Flagler County, Florida: A Local Guide for Home Buyers and Homeowners

Palm Coast

Palm Coast was master-planned by ITT Community Development Corporation starting in 1969. The welcome center opened on October 29, 1970, which the city still marks as Founder’s Day every year, and Palm Coast incorporated on December 31, 1999.

I-95 splits the city, with three interchanges including Palm Coast Parkway and Matanzas Woods Parkway. The city’s water network includes 46 miles of freshwater canals and 23 miles of saltwater canals, and AdventHealth runs two hospitals here, AdventHealth Palm Coast and AdventHealth Palm Coast Parkway.

European Village

European Village, in the Palm Harbor section of Palm Coast near the Hammock Dunes Bridge, has live music on weekends and a Sunday farmers market.

Bunnell

Bunnell is the county seat. It was settled in the 1880s, named for shingle maker Alvah A. Bunnell, and incorporated as a town in 1913 and a city in 1924. After annexing more than 87,000 acres, it covers about 139 square miles, so a Bunnell address can be a downtown lot or open land far from State Street.

US 1 runs through town as State Street, and SR 100 leads 8 miles east to Flagler Beach and about 4 miles to I-95. The neoclassical Old Flagler County Courthouse, designed by Wilbur Talley in 1926, was dedicated on July 28, 1927.

Flagler Beach

Flagler Beach was incorporated in 1925 and sits between the Atlantic and the Intracoastal Waterway, with SR A1A as its main road. Its roughly six miles of sand are tinted orange by crushed coquina shells. The SR 100 bridge carries you across the Intracoastal to the mainland.

The Hammock

The Hammock sits on the barrier island east of the Intracoastal. It connects to the mainland over the Hammock Dunes Bridge, a privately operated, 65-foot-high toll bridge completed in 1988, and Washington Oaks Gardens State Park is on this stretch of A1A.

Marineland and Beverly Beach

Marineland is home to Marine Studios, which opened on June 23, 1938, billed as the world’s first oceanarium. Beverly Beach is the other incorporated town on A1A, between Flagler Beach and the Hammock.

Flagler SHIP Shared Equity Purchase Assistance

Flagler’s Shared Equity program helps first-time buyers who have worked in essential services in Flagler County for at least a year, or Housing Choice Voucher holders moving to ownership. It can pay toward the purchase and toward rehab of the home, with larger awards at lower incomes. It’s a 0% deferred loan with a 30-year term, forgiven at the end, and HUD-certified pre-purchase education and credit counseling are required.

The SHIP Administrator in Bunnell sets the award by income and funds it round by round, so what’s available can change from one quarter to the next. If you work for a Flagler employer in an essential service, call 888-601-8344 before you write an offer and we’ll check with the Moody Boulevard office what Shared Equity pays and whether it’s taking applications.

Flagler County housing plan

Flagler SHIP for Nonprofit-Built Homes

Flagler’s SHIP plan also helps very-low and low income first-time buyers purchase homes built by a nonprofit or a community land trust. It’s a 0% deferred loan the county forgives a piece at a time once you’ve lived in the home for several years, and the program caps the sales price.

This help only applies when a nonprofit or land trust home is for sale, and the money behind it moves with each SHIP round. Call or text us at 954-816-8820 and we’ll ask the county whether one is coming up in Palm Coast or Bunnell and whether funding is there for it.

Flagler County housing plan

Flagler County Housing Services

Flagler’s SHIP Administrator works out of the Office of Financial Services at 1769 E. Moody Blvd., Bldg. 2, Suite 307, Bunnell, FL 32110, and the county’s housing page also covers SHIP disaster assistance. The county’s main line is (386) 313-4000.

Call us first and we’ll tell you which county program, if any, lines up with a home you’re looking at, and we’ll handle the lender side once the county approves you.

Official program page

Florida Hometown Heroes (statewide)

Florida Housing built Hometown Heroes for working buyers: a 30-year fixed first mortgage with a 0% second for the down payment and closing costs. There’s no payment on the second while you own and live in the home, but it isn’t forgiven; it gets paid back when you sell, refinance, pay off the first mortgage or move out.

The household needs at least one full-time worker at an eligible Florida-based employer in health care, K-12 schools, first response, public safety, the courts or licensed child care, so a nurse at AdventHealth Palm Coast or a Flagler Schools employee qualifies. Active-duty members can use it regardless of employer, while veterans and Reserve or National Guard members need full-time work with any Florida-based employer. It won’t work off a remote job, a part-time job or a job offer letter, and it pairs with FHA, VA, USDA and Conventional first mortgages.

Florida Housing assistance is once in a lifetime, which is a good reason to get the home and the lender right. Funds are reserved loan by loan, so call 888-601-8344 before you offer on a Flagler home and we’ll confirm the program is reserving and that your household income and the price fit the county’s limits.

Official program page

FL Assist, HLP and HFA Advantage PLUS (statewide)

Florida Housing’s seconds work in every corner of Flagler. FL Assist covers down payment and closing costs at 0% with nothing due monthly, and it’s paid back on a sale, refinance, transfer or move-out; it goes behind a Florida Housing FHA, VA, USDA or Conventional first. HLP works like a small second loan with its own fixed monthly payment over 30 years. HFA Advantage PLUS is the Conventional route: a Freddie Mac first whose second is forgiven over 5 years as long as you live there.

Every one of them goes through a participating lender or broker, since Florida Housing doesn’t take applications from buyers. Which one stacks best with a Flagler SHIP award depends on the program rules the day you apply, so call or text us at 954-816-8820 and we’ll compare them on the house you want.

Official program page

Schools and colleges

Public schools are run by Flagler Schools, the Flagler County School District.

Daytona State College has a Palm Coast campus, and Flagler Technical College is here as well.

Getting around

I-95 runs north-south through Palm Coast. US 1 runs through Bunnell, 31 miles north to St. Augustine and 18 miles southeast to Ormond Beach, and SR 100 connects Bunnell to Flagler Beach (8 miles east) and Palatka (30 miles northwest). SR A1A is the coastal road through Flagler Beach, Beverly Beach, the Hammock and Marineland, and the SR 100 bridge and the Hammock Dunes toll bridge cross the Intracoastal.

Flagler Executive Airport, renamed in 2015, handles private, student and business flying, with no commercial airline service. The Florida East Coast Railway, the line Henry Flagler financed, carries freight through the county that bears his name.

Washington Oaks Gardens State Park

Washington Oaks, at 6400 N. Oceanshore Blvd., puts an Atlantic beach lined with coquina rock and tide pools on one side. On the other are formal gardens of azaleas and camellias, with reflection ponds and a fishing seawall on the Matanzas River.

Bulow Plantation Ruins Historic State Park

The sugar plantation at 3501 Old Kings Road was destroyed in 1836 during the Second Seminole War, and its sugar mill ruins are on the National Register. A boat ramp puts you onto Bulow Creek, a designated state canoe trail.

Gamble Rogers Memorial State Recreation Area

The park at 3100 S. Oceanshore Blvd. in Flagler Beach is named for Florida folk singer and storyteller Gamble Rogers, with a beachside campground and day-use area on A1A. Check the state parks site for hours and any project closures before you go.

Preserves and trails

The county counts more than 40 preserves and parks and over 90 miles of trails, including Princess Place Preserve, Graham Swamp, Haw Creek and Russell Landing, River to Sea Preserve and Bulow Creek State Park. Palm Coast alone has more than 130 miles of trails.

On the water

The Intracoastal Waterway behind the barrier island is locally called The Ditch. The Matanzas River, Pellicer Creek and Crescent Lake round out the county’s waters.

Founder’s Day and the old courthouse

Palm Coast marks Founder’s Day every October 29, the date ITT’s welcome center opened in 1970. In Bunnell, the Old Flagler County Courthouse, a neoclassical building dedicated a decade after the county was formed, is worth the stop.

Buying a home

FHA is the loan most of our Flagler buyers use: 3.5% down, flexible credit guidelines, and it pairs with the county SHIP programs and Florida Housing seconds above. Eligible veterans and service members can buy with a VA loan and no down payment, and we also write Conventional loans, Hometown Heroes, FHA 100% financing, and DSCR loans for investors buying rentals in Palm Coast.

AAA Capital Funding has been a licensed Florida mortgage broker since 1997 and lends statewide in all 67 Florida counties, from Flagler’s canal lots to the Keys. We shop your loan with multiple wholesale lenders and get you a pre-approval with real numbers before you tour homes in Palm Coast, Bunnell or the beach towns.

Refinancing the home you have

On a Flagler home you already own, a refinance can lower your monthly payment, take cash out for a roof, a dock or storm repairs, pay off higher-interest debt, or buy out someone else’s share of the home.

Call 888-601-8344 and we’ll put your Flagler payment beside the new one, with the cash out and the closing costs on the same page, so you can decide on real figures.