communities we track, with vacant land adding 6 more sales to the…

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How do you finance a second home on Florida's Forgotten Coast?

A second home on this coast is more within reach than most buyers expect. For a place you'll use yourself, you can start with as little as 10 percent down, and 30-year fixed rates have eased back into the high 6 percent range as of mid-June 2026, just a touch above a primary residence. Larger homes above the 2026 conforming limit of $832,750 in Gulf County open the jumbo path, and if you'd like to rent the place when you're not there, the investment-property route is a flexible option too. Rates move daily, so the best first step is a quick, live quote on your own scenario. Let's get you started.

By Billy Joe Smiley

Most of the buyers I work with on this coast aren't buying a…

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2026 4th of July Events on Florida’s Forgotten Coast

America is turning 250, and there is no better place to celebrate than along Florida’s Forgotten Coast. From waterfront fireworks and golf cart parades to live music, local shopping, farmers markets, family fun, and beach-town traditions, the 2026 Fourth of July weekend is packed with patriotic events across Gulf County and Franklin County.

Whether you are staying in Port St. Joe, Mexico Beach, WindMark Beach, Wewahitchka, Apalachicola, Carrabelle, Eastpoint, or St. George Island, here is your timeline of local 4th of July celebrations.

Wednesday, July 1 — Eastpoint Freedom Festival

Kick off the holiday week bayside at the Eastpoint Freedom Festival. The celebration begins at the …

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What will a buyer actually pay in closing costs on Florida's Forgotten Coast?

When you finance a home here, you can plan on buyer closing costs of roughly 2 to 5 percent of the purchase price, and every piece of that is easy to budget for once you know it. It covers Florida's documentary stamp tax on your mortgage note at $0.35 per $100 financed, the intangible tax at $2.00 per $1,000 financed, your lender's fees and lender's title policy, recording and inspection costs, and prepaids. The biggest line item on this coast is usually your insurance, since wind, flood, and homeowners are often paid a full year up front at closing, which is a normal part of owning a coastal home. A cash buyer skips the note stamps, intangible tax, and lender fees,…

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St. Joe Beach and Mexico Beach Run the Table as June Closes Out on the Forgotten Coast

Late June on the Forgotten Coast means something specific if you know this place. The boat ramps are full by seven. The afternoon thunderheads build over the bay. And the real estate market does what a well-balanced summer market does: it moves at a measured pace, rewards the right price, and builds a pipeline that tells you where the next few weeks are headed.

For the week of June 22–28, 14 residential closings and 7 land sales closed across the coast. Active residential inventory holds at 633 listings, with 23 homes under contract. At the current pace, that's 10.4 months of supply which is buyer's market territory by any standard definition, though the story…

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Is now a good time to buy on Florida's Forgotten Coast?

Yes, mid-2026 favors buyers on the Forgotten Coast. Inventory on Cape San Blas and the Highway 30A corridor has grown several weeks running, homes are sitting longer, and sellers are negotiating on price, concessions, and rate buydowns more than at any point since before the pandemic. With 30-year rates near 6.4 percent, your real advantage right now is leverage on terms. The smart move is a well-structured offer with full contingencies, not the highest number you can stretch to.

By Billy Joe Smiley | June 11, 2026

I get this question almost every week right now, usually from someone who has been watching listings for a few months and senses the market has shifted. They're right. After…

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How Much Is Wind Insurance on a Forgotten Coast Beach Home?

Wind insurance on a Forgotten Coast beach home usually runs somewhere between $1,000 and $5,000 a year, and on a higher-end Gulf-front property it can climb well past that. It is a separate policy from flood insurance and from your standard homeowners coverage, and it carries a percentage hurricane deductible rather than a flat dollar amount. Your real number depends on the roof, the elevation, the distance to open water, and the wind-resistant features the home was built with.

By Billy Joe Smiley | June 9, 2026

Most buyers I work with come in ready for the mortgage payment and braced for the flood policy. Then the wind insurance quote shows up, and the math on the whole purchase…

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Summer Opens Strong on the Forgotten Coast as St. Joe Beach and Mexico Beach Lead the Charge

Summer is here in every way that counts. The trucks are loaded and the short-term rentals are full. The real estate market wrapped up the week of June 15–21 with the kind of activity that tells you demand is still real, even in a higher-rate world. Sixteen homes closed across the four major market areas, the coast-wide inventory edged above 620 active residential listings, and buyers quietly nudged 19 properties under contract. Not a breakout week, but a steady one. 

What is the Forgotten Coast real estate market doing this week?
For the week of June 15–21, 2026, the Forgotten Coast recorded 16 residential closings and 3 land sales across Port St. Joe, Cape…

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How Much Are Property Taxes on a Vacation Home on Florida's Forgotten Coast?

Vacation homes in Gulf County, Florida are assessed as non-homestead property, which means you pay taxes on the full assessed value every year with no homestead exemption and no Save Our Homes cap. Annual property taxes on the Forgotten Coast typically run $9 to $12 per $1,000 of assessed value depending on your taxing district, putting a $1 million vacation home at roughly $9,000 to $12,000 per year. Port St. Joe city properties carry slightly higher rates than unincorporated Gulf County areas like Cape San Blas, Indian Pass, and St. Joe Beach.

By Billy Joe Smiley | June 4, 2026

Property taxes are one of the first things I walk buyers through when we're looking at…

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