Lets Talk Destin w/ Destin Area Director, Bonnie Hall

In this episode, Maria and Chad sit down with Bonnie Hall, ECAR’s Destin Area Director, to take a closer look at one of the most sought-after destinations in the country. Known for its sugar-white beaches and emerald waters, Destin has long been a favorite vacation spot but what’s driving so many people to turn their visits into permanent roots?

Bonnie shares insight into what makes Destin so attractive for buyers looking to call paradise home, from lifestyle and investment opportunities to the unique charm that keeps people coming back year after year. The conversation also explores exciting developments and what’s ahead for the Destin area, giving listeners a glimpse into its future growth.

Plus, we dive into how ECAR continues to support its members at every level providing the tools, resources, and community needed to thrive in today’s market.

Whether you’re a real estate professional, a prospective buyer, or just someone who loves the Emerald Coast, this episode offers valuable perspective on why Destin isn’t just a destination it’s a place to belong.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Keys to the Emerald Coast, the voice of ECAR, opening doors to news, knowledge, and connection for realtors across our coast.

SPEAKER_00 0:09

Welcome back, ECAR. Thanks for joining us for another episode of Keys to the Emerald Coast. I am Chad Nelson, Communications and Marketing Director at ECAR, joined always with my friend and amazing co-host, Maria Howell.

SPEAKER_02 0:24

Hello, Chad.

SPEAKER_00 0:25

How are you? Good. Good. Good. We we we talked earlier, but you jinxed us. I did.

SPEAKER_02 0:31

I know. I said there's one more cold spell coming. It always does in March when spring breakers are here.

SPEAKER_00 0:38

I'm I'm ready to turn that heat up on our environment. I'm ready to hit the beach. So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 0:44

I think tomorrow. Tomorrow will be warm. And it's the 80s in the weekend, I think. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 0:49

Awesome. We're also joined in studio, the the the amazing JVC broadcasting studio that we get to spend some time in. Um Scott's always with us, Scott Mallory. But uh we are also joined by Bonnie Hall, our our Destin area director. How how are you today?

SPEAKER_01 1:05

I'm great. I'm cold like everyone else.

SPEAKER_00 1:09

Jackets and winter coats.

SPEAKER_01 1:11

Yeah, like it's not cool.

SPEAKER_00 1:12

Yeah, trying to figure that out. We're trying to, you know, sell our area and people are on vacation and it's it's cold during spring break.

SPEAKER_01 1:21

Yes, yes. I did talk to somebody this morning that said it was zero. So I did feel pretty good. Oh, yeah. I did not want to tell her I had my fireplace on, but I did.

SPEAKER_00 1:31

And it was 43. Hopefully they're way up north and we don't have to deal with that.

SPEAKER_02 1:36

Yeah. So this is warm for them. Yes, yes. Nice.

SPEAKER_00 1:39

Because I I we had the in-laws come in from England, and yeah, they were they talked about six or seven inches of snow before before they left. So wow.

SPEAKER_02 1:48

This was great for them, and we're freezing, but yeah, yeah, and with it getting warmer tomorrow, they'll enjoy themselves.

SPEAKER_00 1:54

Well, Bonnie, we wanted to talk a little bit just about about Destin. Um, but before we get into that, I want to give a chance for you just to kind of talk about yourself, your personal, your career journey, and maybe how how did you get into this leadership role as area director?

SPEAKER_01 2:12

Wow. Oh, that's a lot. A lot, Bonnie. That's a lot for me. Um, so I moved, actually moved to Dustin 29 years ago.

SPEAKER_03 2:22

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 2:23

So that was pretty cool. Um, I've been here longer than any place else in my whole life. So that's also pretty cool. Yeah, where'd you move from? We moved from Hattiesburg. So kind of moved all over because we were a military family too. And then I got married, then had kids, and then we got here.

SPEAKER_03 2:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:39

So here we are. But um, yeah, that was '97. Then I got my license in uh 2003 with a lot of other folks because we were so busy. Uh, had some life changes and did that. And um, here I am. I'm still here selling real estate on our lovely coast. Then I got into um leadership development, which if you haven't taken the leadership development, you really should. It's a it's definitely an asset that eCar provides to its members. Um, real happy about being able to take advantage of that in my career. And it led me here. Yes, what year did you graduate? Oh my god, you would ask me. I think it was like it had to be warm 15 years ago. I'm gonna I did 2010. So did you do after or before? Ben was the when did Tula do it? I was with Tula.

SPEAKER_02 3:31

You guys probably before me, I would think.

SPEAKER_00 3:35

And I'm sure just like everyone else, yours was the best collection. I know, it's like the best collection.

SPEAKER_01 3:38

Well, it really was because we had Ben Acok, and you know, any everybody knows Ben Acok. Ben is amazing. So yeah, it was pretty good. It was pretty good. But then, you know, they do a lot of fun stuff now. Um, not that we didn't then, but there's a lot of community activity now that they've incorporated. So I think that's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_00 3:59

Continues to grow, continues to get better, and every everyone says it's the best class ever. So that's right.

SPEAKER_01 4:07

Yeah, I would say also along with the leadership development, it's fine what you're passionate about. Um, I started with public policy about five years ago. Okay. And that's I've I'm still in it, and then kind of raised up to the Destin area director.

SPEAKER_02 4:23

So when we were all discussing who would be great to step in and be the area director. We called Miss Bonnie Hall because she uh would come to guard all the time and she stayed in the city. I really like her.

SPEAKER_01 4:39

That's another thing that I learned in leadership.

SPEAKER_02 4:41

She was always there um at conferences, guard, and we're like, oh, she's engaged. So let's see if she's interested. And here I am.

SPEAKER_00 4:50

She was voluntole. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:52

Yeah, actually, it was kind of like that. I get a phone call, hey Bonnie, and I'm like, oh, okay, what does that mean? Let me think about this.

SPEAKER_00 4:59

Yeah. Well, we'll uh let's talk a little bit market. What what is what are what's the temperature like? I know we talked a little bit before we got started here, just that we feel like things are starting to pick up. Um, I know it was quiet for a little while towards the end of last year, but what what's the market like right now in Destin?

SPEAKER_01 5:17

I'm seeing um more of an even market, I would say that we're kind of getting balanced as far as single family homes. I mean, condos now we have quite a bit on the market, but that's gonna rec I think that's gonna correct itself. You know, everybody was a little scared last year about the market on condos and holding their investment right close to the vest, I think. Yeah um is what I'm seeing. So condos are staying on the market longer just due to uncertainty.

SPEAKER_03 5:46

Yeah, really.

SPEAKER_01 5:47

Once we get all the assessments out of the way, I think they'll feel better about jumping back in and getting um good numbers on rental income. Yeah, that's a huge deal because they need to make sense.

SPEAKER_02 5:59

Yeah. Rental numbers were down last year or so, but they're seeing an increase this year in the spring market, and they're also seeing it in the summer too, and or or about the same, but the ADR is a little slightly higher. So that's average daily rate, if anyone wants to know what ADR is. So they're getting a little bit more per night, but you know, kind of the same or a little bit more activity.

SPEAKER_00 6:23

I was very again being fairly new to this industry, hearing some of those assessments and stuff. That was it it was scary for a lot of people for a while. I mean those numbers were extremely escalated.

SPEAKER_02 6:37

Oh yeah, there was one building, it was a hundred thousand dollars per owner. Wow. And uh for a special assessment to get the work done.

SPEAKER_01 6:45

And you don't normally see those kinds I mean, you see assessments, I mean they rarely go down, they usually go up.

unknown 6:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:51

Um, but not like that. That's not a norm that you can expect with a condo. The older condos, you know, they had deferred maintenance.

SPEAKER_03 6:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:00

And um it's a good thing that they did put all that in place to make everyone safer.

SPEAKER_00 7:03

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 7:04

I think after the catastrophe that happened. Yeah. Yeah, I agree.

SPEAKER_00 7:08

Um I I think uh obviously this destinary uh really uh across the board on the Emerald Coast, we we always talk about um kind of this unique perspective, and everyone's looking to buy into this lifestyle. We're on beach time more often than not. Um we want to be close to the beach or as close as possible. Um how does that really impact this destinary, which is I mean, very tourist driven. There's a lot of uh vacationers that come here that I mean, my myself, I traveled to Destin, Okaloosa Island for 20 years before ever moving here. And that that was kind of my story. It seems fairly similar with with other people. How does that really impact the the buying and selling in this area?

SPEAKER_01 7:51

Well, that's how I got here too, is coming here on vacation, and then we decided, okay, we wanted to let's live there. Okay, let's open a business and live here. So here's here we are. Yeah, that's how we start people. You know, people in the military, they come here, they're transferred to one of the bases, and then they come back when they retire or getting close to retirement, they'll buy an investment here and then come back and and live in their investment or move up from that investment.

SPEAKER_03 8:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:18

So it's I don't I kind of digress about what you were saying. But you do want to come here and and live. You aspire to come here. A lot of people aspire to, you know, we went on vacation. Now let's let's move. We love it.

SPEAKER_00 8:33

Why continue to vacation in paradise when we can live in paradise?

SPEAKER_01 8:36

Have a staycation, you know, you don't have to really go anywhere. If you want to go to the beach, it's not gonna cost you to go to the beach. You know, if you're on a budget, bring the kids to the beach and have your picnic and spend the day and go back home. So it's uh there's a lot of things to do here. Uh we don't think of it as budget friendly, but it really is if you take the kids to the beach and just enjoy the day, your family. Family will always come visit you if you have a house at the beach. Oh, for sure. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:06

And you know, I think with Destiny you have the harbor, so you got boating, you have the beach, uh shopping. I mean, there's there's a lot for families to do in Destin.

SPEAKER_00 9:15

Yeah, there's a lot. I guess in comparison to other areas, what what would you say really makes and and maybe Maria you're alluding to it, what what makes our area or this Destin area a little bit more unique?

SPEAKER_01 9:29

Than maybe the other areas in our area, because we all typically work from all each and Maryland, wherever. Yeah. So I think um what makes Dustin, I'm not gonna necessarily say better, I'm just gonna say that it has different advantages or disadvantages, is if you're a primary resident here in Destin, which is not very many people if you didn't know that. There's only like 14,000 people people in Dustin, full-time. So that's not very many, but it's seven, um, about seven and a half mile square miles. So that's 1,800 people in a square miles. That's kind of congested. But there's a lot to do here, really. Um, besides the fishing, I mean, we're known as a fishing village. Fishing is still amazing if you like to boat and and fish. That's something you maybe can't do in in Niceville as much or Pressview, but you can come here within an hour and go fishing. Um, you can go shopping. You know, we've got Destin Commons, and just a little bit further, we've got the outlet. And the restaurants, a lot of their other areas just don't have as many restaurants as we do. So it's nice, it's not a far drive from really anywhere to come and you know, enjoy the day or enjoy the evening and then go back home.

SPEAKER_02 10:48

Yeah, I think the Dustin name is very well known out there, you know. Everybody's like, and getting Dustin, yeah, and getting more and more is like the Dustin uh name. But yeah, um it's definitely grown and and I think you know, with that new park, right? They that the big land purchase. So that's gonna, you know, they're trying to figure out what to do there. And then there's another beach access that um they are working on right now in Crystal Beach.

SPEAKER_01 11:15

Yeah, tarpon is it's a lot of people. Yeah, the Tarp and Tarpens one, which is gonna be really nice. And then in the last couple of years, they had um they did the really nice one um right there across from Ilario. And in parking and restrooms and things like that. So I think Destin is really making a push to take advantage of the beach accesses for not just the tourists, but for the residents. Yeah. Yeah. You know, and making it easier for the residents to use the beaches and access points that we have here. Yeah, because it gets built up fast during season.

SPEAKER_02 11:51

During tour season, yeah, yeah. We need more access and parking.

SPEAKER_01 11:54

And you know, as a if you live here full time or you know, I always go back to whether you're visiting or whether you live here, but the the library. I mean, people don't know we have an amazing library. It sounds archaic, but if you go to that library, it's really nice. It's a great library. It is and we've got the parks uh that for kids over there on Calhoun that they're redoing right now. They're almost done doing that. So there's a really a lot of things you can do. And um, the mayor's trying to make things more walkable for people. There's a lot of people who would like to just, you know, walk instead of getting in their car and driving. They're they're trying to do more walkable things around here for people. That's good. That's good.

SPEAKER_00 12:36

Didn't they put like glow in the dark pebbles or something in that um path that they recently built? Um like on Oakaloosa Island, all like up to the street.

SPEAKER_02 12:47

Oh, all the way the between desktop. No, I haven't read that.

SPEAKER_00 12:51

I thought I heard somewhere where they put like glow in the dark so people could do it throughout the day.

SPEAKER_01 12:55

I don't know, but I don't drive in the dark. I do, but no, I don't know. I'm gonna have to check that one out.

SPEAKER_00 13:03

For some reason, I thought I saw that somewhere. I could be wrong, but I thought that would be a lot of people.

SPEAKER_01 13:06

Watching TikTok or something because that stuff's not true.

SPEAKER_00 13:09

It's not true.

SPEAKER_01 13:10

Don't don't understand everything and read everything on the that's one we'll have to figure out because I don't know. That would be kind of cool. Yeah, that's what's like that.

SPEAKER_02 13:18

I think also Dustin, what Dustin has is Crab Island. Yeah. Don't forget Crab Island. Everybody wants to come and rent a pontoon boat or one of those tiki huts, right? Yep. And cruise on to Crab Island and hang out for the afternoon.

SPEAKER_00 13:34

Yeah, for those who haven't been, it that's an adventure. It's an adventure. It's an adventure. You gotta you gotta know where to park your boat or park the tiki from time to time. Yep. Stay away from certain areas, but yeah, it's that's that's a fun time. I'm looking forward to going to the house.

SPEAKER_01 13:52

Yeah. So if you live here, it's I don't know, I can't think of living anywhere else. You know, um and depending on what, you know, back to the housing market, you know, depending on what style of home you want, you know, you can walk close to the you know, live close to the beach if you want to, or if you don't want to live quite that close, you're still fifteen minutes from the beach wherever you are.

SPEAKER_03 14:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:15

So I think, you know, whatever is your favorite place to live, you could find it here. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:22

What do you think some of the the biggest challenges agents in all of our areas maybe are are are kind of facing when they like you talked about earlier, kind of step into that market specifically? Are are there any challenges, positives, negatives that they're they're looking into when you they're finding a a place in Destin or I would say they need to be most aware of the insurance costs.

SPEAKER_01 14:49

Insurance can, you know, you depending on where you live, what zone you're in as far as uh flood zones, things like that will affect your insurance. If you what type of loan you're getting, if you're gonna get a loan, that can affect where you live in Destin because there's areas that you can't get a VA loan in. Some agents don't know that. So that's an important thing for for agents to know. Um the condo market people need to be aware of if they can finance a condo, if it's too small, if it's in a building that you have to have a portfolio loan in. That's uh I think that's a place that more agents need knowledge as far as agents go. Yeah, that's good. Yeah. I think for sure.

SPEAKER_00 15:29

Obviously, kind of leads into uh another question of the reason why we talk about being a realtor all the time and how important that is and how how you invest in your profession, professional development, learning about all the ins and outs that it takes to really provide the best knowledge for our clients as possible. Um I I think the one thing being a part of this as much as I am that we do an exceptional job of is our education. Um and it's just a matter of making for sure that our members continue to get engaged and and and are a part of those as much as possible. So yeah, I I think we have the tools ready for you. It's just a matter of are you going to take advantage of those? So that way we can serve our clients better.

SPEAKER_01 16:16

ECAR does have a lot of really good opportunities for education. And I would personally like to, which is one of the reasons that I did the best and director also was wanted to educate more members about what eCar has and how they can take advantage to further your career. You're helping your that's why we're in this business is to help people. And the more education and knowledge that we have, it shows them why they need us in a day, and you know, these days they might think they don't need us, but there's a lot of reasons they do need us. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:49

This is actually I have a light bulb moment. And if Paula listens to our podcast, maybe we should do, you know how we have like REI week? Maybe we should have an air get to know your areas week. And then have different classes about like in Destin, like you talked about the different flood zones and financing um in the area, as well as you know, when we had Sabina on, she talked about the um dune lakes. Yes and like there's so much to know. And then if you're north, you know, like the wetlands. I I think that would be great to have like get to know your area week.

SPEAKER_00 17:24

Yeah, and we can convince our directors to come in.

SPEAKER_02 17:27

Yeah, and like have I breakfast.

SPEAKER_00 17:30

Can't nobody can see that over the radio, but I I got weird.

SPEAKER_01 17:38

Well, it'll be all the areas, but it is it is good because there are there are a lot of unique opportunities that we need to learn about that we can educate our clients about.

SPEAKER_00 17:48

Yeah, and like you said, you may be living in one area or you know, destined may be your primary, but you buy and sell with your clients all over this area, so it's important to know you know where you're going and what's involved and how you can help your clients. So that yeah, uh that'd be great. Yeah to you.

SPEAKER_01 18:07

I think that yeah, I do think that's a good idea.

SPEAKER_00 18:09

Yeah. It was a little bit of stealing some thunder there, but I I did want to ask you what what your what really what were your goals in you know becoming an area director and and being a part of this board uh outside of the education piece. Is there anything else that really you talked about your passion? Like why did you want to be a part of this? And I know we were kind of voluntole to some degree, but I think at in at the end of the day, you end up making it your own and you're you're able to find you know, why am I in this and how can I better my area or better my clients? I guess what is your what's your reason of finding some of these things and and being able to help your clients more?

SPEAKER_01 18:57

For me personally, I think, you know, as far as e-car goes and the other members, I felt like, you know, I've been a member for over 20 years and didn't give back. And so giving back at this stage in my career, I mean, it I'm busy, you know, thankfully that I I have done it long enough to be busy and it's great. And just like the other board members, we all have careers and businesses that we work in, but we want to give back to our other colleagues and and let them know that you know we're there for them. And we want to encourage the upcoming generations of Realtors to step in our, you know, in our footsteps and just expand on those and make it better. And that we have 5,000 members and such a minute amount of those members actually get involved, whether it's with classes or whether it's with the committees or whether it's with the charity events that we have. Um those those things, you know, we're not paid for them. We're doing to help our other members um be better and better, you know, ourselves and learn better. So that was kind of my goal. I don't know if I hit that, but that's kind of my goal is just to let the other agents know that you know, we all have to step down at some point, you know, be you know, step up. We would love to, we'd love to get new people um that's right to bring their knowledge and ideas.

SPEAKER_02 20:23

Warmed up the seat for you. Come on. Yeah, that's a great idea. Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_00 20:27

Yeah, we you know, whatever we can do to leave it better when you know, like you said, when we do need to step down and who's gonna take that mantle when we when we have that opportunity.

SPEAKER_01 20:36

But and bring their ideas, yeah you know. Um when you don't get fresh blood, you don't get the fresh ideas. Yeah. You know, it's it's harder to get the fresh ideas, I would say.

SPEAKER_02 20:46

I'd I'd say we need fresh ideas and ways of doing business. And yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:51

It's good. Just like this podcast. We're trying, you know, trying to figure out a new way to do that.

SPEAKER_02 20:55

Yes, what an idea. Okay. My first podcast. Oh, I see. Your first. Yeah. Oh my gosh. Now now you'll be a pro.

SPEAKER_01 21:03

Oh yeah. Yeah. You got one down, you're good. I should probably continue selling real estate.

SPEAKER_00 21:10

Not at all. Doing fan time. Yeah. We love it.

SPEAKER_01 21:12

They're great.

SPEAKER_00 21:13

Well, well, Bonnie, uh, how how can you know our members, how can anyone that's listening to this podcast, how can they reach you?

SPEAKER_01 21:20

Well, they can give me a call or a text, and of course, I can give you the number, but it's easy to find me online. Um, 850-240-9901. But I'm also available for questions. You know, agents, that's how we learn. We we talk to each other, you know, and I don't ever mind helping another agent call and say, have you ever dealt with this? Or who do you call? Who's your referral source for whatever? Um, reach out to somebody else that you know because I don't know any of us that minds helping each other. Yeah, look me up that way.

SPEAKER_00 21:51

Yeah, perfect.

SPEAKER_01 21:52

That's easiest.

SPEAKER_00 21:53

Thanks for joining us. We really do appreciate you kind of taking some time out of your busy schedule to to shoot the shoot the gab with us for a little while and have some fun. So we appreciate you taking the time out.

SPEAKER_01 22:04

Yeah it's nice spending the morning with you guys. Awesome.

SPEAKER_00 22:07

Well again as always we thank you so much for joining us. Uh you can find us wherever you're listening to podcasts. We we want to continue to do this for you. We talked a little bit, you know, how how can our members get more engaged? Please send us an email, give them get give us a call, find us at the ecar office. We'd love to hear you know whatever you want to bring to this podcast. If there's other areas, if there's classes that you'd love us for to teach this is really just an opportunity for us to to get to know you better and and how we can serve our membership. So reach out we'd love to hear from you and we will talk to you soon.

SPEAKER_01 22:46

Goodbye. Bye