Miramar Beach is one of the over a dozen communities making up South Walton. As one of the beaches closer to Destin, Miramar, aside from being primarily an oceanfront community, is known for its shopping destination, the Silver Sands Outlet Mall, one of the high-end shopping options the Emerald Coast has to offer. The communities of South Walton are often considered a more laid-back alternative to the business of the city of Destin but, even so, many of these communities like Miramar Beach are still vacation destinations and are a short drive away from Destin on route 30A.

As a beach town, Miramar Beach has both extensive rental and property ownership options. For the former, Miramar beach has both rental houses and condos. Beach communities are considered a hot commodity along the Emerald Coast and, as Miramar sits right on the Gulf, most rental properties here are going to be right by the beach. In terms of price, this means that rentals will be higher in other communities but the beach itself is closer no matter where you decide to stay in Miramar. Miramar Beach rental properties are listed in the descriptions on Five Star Gulf Rentals, and this includes both large houses for ten people – or two to three vacationing families – and condos.

If staying in South Walton is more than just a vacation, owning a home by the beach may be the ideal location for you. The current economic climate and real estate downturn has resulted in more than average amounts of foreclosed and short sale properties. Although foreclosures and short sales are less than the original amount of the home, this doesn’t mean that the price will be cheap. For single homes and condos in Miramar, this means prices from $1.5 million and downward. Townhomes, however, offer a more affordable options, and, in the Miramar Beach property listings on JoshMcLeanHomes.com, this includes properties up to $600,000.

Any listing on a website or through a county clerk office can tell you what kinds of homes are up for foreclosure in an area. But what about short sales? As mentioned in a previous post, a short sale is basically when a home owner settles on a lower price on a home to sell instead of going all the way with foreclosure. For the former home owner, both a short sale and a foreclosure can become blemishes on a credit report but, for a person looking for a home, a foreclosed home can be acquired at a lower price. In the Emerald Coast area, including towns like Destin, Santa Rosa, and South Walton, many homes are up for foreclosure and short sale at reasonable prices. If you’re thinking of purchasing a home or land around the Emerald Coast, a short sale property is one option for a lower price to pay on a high-quality piece of real estate.

The most common types of short sale properties on the Emerald Coast are, of course, homes. Through a website like JoshMcLeanHomes.com, this includes single homes, townhouses, and condos in locations like Destin, Miramar Beach, and Santa Rosa. As the towns along the Emerald Coast are essentially beach towns, proximity to the beach is important and, often, the properties closer to the beach are sold at higher prices than those not within walking distance of the ocean. For all types of properties, the prices range from $400,000 to over $1 million.

Another type of short sale property is land. Particularly if you’re a developer looking for land to build homes or condos, purchasing land at short sale prices is at a value. Most of the land available is residential in units of one or more acres. For certain properties, the types of land available include gulf front or beach properties and bayou land. Both of these can include inland beach lakes.