Howdy.
I live in Escambia County near Pensacola.
This is actually a great place for homesteading, however the last few years have gotten much more expensive.
The north part of the panhandle is cheaper, and you will find cheaper land in Holmes, Jackson and counties out that way. there are parts out here that are still quite remote.
In north Escambia county it is rather hard to find anything because the area is getting flooded with those leaving other states to come here and the Mennonites don't
sell their land often.
Santa Rosa near Jay, Chumuckla is great also.
I mentioned Holmes earlier as that is one of my favorite counties, its hilly and beautiful land and nice old towns.
In Alabama on the north side there are many possibilities also.
A few things though set the regions apart.
Florida has very low land taxes and no state income tax.
Alabama has low land taxes also but they have a state income tax.
The soil here varies wildly, but at least here in the NW you have seasons.
If you go through a realtor, be prepared to be jipped, they always want highest most insane price and oh I have stories.
I gave up after seeing my dreams dashed a lot, so I went to the source twice of the land I wanted and made an offer with the owner on land they were not using.
You can also offer cash and get away cheaper. I would suggest to not call unless quite remote. you meet with someone in person and discuss it and you have better results. Do not email or send letters. I get those offers every day and throw them out. People here will square you up to determine if it will work or not. I live in a subdivision, but there was land around me and I started buying it up lot by lot and now have 1.5 acres. Its really convenient and I get everything I want nearby but you gotta give up something to get something. By going that route, the land that the guy from California was going to pay $30,000 for, the guy sold to me for $15,000 cause he didn't want "whiney people living next door." so he took a loss. We are not all about money down here.