[Catfishhoward]

I have been looking to buy 5-20 acres in North Florida with a home or vacant land to build a home on using Zillow with a max price of $160,000. I have found lots of homes and land for sale in the Lake City and Gainesville area but not much West of Tallahassee? Is there a reason so many people are moving away from the Lake City area? I don't know much about Florida but some people told it's the bugs and sinkholes could be the reason? Or maybe the land is more money in NW Florida?

[FireStation46]

Look up you place relative to the sinkhole map

https://fcit.usf.edu/florida/maps/ga...oles/index.php

Even then sinkholes are insidious so no telling if one may pop up anywhere

Subsurface ground survey may help

Good luck

[TD*]

Lake city is a dump.

[Catfishhoward]

Originally Posted by TD*

Lake city is a dump.

Does that mean its high crime that's making people move and lowing the property values? I drove through North Florida and the land looks all similar to me.

[Catfishhoward]

Originally Posted by FireStation46

Look up you place relative to the sinkhole map

https://fcit.usf.edu/florida/maps/ga...oles/index.php

Even then sinkholes are insidious so no telling if one may pop up anywhere

Subsurface ground survey may help

Good luck

Thanks for the info. I'm worried about buying a home more then 20 minute from a hospital in case I have an emergency call. Do you know if an ambulance only leaves from a hospital or could they be stationed at fire stations or other facilities?

[mollybygolly]

I live in Jefferson County, about 25 miles east of Tallahassee (Leon County).
I absolutely love this area.
As far as medical care, ambulances are dispatched locally and provide transportation as needed to the hospital(s) in either Tallahassee or Thomasville, GA.
Hope this helps

[slduvall]

Originally Posted by Catfishhoward

I have been looking to buy 5-20 acres in North Florida with a home or vacant land to build a home on using Zillow with a max price of $160,000. I have found lots of homes and land for sale in the Lake City and Gainesville area but not much West of Tallahassee? Is there a reason so many people are moving away from the Lake City area? I don't know much about Florida but some people told it's the bugs and sinkholes could be the reason? Or maybe the land is more money in NW Florida?

How far West are you talking about? Much of the panhandle is actually military reservation, therefore can't be built on, driving up the price of available land. Much is also owned by corporations such as St Joe, originally for their paper mills, now the land closer to the water is being developed.

[Catfishhoward]

Originally Posted by slduvall

How far West are you talking about? Much of the panhandle is actually military reservation, therefore can't be built on, driving up the price of available land. Much is also owned by corporations such as St Joe, originally for their paper mills, now the land closer to the water is being developed.

I work from home so anywhere in N. Florida is where I have been looking. I did notice a lot of timber companies down there also taking up a lot of land around Lake Seminole where I originally started looking before the hurricane hit. I don't mind the location in Florida I just want to make sure everyone's in Lake City not leaving for a certain reason. If it is higher priced land in the West that is good new to me but I'm going to look into the crime rate of the Lake City area vs West side of Florida.

[logybogy]

Gainesville is a no brainer if medical is a concern. It has the University of Florida Shands hospital there. One of the top 3 hospitals in the entire state.

There's lots of available acreage tracks within 20 minutes of Shands in your budget. Look at Micanopy and Windsor areas south and east of Gainesville.

[JAS]

Also, directly southwest of Tallahassee is National Forest land.