What opportunities are there for someone who just wants a cheap cabin (low taxes and not worth insuring) for a vacation home near the beach in a rural area? Is rural land still cheap?
Nothing is truly cheap in FL unless you want to live with the mosquitos and alligators and need hip waders to get to your car.
Anything near the water is ridicuously priced. And you will be stuck with Citizens, the state run insurance company of last resort. Unless you own your property outright and choose not to have any insurance. In FL it’s all or nothing. There are no a la carte policies.
And now county property tax assessors are going by ‘best use’ for assessments. So a small beach cabin will be assessed with the value of a high rise condo because that is the ‘best use’ of the property. The definition of ‘best use’ is whatever will bring the most $ to the county coffers. At least it avoids the eminent domain issue. You just get taxed as if something expensive was on your property!
Inland properties are cheaper and there are lots and lots of small lakes for a water view from your cabin.
I was in an area the type I call “Old Florida” a few weeks ago, a couple of blocks off the water.
Old Florida to me is sort of run down, tiny bungalows from the 30s (when I say tiny, they are like cabins). I passed a few houses really, really inexpensive, just about 80K fixer uppers.
The taxes and insurance will kill you.
You should be looking at an RV.