Buying New Construction on the Forgotten Coast: What Florida's New 1-Year Warranty Actually Covers

What does Florida's new builder warranty actually cover if I buy new construction on the Forgotten Coast?

Since July 1, 2025, Florida law requires builders to provide a one-year warranty on every newly built single-family home, covering construction defects that create a material violation of the Florida Building Code. It doesn't cover normal wear, settling, storm damage, or appliances under their own manufacturer warranty, and it runs from the date you take title or move in, whichever comes first. Combined with a solid final walkthrough and your own agent at the table, it gives buyers on Cape San Blas, in Ovation, at WindMark Beach, and across the rest of the Forgotten Coast real protection they didn't automatically have before.

By Billy…

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2.2-Acre Parcels for Sale in Indian Pass, Florida

Wooded 2.2-Acre Parcels for Sale in Indian Pass, Florida

Private Gulf County acreage near Indian Lagoon, the Indian Pass Public Boat Launch, Port St. Joe, and Apalachicola

Buyers searching for acreage near the coast without the congestion of a traditional beach community should take a closer look at these approximately 2.2-acre wooded parcels on County Road 30-A in Indian Pass, Florida.

Carved from a larger wooded tract, each parcel offers privacy, natural surroundings, and the flexibility to create a homesite that fits your vision. Keep the mature pine and oak trees for added seclusion, selectively clear an area for a future residence, or preserve much of the land in its current, largely undisturbed condition.

Additional adjoining acreage…

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Forgotten Coast Real Estate Market Report | July 13–19, 2026 | Port Realty Group

Cape San Blas Catches Fire as Closings Nearly Triple on the Forgotten Coast

Something shifted this week. After a stretch of slow, patient trading, the coast came alive, and Cape San Blas led the charge. The state park was booming, boats lined the boat ramps at first light, and buyers who had been circling for months finally wrote offers. It felt less like the dog days of July and more like the market waking up early for fall.

Seventeen homes closed across the coast this week, more than double last week's count, and inventory got a real dent put in it for the first time in a while.

What is the Forgotten Coast real estate market doing this week?
For the week of July 13–19, 2026, the Forgotten Coast recorded 17 residential closings and 8 land…

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Forgotten Coast Real Estate Market Report | July 6–12, 2026 | Port Realty Group

A $3.4 Million Sale Steals the Spotlight While Summer Inventory Piles Up on the Forgotten Coast

July on the Forgotten Coast has that thick, salty heat to it, the kind that has boat ramps full by eight in the morning and porch fans running until well after dark. The beaches are packed with vacation-week families, the ice cream line at Shoobie's stretches around the block most evenings, and the real estate market is doing what it usually does this time of year: moving, but at its own unhurried pace.

Seven homes closed across the coast this past week, and one of them did some heavy lifting on the numbers before anybody even looked at the rest.

What is the Forgotten Coast real estate market doing this week?
For the week of July 6–12, 2026, the…

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What the St. Joseph Peninsula Beach Nourishment and Breakwater Project Means for Buyers

What does the St. Joseph Peninsula beach nourishment and breakwater project mean for buyers?

It's great news. A roughly $34.5 million investment just placed about 830,000 cubic yards of sand along 1.1 miles of southern Cape San Blas shoreline near the Stumphole revetment and added eight submerged breakwaters built to hold that sand in place. For buyers, that means a wider protective beach, a rebuilt dune, and a shoreline engineered to erode more slowly in the project area. It's a real vote of confidence in the peninsula. Smart buyers still confirm a parcel's flood zone, CBRA status, and insurance separately, and that's easy to do. Because the benefit is strongest in the southern project limits, where a parcel sits is worth checking, and that's…

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139 Lantana St

1st Tier Coastal Living with Gulf and Bay Views

There are certain places on Cape San Blas where the rhythm just feels right. The Gulf is out front, St. Joseph Bay rests behind you, and the beach routine becomes beautifully simple. That is exactly what you’ll find at 139 Lantana St, a 1st-tier 2025 coastal home positioned for both Gulf & Bay views and deeded boardwalk beach access.

Located on the beach side of Cape San Blas, this furnished coastal retreat offers the rare advantage of water vistas in both directions. From the front porches, enjoy views toward the Gulf of America. From the rear bedrooms, look back toward the calm waters of St. Joseph Bay. It is a special Cape San Blas setting—easy, scenic, and unmistakably coastal.

A 2025…

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Builder/Developer Opportunity in Sunset Village: Two Contiguous Coastal Homesites Near WindMark Beach

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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Forgotten Coast Real Estate Market Report | June 29–July 5, 2026 | Port Realty Group

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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Financing a Second Home on Florida's Forgotten Coast: Down Payment, Rates, and the Jumbo Line

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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Buyer Closing Costs on Florida's Forgotten Coast: What You'll Actually Pay at Closing

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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