Hi Everyone,
I hope you all are healthy and taking pre-cautions! Things are so unpredictable right now, so I wanted to write a post about things I am looking forward to once this is all over. I want to show some gratitude about where my family lives, because until recently I took advantage of all the great things about St. Augustine. Times are tough right now..because COVID-19., but I know once things get back to normal I will be more grateful than ever.
We decided to purchase our first home 3 years ago, because renting a 2 bedroom apartment is so expensive at the time. For my husband, myself, a toddler, and, a St. Bernard, we needed MORE space, and a yard. So we decided to invest in our first family home. At the time, we were renting in a great location in Jacksonville. It was great because it was only minutes from the beach, but we wanted that convenience in addition to things, that Duval couldn't offer our family, and future family. After speaking to our realtor we knew the perfect location would be St. Johns County. If you and your family are on the market for a home, reach out to Jax Historic Realty He is an expert in North Florida, and can help you decide what area is best for you and your family!
Why we chose St. Johns over Duval..
1. The School Ratings
At the time, Harleigh was only 2 years old. It seemed silly to think so far into the future, but we knew we wanted to stay in our first home for the next 5-10 years. It was important to take into consideration not only Harleigh, but any future Wingate babies also. With that in mind, the school ratings in St. Johns County are the best in all of the state of Florida. We knew if we purchased a home here, our kids would have the best opportunity to have the best education available in the area.
I am so thankful Drew and I thought that far into the future, because here we are! Harleigh starts Kindergarten in 5 short months, and her new elementary school is amazing. We are also sure that when we grow the family, our next baby has great pre-school options as well as grade school!
2. Small Town Vibe
Fun Fact: Me and Drew grew up in the same tiny town outside of Gainesville, FL. It was super small... like 1 stop light small. If you guys ever visit St. Johns County, it is super under developed. This is great for soo many reasons, for example; NO traffic. We are also within a 25 minute drive to Jacksonville, so if we need our city fix, it is only a short drive away. I think this is something Drew and I loved, because we grew up in a small town so we like the suburbs.
3. Close to the Beach and other things to do
If there is one thing I can say about our county, we are never ever bored on the weekend. We are always finding new things to do in our area! We love being outside, so the beach is always our goto during the warmer months. Drew likes to surf, so we go often. While Drew is out surfing, Me and Harleigh hang out on the because going too far out in the ocean is not my thing. The beaches are gorgeous in St. Augustine and people come from all over the world to visit. So lucky that the beach is basically in our back yard.
Another fun thing about St. Augustine is that it is full of history. There are tons of museums, tours and even a fort to visit. I have lived here for 3 years and have yet to do all the things. St. George street is the center of historic Downtown St. Augustine. You can dine, shop, and check out Florida's oldest city all in one day. It is so fun!
4. Investment
This kind of goes back to point two. St. Johns County has a lot of huge development plans currently in the works. When Drew and I bought our home, we had equity in our house as soon as it was built. We have seen a significant increase in our home's value every year due to all the developments happening. If you want to turn your home around in the next 5-10 years, I highly recommend getting in now!
5. Make lots of Memories
We have made so many memories in our little home. I love that we have measured Harleigh grow every couple of months in the garage. We have met so many friends in our neighborhood and also got to make our house a home! These are all things we could have never done in an apartment or rental.
As Harleigh gets older, and we make plans, we are quickly realizing that we will soon need a bigger home, so that is already conversations we are having. It is relieving to know that we have our realtor on stand-by when we decide to jump the gun in the next couple of years.
If you are looking to move in the North Florida area, check out Erin E. King who is Top Rated by Zillow. We love the entire greater Jacksonville and are so fortunate to live here. When you look into buying in the area, search each individual neighborhood to find the one that fits you best. All you need to do is make a quick search like: San Marco Homes for Sale or you could reach out to Erin and he will help guide you towards finding the best part of town for you! To get more information follow the link HERE .More information for you all below :)
Have a great weekend & stay safe!
XoXo
Megan
***Disclaimer: this is a sponsored post. All of the opinions, and statements in this blog post are that of my own and are not swayed by this post being sponsored.
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