Florida · St. Johns County
Selling a house in St. Johns County
A great deal of this county sits outside any city. That single fact decides which offices you deal with, and it is the thing a St. Augustine mailing address hides.
Prefer to talk it through? Call (269) 389-9961 — no form needed. This is Bayfront’s current company number; it is not a Florida-local line.
Where we work
What we cover here today.
Three ZIP areas so far: 32084 and 32086 around St. Augustine, and 32145, covering the Hastings area in the south-west of the county. That is deliberately a list of areas rather than a claim about the whole county.
If your property is somewhere else in St. Johns County, call and ask. The list reflects which areas we have written up, not a boundary around what we will discuss.
A mailing address is not a municipal boundary. Both St. Augustine ZIPs carry a St. Augustine postal name and both reach well past the city limits into unincorporated county land. 32145 is not inside any municipality at all. Which side of that line a property falls on decides who issues its permits and who handles a code case, so it is worth establishing early — and the county can usually settle it in one call.
Areas and ZIPs
Where to go next.
- St. AugustineThe city and the wider St. Augustine postal area — older and long-held housing, coastal and flood questions where they apply, and the incorporated-versus-unincorporated distinction in detail.
- ZIP 32084The northern St. Augustine area, and the ZIP that actually contains a meaningful part of the incorporated city.
- ZIP 32086South of the city, and almost entirely unincorporated — including St. Augustine Shores and St. Augustine South.
- ZIP 32145 and the Hastings areaSouth-west St. Johns County. Rural and semi-rural property, no municipality, and its own questions about access and services.
What comes up here
The situations behind a sale.
- An inherited houseLong-held family property, and an estate that may or may not have been through probate. What can be signed depends on where the estate has reached rather than on who feels responsible for it. The probate guide covers the ground.
- A house nobody lives inAn empty house carries on costing money, and insurance is the part that catches owners out. See the vacant property guide.
- Owning from outside FloridaDistance is the easiest part to arrange around. Authority to sign is the harder part. The out-of-state guide sets out what to establish first.
- Repairs that outgrew the budgetRoof, air conditioning, wiring, plumbing, or a list that simply got long. Nothing has to be put right before a conversation — see selling as-is.
- A rental you are ready to stop runningTenanted or between tenants. A sale does not by itself end a valid tenancy, and what is possible depends on the lease. The rental guide explains it.
- Storm, flood or water damageWhether a property sits in a mapped flood zone affects insurance and financing both. The storm and water guide covers documentation and claims.
- An insurance letterNon-renewal and cancellation are different things with different options. The insurance guide separates them.
- Open permits or a code caseA violation is not automatically a recorded lien, and an open permit is neither. The code, liens and permits guide sorts out which is which.
- Rural or semi-rural propertyIn the south-west of the county a private well, a septic system, an access easement or an unpermitted outbuilding may all be part of the picture. They may equally not be — it is property-specific, and worth saying at the start either way.
Official resources
The offices, and what each one holds.
These are St. Johns County’s own offices, not Duval’s. All are free to search.
- What is recorded against the propertyThe Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller holds the official records — deeds, mortgages, judgments, liens and satisfactions. This is the authoritative answer for what is attached to title.
- Estates and probateThe probate division, where a property came through an estate.
- Foreclosure and tax-deed salesThe Clerk publishes public sales information, including tax deeds.
- Ownership, value and building characteristicsThe Property Appraiser records year built, structure details and sale history, and handles exemptions.
- Permits and permit historyThe county Building Department and its permits pages — for unincorporated property. A property inside a city goes to that city instead.
- Code casesCounty Code Enforcement, again for unincorporated property.
- Flood zones and floodplain rulesCounty Floodplain Management, alongside the FEMA Flood Map Service Center for the official maps.
- Zoning and land useCounty Growth Management.
- Property inside the City of St. AugustineCity building, planning, code and historic-preservation matters are handled by the City of St. Augustine rather than the county. We have not published a link because we could not reach the city’s own site to confirm one — go to the city directly.
Links to public offices for your own use. Bayfront is not affiliated with any of them, and nothing here is legal or tax advice.
Before you call
What the first conversation covers.
Where the property is, what condition it is in, who owns it on paper, and what you would like to happen. If you already know whether the property is inside a city or out in the county, say so — it saves a step, because it decides which offices are involved.
You do not need documents, a price or a repair estimate. If there is estate paperwork, an insurance letter or a code notice, having it to hand helps — not having it is no reason to wait.
It is a conversation, not an offer, and nothing about it commits you to anything.
Questions we actually get
St. Johns County questions
Do you cover the whole county?
No, and we would rather say so plainly. We have written up three ZIP areas — 32084, 32086 and 32145. If your property is elsewhere in St. Johns County, call and ask rather than assuming the answer is no.
My address says St. Augustine. Am I in the city?
Possibly not. Both St. Augustine ZIPs reach well beyond the city limits, and 32086 is almost entirely unincorporated. It is not a technicality: it decides whether the county or the city handles permits and code for your property. The county can confirm which applies to a given address.
The property is in the Hastings area. Is there a page for that?
Yes — ZIP 32145, which sits under this county page rather than under a Hastings page. Hastings is an unincorporated community and the ZIP covers a great deal more ground than the community itself, so a town-shaped page would have implied a boundary that does not govern the property.
General information about selling, not advice about your property. No structured FAQ markup is published pending review.
Tell us where the property is
The address and a rough description is enough to start. Or call (269) 389-9961 and skip the form entirely.
Tell us about your property Call (269) 389-9961
Sending the form starts a conversation. It is not an offer, and it does not commit you to anything.