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

Name: AAA Capital Funding Mortgage Services
Brand: AAA Capital Funding, Inc.
Rating: 4.9 (154 reviews)

Washington County covers 584.68 square miles of the Florida Panhandle, and about 27,000 people live here. It’s also where Florida keeps its tallest waterfall: at Falling Waters State Park outside Chipley, a stream drops 73 feet into a sinkhole and nobody knows where the water ends up.

We wrote this the way we’d explain the county to a buyer on the phone. You’ll find the towns from Chipley and Vernon to Sunny Hills, how the loan limits work, how the SHIP program and the state’s down payment loans work here, what the Property Appraiser needs from you after closing, what Hurricane Michael taught the Panhandle, and the offices to call once you move in.

Every source for this guide is listed at the bottom of the page.

County seatChipley
FoundedDec. 9, 1825
PopulationAbout 27,000
Land area585 sq mi
Named forGeorge Washington
FHA limit, 1 unit$541,287 in 2026
Conventional limit, 1 unit$832,750 in 2026
School districtWashington County School District

Cities and areas
Homes and loan limits
Down payment help
Property taxes
Storms and insurance
Jobs, schools, commute
Parks and local favorites
Moving checklist
Buying or refinancing

Towns and communities across Washington County

Washington County has five incorporated municipalities: the cities of Chipley and Vernon and the towns of Wausau, Caryville and Ebro. Places people know by name, like Sunny Hills, Greenhead, New Hope, Five Points, Hinson’s Crossroads and Holmes Valley, aren’t among them, so the county commission is the local government there. Check which side of a city line a house sits on before you buy, because it decides who you call about services.

The county was created on December 9, 1825 and named for George Washington. At first it stretched all the way to the Gulf of Mexico and covered nearly twice the area of Delaware. Railroads drove the county’s growth in the late 1800s, and Chipley, a railroad town, took the county seat from Vernon in 1927.

Chipley

Chipley started in 1882 as a stop on the Pensacola and Atlantic Railroad. It was called Orange until it was renamed that year for William Dudley Chipley, the railroad’s president and later a state senator, and it incorporated in 1901.

US 90 runs through downtown as Jackson Avenue, and SR 77 is the main road north and south, with I-10 exit 120 just south of town. County administration, the Property Appraiser and the Tax Collector all share one address at 1331 South Blvd.

Vernon

Vernon began in the 1820s as Roche’s Bluff, a trading post on Holmes Creek, and took the name Vernon in 1851 after George Washington’s Mount Vernon. It held the county seat until 1927.

In the 1880s, Holmes Creek carried freight from Vernon up to Bonifay and nearby towns. SR 79 is the main road through the city, and SR 277 runs about 16 miles northeast to Chipley. Northwest Florida Community Hospital has a clinic on Main Street.

Wausau

Wausau incorporated in 1963 and took its name from Wausau, Wisconsin. It sits on SR 77 about 11 miles south of Chipley, and Panama City is about 36 miles farther down the same road.

Sunny Hills

The Deltona Corporation began building Sunny Hills in the late 1960s along SR 77 north of Greenhead, roughly halfway between Chipley and Panama City. It was laid out across about 25,000 acres with some 220 miles of streets, and many of those streets have never had houses built on them.

The Sunny Hills Golf and Country Club is open to the public as a golf course.

Ebro and Pine Log

Ebro incorporated as a town in 1967. Pine Log State Forest, signed along SR 79 with Ebro as its nearest town, was established in 1936 and is Florida’s oldest state forest.

Caryville

Caryville became a town in 1965. It sits on US 90 about 8 miles west of Bonifay.

Buying a home in Washington County, and how the loan limits work

Most Washington County homes sit around a handful of crossroads: Chipley at US 90 and SR 77, Vernon on SR 79 by Holmes Creek, Wausau and Sunny Hills down SR 77 toward Panama City, Caryville on US 90, and Ebro near Pine Log State Forest. Beyond them are named rural communities like Greenhead, New Hope, Five Points, Hinson’s Crossroads and Holmes Valley, where the county commission is the local government.

With only a few dozen closings in a typical month, one or two sales can swing the county’s published numbers, so we’d rather show you the sales that match the house than print a figure here. If you’re paying rent in Chipley or Vernon now, call 888-601-8344 and we’ll compare that rent with a mortgage payment on a home in the same area.

HUD sets Washington County’s limits as part of the Panama City-Panama City Beach metro area. The FHA and Conventional limits for the county are in the table below; HUD and FHFA reset them every January, and the table changes with them.

Loan limits in Washington County for 2026	Maximum loan
FHA, single-family home	$541,287
FHA, two-unit home	$693,050
FHA, three-unit home	$837,700
FHA, four-unit home	$1,041,125
Conventional, single-family home	$832,750

HUD sets the FHA limits and FHFA sets the Conventional limits for every county, and both change each January. This table refreshes itself from HUD's published figures.

To show how FHA’s minimum works, a $225,000 house needs 3.5% down, which is $7,875, and the SHIP and state programs below can cover some or all of it. Text the address to 954-816-8820 and we’ll send back the down payment, closing costs and monthly payment for that house.

Buying land in Sunny Hills or out on a county road? Deltona platted about 220 miles of streets there, many of them never built on, so ask early about septic permits and whether the lot has road frontage, since those answers shape which loan works.

Down payment help for Washington County buyers

Washington County’s own help comes through the state’s SHIP program, run for the county by the Emerald Coast Regional Council, and it sits alongside the statewide Florida Housing loans.

Washington County SHIP purchase assistance

The county’s SHIP housing plan helps very low and low income first-time buyers with the down payment and closing costs. It’s a 0% deferred loan that’s forgiven a portion each year over its term, so nothing is owed as long as you keep the home and follow the terms. A first-time buyer under the plan is someone who hasn’t owned a principal residence in the last 3 years, and help goes out first qualified, first served.

ECRC opens and closes its Washington County waitlists as SHIP money comes in, and the award sizes come from a plan that’s rewritten every three years. Before you sign a contract in Chipley or Vernon, we check the ECRC page and call the Washington County SHIP staff to see what’s open. Call 888-601-8344, or reach ECRC yourself at housing@ecrc.org or 800-226-8914 ext. 206.

ECRC Washington County SHIP page

SHIP repair and rebuild help

The same plan covers owners too: rehabilitation, emergency repairs, replacement housing and a disaster relief grant for very low and low income households. Roofing, electrical, plumbing, septic and structural problems are the kinds of repairs ECRC lists.

Repair help draws on the same SHIP money as purchases. If your Washington County house needs work, call 888-601-8344 and we’ll check whether ECRC’s list is open, and whether a cash-out refinance could get the job done sooner.

Washington County housing plan

Florida Hometown Heroes (statewide)

Hometown Heroes is for buyers working full time for a Florida-based employer in health care, K-12 schools, first response, public safety, the courts or licensed child care, so a nurse at Northwest Florida Community Hospital or a teacher with the Washington County School District may qualify. Active-duty military qualify with any employer, and veterans, Reserve and National Guard members qualify working full time for a Florida-based employer, including one down SR 77 in Panama City.

It pairs a 30-year fixed FHA, VA, USDA or Conventional first mortgage with a 0% second you don’t make payments on. That second is repaid when you sell, refinance or pay off the home, or stop living in it, and it’s never forgiven. You’ll take a homebuyer education course, online is fine, and apply through a participating lender or broker.

Florida Housing assistance is once in a lifetime, so use it on the right Washington County house with the right lender. Funds are reserved loan by loan and the limits vary by county, so call 888-601-8344 before you write an offer and we’ll check what Hometown Heroes will do on your Chipley, Vernon or Wausau address.

Official program page

FL Assist, FL HLP and HFA Preferred (statewide)

FL Assist puts a 0% deferred second toward your down payment that’s repaid when you sell, refinance, transfer or move out, on top of a Florida Housing first mortgage: FHA, VA, USDA, or the Conventional HFA Preferred and HFA Advantage loans. The HLP second is the one with a small fixed monthly payment over 30 years. HFA Advantage PLUS pairs a Freddie Mac Conventional first with a second written off over 5 years while you live in the home.

Florida Housing counts you as first-time if you haven’t owned a primary residence in the past 3 years, and veterans with a DD-214 can be exempt. Call 888-601-8344 and we’ll show you which Florida Housing second pairs best with SHIP on your Washington County purchase.

Official program page

Our FHA 100% financing puts a 96.5% FHA first mortgage together with a down payment assistance second, so a Washington County buyer can close without bringing a down payment from savings. Before you make an offer, call 888-601-8344 and we’ll match SHIP or a state program to the house and tell you which ones are taking files that week.

Property taxes and the homestead exemption in Washington County

File for homestead on the house you live in. Florida’s exemption cuts as much as $50,000 from the taxable value: the first $25,000 applies to every tax on the bill, school taxes included, and the second $25,000 applies to assessed value above $50,000 for non-school taxes. Homestead also caps future assessment increases under Save Our Homes at 3% a year or the change in CPI, whichever is lower, and when you move to another Florida homestead you can carry some or all of that difference with you.

Homestead is based on who owns and lives in the home on January 1, so you file Form DR-501 with the Property Appraiser by March 1 of the year after you buy. Most buyers with a mortgage pay their property taxes through escrow, so the tax bill is folded into the monthly payment.

Washington County Property Appraiser

1331 South Blvd., Suite 300, Chipley, FL 32428

Phone: (850) 638-6205

Property search: qPublic Washington County

Tax bills, tags and driver licenses: Washington County Tax Collector, 1331 S. Blvd. #101, Chipley, 850-638-6275

Hurricanes, sinkholes and insurance in Washington County

In October of 2018, Hurricane Michael came ashore near Tyndall Air Force Base around 1:30 p.m. Eastern as a Category 5, and the next day the federal major disaster declaration, DR-4399, approved Individual Assistance for Washington County.

The ground matters here too. The waterfall at Falling Waters drops into a 100-foot-deep, 20-foot-wide sink, and the park’s Sinkhole Trail boardwalk passes more fern-covered sinks along the way. When you shop insurance, ask what the policy says about sinkholes and catastrophic ground cover collapse.

Before you sign on a Washington County home, pull up the address on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center. Homes near Holmes Creek or the Choctawhatchee deserve a close look, and a high-risk FEMA zone, one starting with A or V, means flood insurance is required on an FHA, VA or other federally backed loan.
Ask for a copy of any wind mitigation report when you request insurance quotes. A wind mitigation inspection that documents roof straps and opening protection can bring the premium down.
Sign up for Alert Washington at alertwashington.org for severe weather, road closure and evacuation notices. Washington County Emergency Management is at 2300 Pioneer Rd. in Chipley, (850) 638-6203.

Work, schools and getting around

Northwest Florida Community Hospital at 1360 Brickyard Rd. in Chipley, on SR 77 just south of US 90, runs emergency, surgical, inpatient rehab, imaging, lab and long-term care services, with a clinic at 3250 Main St. in Vernon. Florida Panhandle Technical College on Hoyt Street trains people in a long list of career and technical programs.

The county is part of the Emerald Coast Regional Council’s seven-county region, which also takes in Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Bay and Holmes. Railroads built the county in the late 1800s, and Chipley, a railroad town, took the county seat from Vernon in 1927.

Schools and colleges

Public schools are run by the Washington County School District, 750 Sinclair St., Chipley, 850-638-6222.

Florida Panhandle Technical College is in Chipley, and Washington County was one of the three original counties in Chipola College’s district. Chipola’s main campus is in Marianna.

Roads

I-10 crosses the county, with exit 120 at SR 77 serving Chipley. US 90 is the old east-west route through Chipley and Caryville. SR 77 heads south through Wausau and past Sunny Hills toward Panama City, SR 79 runs through Vernon toward Ebro and Bonifay, and SR 277 connects Vernon with Chipley.

Waterfalls, creeks and local favorites

Falling Waters State Park

Falling Waters sits at 1130 State Park Road, a few miles south of I-10, and it’s a State Geological Site. Besides the 73-foot falls there’s a swimming lake, a butterfly garden, an amphitheater, a campground with RV sites, and the spot where an oil well once operated. Since the falls run on rainfall, the park suggests calling 850-638-6130 before you go.

Holmes Creek and the Choctawhatchee

The Northwest Florida Water Management District holds land along Holmes Creek and the Choctawhatchee River near Vernon, Bonifay and Chipley. Landings like Live Oak, Cotton, Hightower, Seven Runs and Spurling put you on the water for canoeing and fishing, and the district describes the lower creek as swelling with azure springs. Alcohol isn’t allowed on Holmes Creek, and ATVs aren’t allowed on the property.

Pine Log State Forest

About 6,911 acres in Washington and Bay counties, with trails for hiking, biking and horseback riding off SR 79 near Ebro. It’s been a state forest since 1936.

Paddling and fishing

The county Chamber of Commerce points paddlers to the Choctawhatchee River and Econfina Creek for canoeing, tubing and rafting, and to the Choctawhatchee for boating and fishing.

History you can still find

The county has numerous Native American mounds, and Vernon was once the site of a major Native American settlement. Vernon’s name traces back to Mount Vernon, and Chipley’s first name was Orange.

The end of the dry years

Washington was a dry county until voters ended the alcohol ban in a 2022 referendum.

Moving to Washington County: your first-month checklist

Electric: Florida Power & Light took over the old Gulf Power territory, which included Washington County, when Gulf Power merged into FPL in 2021. Not every rural address is on FPL, so ask the seller which provider bills the house.
Water and sewer: before you write the offer, ask the listing agent where the water comes from (a public system or a private well) and where it goes (sewer or septic).
Driver license and tag: the Washington County Tax Collector at 1331 S. Blvd. #101 in Chipley handles both. Road tests are by appointment and only for county residents.
Homestead: once the deed is in your name and you live there on January 1, file with the Property Appraiser in Suite 300 at 1331 South Blvd. by March 1.
County government: washingtonfl.gov, or call county administration at (850) 638-6200.
Alerts: register at alertwashington.org. Emergency Management is at (850) 638-6203.
Local contacts: the Washington County Chamber of Commerce in Chipley is at 850-638-4157.

Buying or refinancing in Washington County with AAA Capital Funding

Buying a home

Most of our Washington County buyers go FHA: 3.5% down, credit guidelines with room to work, and it stacks with SHIP and the state seconds. If you served, a VA loan needs no down payment for eligible veterans. We also write Conventional loans, Hometown Heroes and FHA 100% financing.

AAA Capital Funding has been a licensed Florida mortgage broker since 1997, lending in all 67 Florida counties statewide, from the Panhandle to the Keys. We compare offers from several wholesale lenders on your loan, and you’ll know your price range before you tour a single-family home in Chipley or Wausau.

Refinancing the home you have

A refinance can lower your payment, pull cash out for a roof or a storm repair, pay off higher-interest debt, or buy out a co-owner who’s on the title with you.

Call 888-601-8344 with your current balance and rate, and we’ll show you the new payment, the cash you’d walk away with and the closing costs on one page.

Washington County questions we hear a lot

What is the FHA loan limit in Washington County, Florida?

The current FHA limits for one to four units in Washington County, along with the one-unit Conventional limit, are in the table on this page. HUD and FHFA reset Washington County’s limits every January, and the table keeps up without help.

Is there down payment assistance in Washington County?

Yes. The county’s SHIP plan, run by the Emerald Coast Regional Council, helps very low and low income first-time buyers, and statewide programs like Hometown Heroes and FL Assist also work here. ECRC opens and closes its waitlists as money comes in, so call us and we’ll tell you what’s taking applications.

When do I file for homestead in Washington County?

By March 1 of the year after you buy, with the Property Appraiser at 1331 South Blvd., Suite 300, in Chipley. Ownership on January 1 decides the year, so the filing always falls the March after your closing.

Is Sunny Hills part of a city?

No. The county’s incorporated places are Chipley, Vernon, Wausau, Caryville and Ebro, so Sunny Hills falls under county government.

Do I need flood insurance in Washington County?

Only if the home is in a high-risk zone on FEMA’s map and you’re using a federally backed loan. Outside those zones it’s your call, but get a quote for any home near Holmes Creek or the Choctawhatchee before you decide.

Sources for this guide (33)

AAA Capital Funding, Inc. NMLS #374739. Jason J. Sarji, NMLS #374700. Licensed Florida mortgage broker serving Washington County and all 67 Florida counties since 1997. Equal Housing Opportunity.

You work with the same person from start to finish, in every county in Florida.

We've been closing Florida loans since 1997, in all 67 counties. If you want to know what's possible in Washington County, call 888-601-8344 or text 954-816-8820. One call, under ten minutes. No application needed to start.

Get Started Call 888-601-8344 Text 954-816-8820

AAA Capital Funding, Inc. · NMLS #374739 · Jason J. Sarji, NMLS #374700