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

Fernandina Beach

Fernandina got its name in 1811 for King Ferdinand VII, and that May it became the last town platted under Spain’s Laws of the Indies in the Western Hemisphere. David Levy Yulee’s Florida Railroad made it a rail terminus in 1861.

City Hall is at 204 Ash Street, and the Historic Courthouse is at 416 Centre Street. Downtown properties in the historic district follow the city’s Historic District Design Guide, so read it before you plan a new porch, windows or paint on an old house.

Amelia Island

Amelia Island is called the Isle of Eight Flags for the French, Spanish, English, Patriot, Green Cross of Florida, Mexican Rebel, Confederate and United States flags that have flown over it in five centuries. The tourism bureau counts 13 miles of beaches, and SR A1A/SR 200 is the road on and off the island through Yulee.

American Beach

American Beach is a historic beach community on Amelia Island, and the National Park Service lists it among the sites of the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve.

Yulee and Wildlight

Yulee is home to the James S. Page Government Complex at 96135 Nassau Place, where you’ll find the main Property Appraiser office, and the county Building Department is next door at 96161 Nassau Place. Wildlight is a planned community developed near Yulee.

Callahan

Callahan, in the west county, is near the site of the 1778 Battle of Alligator Bridge, the only major engagement of the failed Revolutionary War campaign against British East Florida. The Property Appraiser keeps an office here in the Walter “Junior” Boatright Building, 45401 Mickler St..

Hilliard

Hilliard is home to the FAA air route traffic control center that handles much of the region’s air traffic, and the Tax Collector has an office here.

Nassau County SHIP Purchase Assistance

Nassau’s SHIP program offers a deferred 0% second mortgage that the county forgives a little each year over its term, for first-time very-low, low and moderate income buyers who homestead the house within 30 days of closing. The county ties its purchase price limit to area sale prices over the prior 12 months, and homes built by Habitat for Humanity or other nonprofits qualify for higher caps. The Nassau County SHIP Program Coordinator runs it.

The award amounts and that price limit are reset as sale prices and SHIP funding move, and the posted plan is hard to read. Before you write an offer in Yulee, Callahan or on the island, call 888-601-8344 and we’ll get the figures straight from the SHIP Program Coordinator and confirm the program is taking applications for the house you like.

Local Housing Assistance Plan

Florida Hometown Heroes (statewide)

Through Hometown Heroes, Florida Housing pairs a 30-year fixed first mortgage with a 0% second that covers down payment and closing costs. Nothing is due on the second each month, and it gets repaid when you sell, refinance, pay off the loan or move out of the home; it isn’t forgiven.

You need at least one buyer working full time for 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 Baptist Medical Center Nassau or a Nassau County School District employee qualifies. The military rules are broader: any employer works for active duty, and veterans, Reserve and Guard members just need a full-time job with a Florida-based employer of any kind. Florida Housing doesn’t count remote work, part-time jobs or job offer letters.

Florida Housing lets each buyer use its help once in a lifetime, so it belongs on the home you plan to keep, with a lender who gets it right. Funds are reserved loan by loan, so call or text us at 954-816-8820 before you offer on a Nassau home and we’ll confirm the program is reserving and check your income and price against the county’s limits.

Official program page

FL Assist, HLP and HFA Advantage PLUS (statewide)

FL Assist lends toward the down payment and closing costs at 0% with no monthly payment; you repay it when you sell, refinance, transfer the home or move out. It needs a Florida Housing FHA, VA, USDA or Conventional first mortgage. The HLP second is the payment version, a small fixed amount each month over 30 years, and HFA Advantage PLUS pairs a Freddie Mac Conventional first with a second forgiven over 5 years while you occupy the home.

These come only through participating lenders and brokers; Florida Housing doesn’t take buyer applications itself. Which second pairs best with a Nassau SHIP award depends on the program rules when you apply, so call 888-601-8344 and we’ll lay them out for the house you want.

Official program page

Schools

Public schools are run by the Nassau County School District, with its district office at 1201 Atlantic Ave. in Fernandina Beach.

Getting around

I-95 crosses the county, with the Florida Welcome Center near the Georgia line, and I-10 clips the southwest corner without any exits. US 1/23, US 17, US 301 and US 90 serve the rest, and SR A1A/SR 200 connects Amelia Island to I-95 through Yulee. Fernandina Beach is about 25 miles from downtown Jacksonville.

Jacksonville International is the nearest commercial airport; Fernandina Beach Municipal Airport handles general aviation and serves as a reliever for JAX. CSX, Norfolk Southern and the First Coast Railroad run freight, and there’s no passenger rail.

Fort Clinch State Park

Fort Clinch covers 1,400 acres at the north tip of Amelia Island, at 2601 Atlantic Ave., with miles of beach and the Willow Pond Nature Trail. The fort, begun in 1847, is one of the best-preserved 19th-century forts in the country, and Union forces used it as a base after they occupied the island in 1862.

Isle of Eight Flags Shrimp Festival

Downtown Fernandina Beach fills up the first weekend in May for the Shrimp Festival, with a parade, shrimp boats and fireworks.

Rivers and marsh

The St. Marys River, a blackwater river, forms the northern border with Georgia and drains to Cumberland Sound. The Nassau River and Nassau Sound form the southern edge, and the eastern county is marsh and tidal wetland.

Amelia Island history

In 1817 the short-lived Republic of the Floridas, an attempt to take Florida from Spain, was declared on Amelia Island. Six years earlier, in 1811, Spain had named and platted the town of Fernandina on the same island.

White Oak Conservation

White Oak Conservation, near Yulee, is a large former private tract once run as a private wildlife facility.

Buying a home

FHA is the loan most of our Nassau buyers start with: 3.5% down, flexible credit guidelines, and it pairs with SHIP and the Florida Housing programs above. Veterans and service members who qualify can buy in Nassau with a VA loan and nothing down, and we also close Conventional loans, Hometown Heroes, DSCR loans for rentals and FHA 100% financing.

AAA Capital Funding has been a licensed Florida mortgage broker since 1997 and lends statewide in all 67 Florida counties, so the same broker can handle a Fernandina Beach purchase and a later move to Orlando or Naples. We shop multiple wholesale lenders and have your pre-approval ready before you tour a house in Yulee or on the island.

Refinancing the home you have

A refinance can lower your monthly payment, take cash out for a new roof, storm repairs or an addition, pay off higher-interest debt, or buy out someone else’s share of the home.

Call 888-601-8344 and we’ll show the payment you have now next to the new one, along with the cash out and the closing costs for your Nassau home.