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Panama City Beach Spring Jam

Panama City Beach Spring Jam

Panama City Beach Spring Jam

Mark your calendars, Panama City Beach Spring Jam is coming!

Spring Jam is a three-day country music festival in Panama City Beach, FL from April 7th to April 9th. This year, it will be headlined by Rascal Flatts, Thomas Rhett, and Chris Young. Tickets are now on sale.

Spring Jam is located in Panama City Beach, one of Florida’s most beautiful beach locations. Festival goers travel from across the United States, not just for the sensational country music and renowned artists but for a beach vacation as well! Lodging packages will be available and will include accommodations as well as Preferred Lodging tickets (which are located in front of the General Admission section).

Tickets will be available for all three days as well as for single days. Visit the Tickets page for more information on pricing and where you can purchase. Prices will increase as the festival gets closer so purchasing tickets in advance will guarantee the best deal!

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Panama City Beach Condos for Sale

Panama City Beach Condos for Sale

Panama City Beach Condos for Sale

Panama City Beach Condos for Sale

Life’s a Beach currently has over 750 one, two, three, and four bedroom condos for sale here in beautiful Panama City Beach! Whether you are looking for your slice of beachfront paradise or a quiet bay front retreat to dock your boat, our professional agents can help you find what you’re looking for.

If you’re not looking for a condo, numerous subdivisions throughout Panama City Beach have quick and easy access to all the draws that keep vacationers flocking here — including the new Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport. Since opening in May 2010, the airport has provided, via Southwest and Delta airlines (and now Silver Airlines), easy access to the area. It serves over 800,000 passengers a year, illustrating that Panama City Beach is no longer pigeonholed as a drive-to-only destination.

It also turns out that the lures for vacationers — the 1,500-foot Russell-Fields Pier, known for its fishing and sunrise and sunset views, as well as historic Pineapple Willy’s for the best ribs on the beach and Thomas Donut & Snack Shop for an amazing glazed donut — are a plus for residents too.

Panama City Beach is a great place to live, work, and play! There are tons of things to do, things to see, places to eat, and of course our beaches can’t be beat! Click here to check out some more of the Panama City Beach local happenings!

Click here to search for all the Panama City Beach Condos for sale!

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Panama City Beach For Sale By Owner

Panama City Beach For Sale By Owner

Why the Majority of FSBOs Fail

For Sale By Owner

Industry insiders claim that FSBO failure rates range from 75% all the way up to 95%.*

While selling your home on your own in order to save paying a real estate agent’s commission may seem like a great way to save money, the truth of the matter is that such FSBO sales are seldom successful. So why are homeowners having such a hard time marketing their own homes, even in today’s heating-up marketplace?

Fail #1: Over or Undervaluing the Home

Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a Blue Book for homes? All you’d need to do to come up with the right price is to look up your home’s make, model, and general condition, and voilà! The price is right.

Sadly, all most sellers have to go on is comparisons to other local properties, but this is hardly a foolproof system. Your neighbors may be listing their homes around $500,000, but how many homes are actually selling for that amount? Overpricing your home is, in fact, one of the biggest mistakes home sellers make, ensuring that the property takes forever to sell (or worse, won’t sell at all).

You’ve also got to be wary of underpricing your property. If you sell your own home for less than what you could get selling through a top selling REALTORⓇ, then you haven’t really saved any money after all.

Fail #2: Expecting the Home to Sell Itself

Many home sellers today purchased their homes in the boom years of the early 2000s, when it seemed that homes sold within minutes of putting up a “For Sale” sign in the yard.

While that may have been true 10 years ago, these days you have to compete if you want to attract a buyer. And by “compete” we mean market, which means you’ve got to come up with a sales plan and devote plenty of time to your marketing efforts. One top REALTORⓇ in Tallahassee, FL, estimates he and his associates spend over 10 man-hours per day just promoting their listings**.

Fail #3: Skimping on the Details

So you’ve got a sign up, made some fliers, maybe you’re even advertising your home online. Good for you! Do not, however, make the rookie mistake of thinking that all you need is a picture and the words “for sale”.

Most would-be buyers won’t even consider your home unless you’re up-front with an asking price, and of course you need to provide full contact details, names as well as numbers. When it comes to fliers and online advertising, the more details the better. A good listing provides square footage, lot size, number of rooms and bathrooms, age of home, a floor plan and as many pictures as possible.

Fail #4: Specifically Targeting Buyers

Wait a minute – don’t you want to attract buyers? Isn’t this what selling your home is all about? What you have to realize is that 88% of buyers are working through agents***, and the homes they’ll see are the homes their agents steer them towards.

So how do you make buyers’ agents aware of your FSBO offering? Well, that’s a tricky one. You could hand-deliver your flyers to every realty office in town, or you could pony up the fee to get your home listed on the MLS. Even if you do these things, though, there’s a good chance many buyers’ agents aren’t going to want to bother working with a FSBO seller, so you’re limited right off the bat to just a small share of the homebuyer market.

Fail #5: Refusing to Play Nice with Buyer Agents

One reason that many buyer agents won’t steer their clients toward FSBO listings is because the FSBO seller hasn’t made it clear from the outset that he’s willing to pay the buyer’s commission out of the proceeds. A typical buyer’s agent can expect to receive about 2.5-3% of a home’s selling price, and without that incentive, there’s no reason to show your home.

In fact, if you really want your FSBO home to move, you’ll need to offer a similar commission to transaction brokers as well as buyer agents. So, it’s not just as simple as listing your home yourself in order to save the full 5 to 6% of the listing agent’s fee.

Fail #6: Slow Response Time

How long do you think you can wait before you get back to someone who’s called about your home after seeing your yard sign, flyer or online ad? Is it okay to get back to them the next day, or at least wait a few hours?

You may be shocked to realize that according to a study conducted by an MIT professor, your odds of contacting a lead drop 100 times if you wait as much as half an hour instead of getting back to them in the first five minutes****. Yep, like that Tallahassee REALTORⓇ (the one from #2) said, selling homes is a full-time job, and if you snooze, you really do lose.

Fail #7: Nobody’s Home

Okay, maybe you’re Fast Freddy and you answer every call on the first ring. Awesome. But…are you actually going to be available to show your home when the prospective buyer wants to see it? If you have a full-time job other than home sales, chances are the answer won’t always be yes.

One thing you could do is purchase a combination lock box in which to leave your door key, and this will work just fine if there’s a buyer’s agent willing to show your home to her clients. If there’s no agent involved, though, you probably don’t want to let just any random stranger into your home when you’re not there.

Fail #8: Underestimating the Complexity

Many times, homeowners will choose to go FSBO because they “just don’t want to deal with the hassle” of going through an agent. It seems straightforward enough – you have something to sell, other people have money and want to buy. Just like selling a used car or granny’s antique armoire, right?

When it comes to a home sale, though, there’s so much more involved than a simple exchange of goods for money. There’s financing, inspections, offers, counter-offers, contracts and closings. The list goes on and on, and if you aren’t prepared for all the steps (and the paperwork), you may soon find yourself with absolutely no clue how to proceed.

Fail #9: Trying to Go it Alone

Ok, so you know you’ve got to spend time and money marketing your home, respond to every inquiry ASAP, be home to show your home whenever a buyer wants to see it, deal with home inspectors, negotiate financing, and then navigate your way through the tricky waters of closing.

Do you really have the time and the know-how to arrange for all of this on your own without completely losing your sanity? You can’t play every part in the symphony if you’re just a one-man band, after all. Even a super-REALTORⓇ isn’t going to carry out every aspect of the home-selling process all on her own, but she doesn’t have to. Instead, she’ll leave it up to the qualified experts (mortgage broker, home inspector, real estate attorney) she’s already got on speed dial.

 

Let our qualified, professional agents at Life’s a Beach Real Estate help you avoid the pitfalls and complications of buying and selling real estate here on the beach!

 

Sources:
*http://thereluctantreagt.com/the-real-fsbo-incurred-costs-and-how-the-fsbo-companies-profit/
**http://manausa.com/for-sale-by-owner-mistakes/
***http://www.realtor.org/field-guides/field-guide-to-quick-real-estate-statistics
****http://www.leadresponsemanagement.org/lrm_study

 

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Panama City Beach Real Estate For Sale

Panama City Beach Real Estate For Sale

Panama City Beach Real Estate For Sale

The “normal” real estate market is returning. Call us now before the “sun sets” on a good deal here in Panama City Beach! Read more below:

 

CHICAGO – Jan. 5, 2016 – This year may have been the best for housing since 2007, but the market will likely get even rosier in 2016, according to a recent real estate forecast by realtor.com®.

One of the main drivers behind the brighter 2016: The projection that employment will continue to grow, which will add to consumers’ wallets and allow them to purchase their first home or upgrade to a new one.

Realtor.com housing predictions for 2016:

1. ‘Normal’ is coming
Expect a healthy growth in home sales and prices – at a slower pace than in 2015. “This slowdown is not an indication of a problem – it’s just a return to normalcy,” writes Jonathan Smoke, realtor.com’s chief economist. “We’ve lived through 15 years of truly abnormal trends, and after working off the devastating effects of the housing bust, we’re finally seeing signs of more normal conditions.”

New construction and distressed sales are expected to return to more historic levels, and home prices are expected to follow at “more normal rates consistent with a more balanced market.”

2. Generational buying trends shape up
Young adults’ presence on the housing market has been largely predicted for years, but 2016 may finally be the year they make a move in a larger way. Millennials represented nearly 2 billion sales in 2015 – one-third of homebuyers. They are expected to continue to be a major buying pool in 2016 with the majority of buyers between ages 25 and 34 expected to be first-time homebuyers next year.

But two other generations will also have a big presence in 2016: financially recovering GenXers and older baby boomers entering retirement, realtor.com® notes.

“Since most of these people are already homeowners, they’ll play a double role, boosting the market as both sellers and buyers,” Smoke says. “Gen Xers are in their prime earning years and thus able to relocate to better neighborhoods for their families. Older boomers are approaching (or already in) retirement and seeking to downsize and lock in a lower cost of living.”

3. New-home construction focuses more on affordability
Builders face higher land costs, limited labor and concerns about the demand of the entry-level market. As a result, they shifted to constructing more higher-priced homes, which caused new-home prices to rise significantly faster than existing-home prices.

In 2016, they’ll likely shift to more affordable products to cater to the entry-level buyers. “We are already seeing a decline in new-home prices for new contracts signed this fall,” notes Smoke. “In addition, credit access is improving enough to make the first-time buyer segment more attractive to builders.”

4. Higher mortgage rates
Mortgage rates will likely be volatile in 2016. But the recent move by the Federal Reserve to guide interest rates higher should push mortgage rates higher in the new year than the historical lows they have been at for years. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage will likely end 2016 about 60 basis points higher than today’s level, according to realtor.com predictions.

“That level of increase is manageable, as consumers will have multiple tactics to mitigate some of that increase,” Smoke says. “However, higher rates will drive monthly payments higher, and, along with that, debt-to-income ratios will also go higher.” The markets with the highest home prices will see the effects most.

5. Rents to go up even higher
Rental costs are skyrocketing, and they’ll probably keep going up in 2016. More than 85 percent of the nation’s markets have rents that exceed 30 percent of the income of renting households.

“Rents are accelerating at a more rapid pace than home prices, which are moderating,” Smoke says. “Because of this, it’s more affordable to buy in more than three-quarters of the U.S. However, for the majority of renting households, buying is not a near-term option due to poor household credit scores, limited savings, and lack of documentable stable income of the kind necessary to qualify for a mortgage today.”

Source: “The 5 Real Estate Trends That Will Shape 2016,” realtor.com (Dec. 16, 2015)

© Copyright 2016 INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD (301) 215-4688

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Grand Panama Beach Resort Fly By!

Condos For Sale Panama City Beach

 

Grand Panama Beach Resort is one of the most desirable properties in Panama City Beach and also happens to be where our main office is! Check out this short video we took (best if viewed full screen) and give us a call for your next Panama City Beach real estate purchase!

 

Grand Panama Beach Resort

 

Life’s A Beach Real Estate is a beach front Company located on the prettiest beaches in the world in Panama City Beach FL. Our specialty is condo sales but we are a full service brokerage which includes, investments, commercial, construction, and development.

 

Thinking of having some family beach portraits done while you are here? Panama City Beach sunsets are some of the best in the world and make for the perfect backdrop for family photos. Life’s a Beach and the Grand Panama have partnered up with LJennings Photography (who also provided the footage in this video as a courtesy) to bring their guests and clients some of the best photography on the beach! Check out her work at www.ljenningsphotography.com

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Panama City Beach Real Estate Tours

Panama City Beach Real Estate Tours

Panama City Beach Real Estate Tours

Life’s a Beach Real Estate will soon be using some of the most cutting edge technology to help serve our customers! Due to the fact that so many of our clients are from out of state, this technology will be instrumental in helping them make their buying decisions, even from afar! Read below for more information.

 

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 6, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — PlugRE.com has launched the first Augmented Reality web site for real estate that features a virtual experience from start to finish for home buyers and sellers.

“We are giving consumers a unique experience with the ability to walk through both communities and properties using the latest VR technology,” says Jason Trindade, CEO of PlugRE.com.

The founder of PlugRE.com is also the CEO of King of Condos and IKing Realty which holds real estate brokerage licenses in 4 states. As a licensed broker, PlugRE.com is able to connect with various data sources including county records and local MLS boards.  Their proprietary database currently has over 2.5 Million Records and it is quickly growing in size.

PlugRE.com launched their services in Las Vegas where they are conducting a beta test. Over the next 6 months, they will bring the web site technology showcasing properties for sale and rent in Florida, California, and Hawaii. Their goal is to be a leading destination for home buyers and renters that want to tour properties from the comfort of their home or in the palm of their hand. Its also a unique way for home or condo sellers determine their property value and reach a larger audience when they look to sell their home or condo.

Example Property Profile: http://www.plugre.com/details/16220312262/property/las-vegas-clark-county/central-strip/panorama-towers/4575-dean-martin-dr/2708

PlugRE.com has added support for various technologies and media including support for Matterport 3D imaging and various hand held spherical cameras like the Ricoh Theta. They are an open platform which means they can interface with any device that takes a spherical picture. They have also added support for spherical images created with DSLR cameras and stitched together with programs like AutoPano Giga from Kolor.com, which was recently acquired by GoPro.

The primary company web site is www.PlugRE.com which also power additional community web sites like veertowers.net , allurelasvegascondos.com, cosmopolitancondosales.com,martincondos.commeridianprivateresidences.commgmsignaturecondos.compalmsplacecondos.com, parktowerscondosales.com, parktowerslasvegas.com,platinumresortcondos.comredrockcchomes.comredrockhomesales.com,sienagolfclubhomes.com, skylasvegascondos.net, theridges-lasvegas.com,trumplasvegascondosales.com, turnberrytowersales.com, and vdaracondos.net.

“The technology is amazing. the visitors love it and the traffic on the site is steadily increasing. PlugRe.com is going to disprupt this multi-billion dollar market that’s led by Zillow, Trulia, and Realtor.com,” said Michael Bell, President of Business Development.

PlugRe.com is owned and operated by Jason Trindade, the CEO of King of Condos and iKing Realty. Jason Trindade has a technology, formally serving as CEO of an Internet Service Provider and Managing Director of a California based mortgage company. Business Development is led by Michael Bell who lives in Henderson, NV.  Michael Bell, sold over $1B in real estate and has managed multiple sales projects including the $11B City Center in Las Vegas, the Martin, and various home sites for the leading home builder, DR Horton.

Photo – http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160106/319730

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/plugrecom-delivers-augmented-reality-for-real-estate-featuring-3d-tours-of-luxury-communities-for-sale-in-las-vegas-300200268.html

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Florida Home Sales & Prices Are Up!

Florida Home Sales

Florida Home Sales

Florida Home Sales

ORLANDO, Fla., – Jan. 4, 2016 – Positive trends continued for Florida’s housing market in November, with more closed sales, higher median prices, more new listings and fewer days on the market, according to the latest housing data released by Florida Realtors®. Statewide closed sales of existing single-family homes rose last month with a total of 18,102, an increase of 1.9 percent over November 2014.

“The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Know Before You Owe TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID), which was implemented in early October, may have affected home sales in the last couple of months,” says 2015 Florida Realtors President Andrew Barbar, a broker with Keller Williams Realty Services in Boca Raton. “It appears some sales have been delayed and likely pushed into closing the following month. However, as the TRID implementation process moves forward, we believe its impact should be transitory.

“Also, we don’t expect that (December’s) decision by the Federal Reserve to slightly raise the federal funds rate will have a significant adverse impact on the housing market, as rates remain historically low. The increase was long anticipated, and it may even encourage homebuyers who had been waiting on the sidelines to enter the market now.”

The statewide median sales price for single-family existing homes last month was $200,000, up 13.6 percent from the previous year, according to data from Florida Realtors Industry Data and Analysis department in partnership with local Realtor boards/associations. The statewide median price for townhouse-condo properties in November was $150,000, up 7.1 percent over the year-ago figure. The median is the midpoint; half the homes sold for more, half for less.

November marked 48 months in a row month that statewide median sales prices increased year-over-year for both single-family homes and townhouse-condo properties.

According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the national median sales price for existing single-family homes in October 2015 was $221,200, up 6.3 percent from the previous year.

In Florida’s townhouse-condo market, statewide closed sales last month totaled 7,638, up 5.7 percent compared to November 2014. The closed sales data reflected fewer short sales in November: Short sales for townhouse-condo properties declined 35.8 percent while short sales for single-family homes dropped 34.3 percent. Closed sales typically occur 30 to 90 days after sales contracts are written.

“We are ending the year on a high note, but the market is definitely tightening in Florida,” says Florida Realtors Chief Economist Dr. John Tuccillo. “Both single-family sales and condo-townhouse sales increased in November, but inventories continue to fall.

“Although the recent Fed increase in interest rates will not affect the housing market in any significant way in the next few months, the rise, coupled with the absence of inventory, could cause the market to slow down a bit as we enter 2016.”

Inventory continues to be tight, with a 4.5-months’ supply in November for single-family homes and a 5.5-months’ supply for townhouse-condo properties, according to Florida Realtors. Most analysts consider a 6-month supply of inventory as the benchmark for a balanced market between buyers and sellers.

According to Freddie Mac, the interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.94 percent in November 2015, down from the 4.0 percent average recorded during the same month a year ago.

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Georgia bunker hits market for $17.5 million

Georgia bunker hits market for $17.5 million

Georgia bunker hits market for $17.5 million

A underground facility and bunker dubbed “The Facility” in Southeast Georgia two hours from Savannah just hit the market for $17.5 million.

The property, which is exclusively listed by Sister Hood of Harry Norman, Realtors Buckhead Office, was built in 1969 and fully renovated to government standards in 2012.

According to Harry Norman, it is the only hardened and privately owned underground bunker of its kind in the United States. The property features a commercial 3-Phase power plant, in addition to its own 8Kw new solar backup system. The facility is also equipped with a $100,000 CCTV security system.

“Above ground, The Facility offers 2,000 square feet of commercial space, a renovated 1,000-square-foot caretaker’s home and below ground the facility offers 14,000-square-feet of living and working space,” the company reported. “The Facility is 45 feet underground and certified to withstand a 20K ton nuclear blast.”

The Facility is on 32 acres and has two levels of underground living space, it added.

Level two has four luxury apartments that are about 600-square-feet. The apartments are totally self-contained and have two full bedrooms, a kitchen and dining area, a living room with TV and internet and a large bathroom in addition to its own security, a HVAC system and environmental monitoring sensors.

Level one of the underground facility has common areas similar to a luxury hotel, the company said.

“Guests can enjoy the large home theater with seating for 15, a commercial grade kitchen, a recreation area, library and TV room,” Harry Norman reported. “The Facility is equipped with a full workshop, a separate business and conference center and fully equipped medical room.”

Click here for the Slideshow!

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Rosemary Beach is Florida for grown-ups

South Walton Homes for Sale

 

 

Rosemary Beach Real Estate

 

By Sarah Rufca
June 9, 2014

Rosemary Beach has nine walkovers that lead to the sugar sand beach. They were built to protect the dune ecosystem and prevent beach erosion.
It seems like every house, apartment and restaurant in Rosemary Beach has a driftwood sign pointing the way to the beach.

Which is charming, if unnecessary. Everything in Rosemary Beach, a 107-acre community in the Florida panhandle between Destin and Panama City Beach, leads to the beach. From any shaded porch or street corner in town, it’s only a few steps to one of several wooden boardwalks that head south, arching over the natural dunes to deposit visitors on a white sugar sand beach, in front of an ocean view in such a vibrant turquoise that it renders Instagram filters useless.

Rosemary Beach serves as the antidote to the stereotypical Florida beach scene. The row of palm trees that marks the edge of the development along Highway 30A brings a sharp end to the fast food restaurants, cheap hotels and sports bars, replacing them with tall stucco and wood houses decked out with stately porches and Bermuda shutters. Most importantly, in a part of the world known for spring-break debauchery, there’s nary a beer bong in sight, although there are several places to get a very nice bottle of wine.

Developed in 1995, Rosemary is the second town designed by Andrés Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, architects who led the New Urbanist movement by embracing walkable neighborhoods built around a town center. Nearby Seaside was their first project, but in the design for Rosemary Beach they abandoned the Americana look of white picket fences for an architectural style that takes cues from the stately courtyard homes of Charleston and St. Augustine and the intricately gabled roofs of the Dutch Antilles.

Building guidelines are strict on the materials used to construct each house, and exteriors are required to be stained a color found in the natural habitat, which means plenty of sage greens and sand tones as well as the occasional rich indigo of a local wildflower. Buildings at the end of long street vistas all have a tower that’s visible through the treetops and each house on a corner is required to have a carriage house separated by a courtyard. Within these boundaries, though, individual tastes flourish, so Rosemary feels integrated without being cookie-cutter. One homeowner turned a canoe upside down to make an awning over his front door; another built an elevated pool where most add guest quarters above the carriage house.

The town center runs perpendicular to the beach, spreading across both sides of the highway. And while it is said to be no more than a five minute walk from any house in Rosemary Beach, a bicycle rented from Bamboo Bicycle Company is really the ideal way to get around, making the most of the beach breezes while whirring over the signature cobblestone streets and pedestrian-friendly boardwalks.

Next to Bamboo, on the northern side of the town center, is Summer Kitchen Cafe, the oldest restaurant in Rosemary Beach. With only a handful of tables inside, during the day, locals and visitors pop in for a relaxed breakfast or quick wrap for lunch, while at night the simple shack belies the sophisticated food coming out of the kitchen. The adjacent courtyard (shared with a flower shop and a snow-cone stand) is lit with strands of light that crisscross the space filled with diners drinking wine and dining on pan-fried grouper and the best shrimp and grits ever made by a chef from Connecticut. On Thursday nights, a local troubadour plays acoustic versions of Ray LaMontagne and Lana del Rey songs that, combined with Summer Kitchen’s heavenly upside-down key lime pie, wrap every sense in a cocoon of mellow happiness.

In the interest of creating an idyllic experience, Rosemary Beach bustles, packing in as much pleasure per square inch as possible. In 107 acres, there are 19 pocket parks and green spaces, several with playgrounds and one that includes a koi pond and a butterfly garden. If the beach is too rough, there are eight clay tennis courts and four community pools, including the glass-enclosed Sky Pool, the perfect place to hang out when you’ve had too much sun.

By Friday, the music in the central square has migrated to Wild Olives for the restaurant’s weekly wine tasting, and on Saturday and Sunday once a month the central walkway in the square is full of vendors offering jewelry, organic honey, soaps and beach-inspired home goods.

If all this relaxing stresses you out, there are no less than three studios offering massages, although it’s hard to beat the serene atmosphere at Solace Day Spa, where the cool Moroccan vibe offers an “Inception”-like vacation from your vacation.

For those who prefer to stay in, CK Feed and Supply store stocks organic ice cream and other gourmet staples, a large selection of wine and pre-made casseroles and dips from neighboring Cowgirl Kitchen. For best results, pair a bottle of riesling with a pint of Southern Craft Creamery’s Tupelo Honey ice cream and a DVD from Rosemary’s free Redbox-style rental system. It’s so good you might even forget there’s a beach nearby.

Luckily, there’s probably a sign to point the way.

If you go:

GETTING THERE

Southwest offers daily nonstop flights from Houston Hobby to Panama City Beach airport, about 20 minutes from Rosemary Beach, with round-trip fares starting at less than $200. For those that prefer to travel by car, it’s about a 9-hour drive.

WHERE TO STAY

Rosemary Beach Cottage Rental Company has the most houses, carriage houses and flats available for rental, with a minimum stay of seven nights during spring break and summer. Weekly rates start at $1,330 in the summer; the rest of the year, daily rates start at $172. The rental company also runs the Pensione Inn on the southern end of the town center, which offers nightly rates year-round from $145; rosemarybeach.com.

The only other hotel in Rosemary Beach is the Pearl, a luxury hotel opened in 2013 that looks straight out of the Italian Riviera, with black and white awnings and a rooftop restaurant and bar with ocean views. Rates start at $299 per night; thepearlrb.com.

WHERE TO EAT

Summer Kitchen Cafe: Counter-service joint with wraps and burgers by day and composed Southern classics on a lit courtyard at night; 60 N. Barrett Square.

Cowgirl Kitchen: Casual, family-friendly restaurant and bar that offers fresh-made local and Tex-Mex favorites and a great Bloody Mary; 54 Main.

Restaurant Paradis: Refined atmosphere offering steak and Gulf seafood; 82 S. Barrett Square

Rose Bros.: Vintage-inspired soda shop featuring artisanal sodas and coffee as well as free-range beef burgers and hand-dipped milkshakes; 78 Main.

Edward’s Fine Food & Wine: Chef/owner Edward Reese applies European techniques to fresh, local ingredients in this intimate cafe with a chef’s counter; 66 Main.