Finisterra Condominiums - Shalimar

I’ve lived here for many years. Throughout the times, the HOA has been unbearable. I will spare you those details…previous negative reviews have covered them well. Property management has been inept and inadequate. There are constant water outages. The drainage is poor, so flooding in the parking lot occurs often, particularly after heavy rains. Some dog owners don’t pick up after their dogs and suffer no consequences, so p is randomly found in the grassy areas. I’ve seen the management company change at least three times, with increasing inefficiency and ineffectiveness.The condo complex has been under repair for approximately a year to address damage from Hurricane Sandy (yes, the one from 2020). In the past year, there have been countless inconveniences and nuisances imposed by the repairs. I have incurred two flat tires from nails left lying around. I have picked up at least 100 nails over time as I walked around the complex. There has been constant clanging and banging. There has been construction equipment, supplies and vehicles that obstruct traffic and occupant flow and present safety concerns. As a result, parking has been a nightmarish challenge.Today, I feel compelled to leave a review because the issues have escalated to the point of causing damage to the interior of my condo. Ironically, the exterior repairs have created a need for interior ones. I do not recommend anyone purchase a home here. I would only recommend renting if you’re willing to put up with the issues I mentioned above.

My first place in college lived here when i was 18 in 1984 on freshman year lot of great memories cool lil place on the water

We have lived here for 12 years and we love it! We rented for almost half of those, before buying. We mostly keep to ourselves. We don't play loud music, try to be respectful of others since we all live so close together and don't speed(noticed a Gardner neighbor of ours wrote a bad review. It's easy to spot residents of Finisterra with the parking pass. No need for us to be bad neighbors. They may put more speed bumps in? .Guess what???? We have not had issues with our HOA as renters or owners. Renters who claim to be mistreated are most likely causing some type of nuisance or not following the rules. There are rules for a reason. We don't have broken down vehicles all over the property, we have quiet hours and the stairwells don't look like storage units or a yard sale. Some of us like it that way. Renters are no longer allowed to have dogs because past renters have proven not to be responsible pet owners, IE: not picking up p There are condos in Destin that only allow owners to use the pool. It's not that any place wants to treat renters badly but past renters set a presidence and they come and go whereas owners who live on site take ownership over the entire property.Our only frustration is coming home to find someone else in our assigned parking space in front of our unit and guess what...it's usually renters or renter's guests. That is the reason for my 4/5 stars and parking has not been enforced. It use to be strictly enforced. Carrying my weeks worth of groceries from 2 buildings down in an unassigned spot, when I pay for the one at my front door is frustrating.As for the water problems...just know the pipes are old and they are very shallow! It doesn't take much to hit one. I would say the past HOA was much better about putting notices on the doors to notify if the water had to be shut off and for how long. It has become very sporadic, so that is frustrating.As for Police and fire in the complex, we do have some elderly owners with health issues. We also on occasion have law enforcement living here, who bring their patrol cars home.Finally, as of today, we are still dealing with storm Sally damages. We are very thankful that we are upstairs on the water but we have had our patience tested with the work crews that are very inconsiderate. My stairwell became a lunch break area and an ashtray. Although after voicing concerns to the foreman, most concerns were resolved just by talking with them.In all, we love living at Finisterra!

It brings me no joy to say that this place was under whelming. The location is stunning however, this is over shadowed by a few things I just cannot look past. With any place the occupants are a mixed bag but in this case it’s pretty clear the bullies are in the HOA. For an association that seems strict on its tenants at best and caustic at worst, they can hardly seem to keep the water running for any more than 2 months at a time. With fires and police showing up around the same frequency, it’s a shock anyone is in charge. If you rent from here be prepared to be treated like a second class citizen by the roaming golf carts of the self inflated egos of widows, divorces and Spinsters. They will talk about your personal life and demean you. This complex as seen better days and I’m afraid she aging as poorly as the people who inhabit this area. Unless you have a boat at the marina across the street and only plan to stay here for a few days at a time, I would recommend moving on. Shame such a view is squandered.

Somebody should let the residents here know that the speed limit on Gardner drive is 15mph. Not 45.