Looking to buy land in Florida? Two of our Florida Land Professionals, Justus Koester and Daniel Barres, talk about what Florida can offer land buyers and share some of their own experiences with land in Florida and what they love about living there.

Daniel Barres: Justus, how long have you been in Florida now?

Justus Koester: I’ve been in Florida since ’98 when I got out of the Coast Guard. Prior to that, I was stationed in St. Petersburg while I was in the Coast Guard. So, I’ve experienced a lot of diversity in Florida and lived in several places in Florida as well.

DB: Awesome. That’s one great thing about Florida. The diversity. I mean, for me, that’s what I absolutely love about it. In fact, we were driving around looking at some land and thought: What does everyone love about Florida? And the diversity is really one of the best things. I remember last year, we had a camping trip day. It was on around 40 acres. But that morning, I went fishing, got some fish, enjoyed the water in the bay area – the Santa Belle Island area – and then drove 15, 20 minutes in the Arcadia area (where the land was) and we had a bunch of family and friends together. We had games. We had some four-wheelers. There was 4-wheeling with jeeps… It was just a lot fun. There’s just so much diversity here. There’s hog hunting, great lake fishing opportunities and more throughout Florida. You can travel anywhere in the state and within a couple of hours, feel like you’re in a different place. So, Justus what are some things you love about Florida, just from you living here?

JK: I grew up in the Midwest. Spent a lot of time on the lakes in the Midwest and enjoyed going fishing there. But one thing I found when I moved to Florida is that we have that year-round. We lose some of that in the Midwest – and they had beautiful places up there – but there’s a reason why so many people from that area and other areas move to Florida – because of the diversity and the year-round outdoors that we’re able to enjoy. I do triathlons and being able to go from swimming in the gulf to swimming in the ocean, to swimming in a lake and enjoying all that scenery year-round is just amazing and keeps a person active.

DB: That’s a good point. I know for my family and me, we definitely love the water, but we also love to get grounded in the land, just be around the woods and sit by the campfire or drive around in our jeep and just have fun. We love playing in the mud, but we also love playing in the water, too. I remember another camping trip where we were pretty muddy and we wound up just jumping in the lake and cleaning off.  We were talking to some friends up in the Midwest and they were freezing their butts off in 10-degree weather, and it just reminded us how grateful we were for this weather down here where we can do those kinds of things.

JK: Well, you know, you can’t shovel sunshine, Daniel. It is something we enjoy down here. As much as we’re known for our Florida beaches, there is so much land inland that’s beautiful. There are natural springs all throughout Orlando and central Florida that are just absolutely gorgeous. The wildlife we have here is just amazing. It’s a place I like to call home, or I should say love to call home.

DB: For a lot of the folks that come down here and buy land from us, a lot of them are from the Midwest, Northeast, and California. And the folks from California – one of the things they always comment on is how the air is just so clean. We kind of take that for granted sometimes, but the air is just super clean, super fresh, and you get some freshness in the cow manure area that Justus really likes. When I lived in Wisconsin for many years, I lived on a dairy farm and we played frisbee with the “cow pies.” Down here there are surprisingly a lot of dairy farms, a lot of cattle farms, a tremendous amount of livestock and a lot of fresh, farm-to-table places where we can get a lot of good quality vegetables, meat and produce. There are a lot of benefits to having access to those local resources and just the clean air. In your opinion Justus, what do your kids love about living here in Florida?

JK: Florida is also a melting pot of people from all different places which makes it another aspect of being diverse. My kids love the water. They love the adventures that we go on. When we do triathlons as a family, it’s usually a destination vacation. And one of the things that I’ve found with my clients is that they love the diversity and the cost of land that they’re getting down here versus in some of the other states that they’re coming from. They’re not able to find this type of land for these types of prices anywhere but in Florida.

DB: That’s true. I mean, the cost of land price per acre – people are surprised. When they come down, they’re like “Wow! We get all of this diversity and clean air at this price?” It is a big difference. You know, that’s another benefit of land in Florida and why it’s one of the fastest growing areas in the nation – because land prices in comparison to the Midwest are significantly less and you just get a lot for your money. When clients come down here that are accustomed to living on acreage or have always wanted to live on acreage, they have some really good options. Yes, there is high demand down here, but that’s what makes the appreciation so high, and with us – we find buyers and sellers and we bring them together. So, we’ll target market. A lot of the local folks that typically deal with land listings, they have a different style than ours. We’ll actually kind of work backward than what a builder or a buyer or any type of buyer would want and we’ll target market for that type of property. So, if you’re a customer that wants 10 acres, 50 acres, 100 acres – whatever you’re looking for – we have the resources and the technology where we can pinpoint the property type, the soil type, density, what type of harvesting you might find in the area and we can narrow it down to find that perfect site for you. If you’re looking for anything in the area, from central Florida, around the central Florida area, south – Justus and I will be happy to help. Anything else you want to share about Florida and experiences customers have had when they buy land down here?

JK: Every customer is satisfied with us. National Land Realty is- as the name shows – a national company. It’s one of the fastest-growing land brokerage companies in the country. Our team does service Orlando south, but we’re in 19 different states and growing.

DB: That’s true. You know, in my background in building golf courses and doing a lot of vacant lots (meaning under 10 acres), we’ve done some of the highest volumes in the state of Florida for vacant lots, We bridged the gap by partnering with National Land Realty because hands down, they are the best set up for land brokerage in the U.S. So, I invite you guys to come down and visit and come check us out. Come visit us or give us a call. We’d be happy to share some of our neat technology that no one else is offering out there and just give you a feel of what that Florida lifestyle really is!