We Bought a Beach House on 30-A

I announced some big news the other night on Instagram: We bought a beach townhouse! We are over-the-moon excited for this new venture and can’t wait to start making memories with our family & friends.

Chris and I have been talking about the possibility of buying a beach house in Florida for a few years now, and after visiting the 30-A area over Memorial Weekend we knew that was the area we wanted to buy in. The beaches along Hwy 30-A are GORGEOUS and it’s about a 6 1/2 hour drive from Nashville, so close enough to be able to go down for long weekends.

Why We Decided to Buy Now

I want to start by saying that Chris and I are by no means wealthy, but we do both love our jobs and work really hard. When Chris decided to get his real estate license I knew it was something he would excel at because he is a true ‘people person’ and his work ethic is incredible. His real estate business is doing so well and I’m incredibly proud of him!!

So, we have been saving up for the past few years and when we saw how low interest rates were right now we wanted to capitalize on that. And we definitely aren’t just buying this as a second home, we are really viewing this as an investment property. Chris is a big believer in building future / long-term wealth through investing in real estate.

We do plan to rent out the townhouse a good portion of the year, especially during the summer busy season. We are planning to mainly use the townhouse mainly Sept – Dec & April – May.

Why We Love the 30-A Area in Florida

If you aren’t familiar with the 30-A area, it’s basically the stretch of beaches along scenic Hwy 30-A in the Florida Panhandle. Along this road you will see sugar-white sand beaches and lots of gorgeous, rare coastal dune lakes. We loved the area when we visited and it’s one of the closest beaches to us, which was important since we want to be able to visit for long weekends (and you don’t want to spend half your time driving somewhere!)

The 30-A area is a HUGE vacation destination and has been increasing in popularity over the past 10 years. We definitely took that into consideration because we wanted to buy somewhere that would rent well.

Why We Chose Santa Rosa Beach

When we went down over Memorial Weekend we spent a lot of time driving around the Destin, Miramar, & 30-A areas. It’s definitely cheaper to buy over in Destin / Miramar beach, but we didn’t like the area as much. The Destin area is more like a suburb (but on the beach!) with lots of big chain shops & restaurants, while the 30-A area has a small-town feel.

We actually ended up liking the Santa Rosa Beach area the best because, to us, it had the best of both worlds. You can jump on Hwy 98 which takes you into Miramar Beach / Destin where there is tons of stuff to do, or you can drive along 30-A and enjoy the smaller coastal town feel.

About our Townhouse

When we came across the Townhouse we ultimately chose we weren’t really sure about it. It backs up directly to Topsail Hill Preserve State Park but is not directly on the beach, which we were concerned about. Once we actually went and looked at the Park, all of our concerns were gone; this place is BEAUTIFUL!!

Benefits to backing up to Topsail Hill State Park:

The beach looks far but it is actually just a short walk / bike ride away down a paved trail
A tram runs all day, every day to take you and all your gear to the beach if you don’t want to walk or bike! (NOTE: currently not running due to Covid-19. They stated this is the only time it has ever not been running)
Over 3 miles of uncrowded, pristine beaches with huge dunes that reach 25 feet in height
There’s a bathroom at the entrance to the beach. I was shocked that there were NO bathrooms at most of the beach areas on 30A
There are over 15 miles of marked hiking trails within the park + Bike Trails
Kayak, canoe and SUP rentals are available at the park store every day
Multiple beautiful coastal dune lakes
You can fish from many of the lakes & ponds
Best part: no one will ever build around us! And our community pool is surrounded by gorgeous trees

Decor & Furniture

I won’t be able to share an empty home tour / walk-through until we go to move everything in, but I did want to go ahead and share the furniture & decor we’ve picked up so far!