Florida Home Builders - Looking Around Can Be Fun
Posted by Amanda Beaty on September 7th, 2008 filed in Real EstateIn Florida there are many things to consider before hiring one of the many Florida builders. You have to decide which kind of house you want. There are several kinds of homes built in Florida. You have to hire one of the Florida builders that specialize in the type house you want. Here is a list of what houses and types of builders go together.
If you are looking for just a plain house and do not mind the houses in the neighborhood being similar than the production builder is the one to choose. This builder will only have a few choices of things like what color the houses are or what color the carpet is to choose from. Only a few numbers of floor plans are available too. The builder offers a few samples of carpet for you to decide on. Other features in the house have limited choices too. The nice thing about this category is that the houses are at better prices for people to afford.
If you need a bit more to choose from as far as the features in the house then consider the semi-custom home. You have a few more choices on the features that go in the homes given to you by the builder. They usually even give you a choice in kitchen cabinets, which production builders do not. These houses are only a bit more costly than production homes.
For a truly unique home go for a custom home. In this home you pick everything even the light fixtures and faucets. The custom home builders help you take your ideas and turn them into actual blueprints. There is not limit to the house you can design this way. These houses do cost more money as a negative point to be made.
There are usually plenty of places to see examples of a production builder because they build whole subdivisions and large developments. The semi custom and custom builders have to set up model homes to show their work off. You may have to make appointments to see these homes.
Protect yourself by having contracts drawn up that have all the details of how you want your house. Even with the production homes you can overlook details if you are not careful. With production homes usually you just have to put down a deposit to hold the house and the rest is paid at closing. Payments will have to be made with the semi custom or custom builders along the way until the house is complete. A payment schedule will need to be included in the contract.
One point needs to be made here too, in light of all the mortgage problems in recent times; you need to check out your mortgage company thoroughly to make sure they have your best interest at heart. You do not want to go to all this work finding the right house and one of the Florida builders only to get scammed by the mortgage company you choose.
To quickly recap here use production builders for simple homes that are often mass produced but affordable. For a few more choices and still great affordability use the semi custom home builders. Then for the more unique looking houses use the custom home builders. The custom homes will be less affordable to some people though. This discussion should help you know which of the Florida builders you should use for you next house.