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

DeFuniak Springs

DeFuniak Springs is the county seat, built around Lake DeFuniak, a perfectly round spring-fed lake. The Florida Chautauqua Assembly opened on its shore on Feb. 18, 1885, and the 4,000-seat Hall of Brotherhood, built in 1909, passed to the city in 1935.

The courthouse, Property Appraiser and Tax Collector are all at 571 US Hwy 90 East, and CHELCO, the electric cooperative founded in 1940, has its headquarters here. The historic Walton-DeFuniak Library is in town too.

Seaside

Seaside is a planned town on Scenic Highway 30A, and it was the main filming location for The Truman Show in 1998.

Rosemary Beach and Alys Beach

Rosemary Beach and Alys Beach are New Urbanist planned towns at the east end of 30A, designed by Duany Plater-Zyberk, the same firm behind Seaside.

Grayton Beach

Grayton Beach sits next to Grayton Beach State Park at 357 Main Park Road, nearly 2,000 acres wrapped around Western Lake, a 100-acre coastal dune lake.

Santa Rosa Beach and Point Washington

Santa Rosa Beach has the Tax Collector’s Santa Rosa Courthouse Annex at 31 Coastal Centre Blvd., which saves South Walton owners a drive to DeFuniak Springs, and it’s the mailing address for Topsail Hill, Grayton Beach and Eden Gardens state parks. Nearby Point Washington, an old settlement on Tucker Bayou, is home to Eden Gardens State Park and the 1897 Wesley House.

Miramar Beach

Miramar Beach is the western end of South Walton, on the Destin line, and like the 30A towns it’s unincorporated.

Freeport

Freeport incorporated in 1963 north of Choctawhatchee Bay. It has a Tax Collector office at 842 State Hwy 20 East, and Freeport High School, at 12615 US-331 Business, is the county’s primary hurricane shelter.

Paxton

Paxton is the north-county town near the Alabama line, incorporated in 1952. Paxton owners file homestead with the Property Appraiser in DeFuniak Springs, the same as everyone else in the county.

Walton County SHIP Purchase Assistance

Walton County’s SHIP plan gives first-time buyers down payment and closing cost help as a 0% deferred loan that’s forgiven after a set number of years, with tiers for very low, low and moderate income households and a larger award for Habitat for Humanity buyers. The Emerald Coast Regional Council administers it, with Walton County as liaison.

The council runs SHIP from a waiting list, and that list has closed at times while staff re-qualify applicants. Award amounts and the price cap can also change with each plan. Before you write an offer, call 888-601-8344 and we’ll ask the Emerald Coast Regional Council whether the Walton list is open and what it pays for that address.

County housing plan (PDF)

Walton County SHIP repair and rebuild help

Walton’s SHIP plan also covers owners already in their homes: owner-occupied rehabilitation through a 0% deferred loan forgiven over time, demolition and reconstruction, emergency repair, and disaster assistance grants.

Funding for each one varies from plan to plan. If Isaias or another storm left damage on your house, call or text us at 954-816-8820 and we’ll find out which county repair money is open, or price a cash-out refinance to cover the work.

County housing plan (PDF)

Big Splash First-Time Homebuyer Program

The Escambia County Housing Finance Authority’s Big Splash program covers a group of Florida counties, and Walton is one. Big Splash puts a 30-year fixed FHA, VA or USDA loan in first position, and you can add a 0% second, deferred for 30 years, toward down payment and closing costs.

The Escambia HFA revises its Big Splash guide from time to time, so the second’s size and rules can move. Call 888-601-8344 and we’ll get the terms in force from the Escambia HFA before you count on Big Splash for a Walton purchase.

Program guide (PDF)

Florida Hometown Heroes (statewide)

Hometown Heroes is a Florida Housing purchase program with two parts: a 30-year fixed first mortgage and a 0% second toward the down payment and closing costs. The second has no monthly payment, and because it isn’t forgiven, you repay it when you sell, refinance, pay off the home or move out.

One buyer has to work 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 Walton County School District employee qualifies. With Eglin next door, the military rule matters: active-duty members qualify with any employer, and veterans and Reserve or Guard members qualify with any full-time job at a Florida-based employer. Working remotely, working part time or holding only an offer letter doesn’t qualify a buyer.

Florida Housing help is once in a lifetime, so use it on the right home with the right lender. Funds are reserved loan by loan, so call or text us at 954-816-8820 before you offer on a Walton home and we’ll confirm the program is reserving and that your income and price fit the county’s limits.

Official program page

FL Assist, HLP and HFA Advantage PLUS (statewide)

FL Assist puts 0% money toward the down payment and closing costs with no monthly payment, repaid when the home is sold, refinanced or transferred or when you move out, and it rides behind a Florida Housing FHA, VA, USDA or Conventional first. The HLP second comes with its own small fixed payment for 30 years. HFA Advantage PLUS is the Conventional choice, a Freddie Mac first whose second is forgiven over 5 years as long as you keep living in the Walton home.

Like Big Splash, these run through participating lenders and brokers, not through the agency directly. Which second works at a Walton price depends on the program rules when you apply, so call 888-601-8344 and we’ll compare them against Big Splash on your house.

Official program page

Schools and colleges

Public schools are run by the Walton County School District. Northwest Florida State College has locations in DeFuniak Springs and South Walton.

Getting around

Scenic Highway 30A, also County Road 30A, runs the South Walton coast past Seaside, Grayton Beach, Rosemary Beach and Topsail Hill Preserve. US 90 runs through DeFuniak Springs, and SR 20 and US 331 Business run through Freeport.

The nearest commercial airport to western Walton is Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport, inside Eglin AFB in neighboring Okaloosa County.

Coastal dune lakes

Walton has 15 named coastal dune lakes, a lake type found in only a few places on earth, including Madagascar, Australia, New Zealand and Oregon. Each one periodically breaks through to the Gulf at an outfall that mixes fresh and salt water. Western Lake at Grayton Beach is the best known.

Topsail Hill Preserve State Park

Topsail Hill, at 7525 W. County Highway 30A, covers 1,600 acres with about 3.2 miles of beach, Campbell Lake, more than 10 miles of trails, and the 25-foot dune it’s named for. It has RV and tent sites, cabins and bungalows; check the state parks site for storm closures before you book.

Grayton Beach State Park

Grayton Beach State Park pairs a Gulf beach with 100-acre Western Lake for paddling and fishing, about 4 miles of trails and six-person cabins.

Eden Gardens State Park

Eden Gardens, at 181 Eden Gardens Road, covers 163 acres on Tucker Bayou. Lois Maxon restored the 1897 Wesley House after 1963 and gave it to the state in 1968; guided tours, a historic rose garden and winter camellias are the draw.

The Chautauqua on Lake DeFuniak

The Florida Chautauqua opened on Feb. 18, 1885, a week late because the auditorium wasn’t finished, and it’s believed to be Florida’s first planned community. A four-day Chautauqua Assembly with speakers, performances and free exhibits is held every year.

Forests and Eglin land

Point Washington State Forest and part of the Choctawhatchee National Forest lie in the county, and Eglin AFB’s roughly 464,000 acres reach into Walton, with about 250,000 acres base-wide open to permitted hunting, fishing and camping.

Buying a home

FHA is a strong starting point in Walton. It takes 3.5% down and pairs with SHIP, Big Splash and the Florida Housing seconds. VA needs no down payment for eligible veterans and service members, and Conventional loans cover higher-priced homes up to the limit in the table above. We also do Hometown Heroes, DSCR loans for investment property, and FHA 100% financing.

We’ve been a licensed Florida mortgage broker since 1997, and we lend statewide in all 67 Florida counties, so a Walton purchase and a later move to Tampa or Jacksonville stay with the same broker. We shop your loan with multiple wholesale lenders and tell you what you qualify for before you start touring 30A or the north county.

Refinancing the home you have

Refinance to lower your monthly payment, take cash out for storm repairs or a remodel, pay off higher-rate debt, or buy another owner off the title. The equity you’ve built in a Walton home is the tool for any of those.

Call 888-601-8344 and we’ll show you the new payment, the cash you’d take out and the closing costs on one page, figured on what your Walton home is worth.