WHAT IS ZONING AND WHY DOES IT MATTER WHEN YOU ARE BUILDING A HOUSE ON YOUR OWN LOT?

WHAT IS ZONING AND WHY DOES IT MATTER WHEN YOU ARE BUILDING A HOUSE ON YOUR OWN LOT?

mwilhite - Monday, February 11, 2019
WHAT IS ZONING AND WHY DOES IT MATTER WHEN YOU ARE BUILDING A HOUSE ON YOUR OWN LOT?
Whether you are looking for a lot to build your house on, or you already own the lot, zoning will be an important item to take into consideration. Hillsborough County describes zoning as “how land is currently being used and how it will be used in the future. The goal is to provide for public safety and protect the character of neighborhoods.”  Municipalities divide up the land into zones for residential, commercial, industrial and other uses. Each zone has a map…

BUILDING A NEW HOME IN AN HOA COMMUNITY

mwilhite - Monday, February 4, 2019
BUILDING A NEW HOME IN AN HOA COMMUNITY
If you are considering purchasing a lot in a community with an HOA (Home Owners Association) to build your new home, you may want learn as much as you can about the HOA. The HOA is usually responsible for maintaining the common areas of a community, such as the main entrance, swimming pools, club houses, etc. Each land owner pays a fee to the HOA to cover the costs. The HOA has a governing board made up of volunteers from…

WHAT ARE IMPACT FEES?

mwilhite - Tuesday, January 1, 2019
WHAT ARE IMPACT FEES?
Wikipedia defines impact fees as “a fee that is imposed by a local government within the United States on a new or proposed development project to pay for all or a portion of the costs of providing public services to the new development. Impact fees are considered to be a charge on new development to help fund and pay for the construction or needed expansion of offsite capital improvements. These fees are usually implemented to help reduce the economic burden on…

WATER & SEWER OR WELL & SEPTIC?

mwilhite - Tuesday, January 1, 2019
WATER & SEWER OR WELL & SEPTIC?
Site work is one of those areas of building a house that no one ever talks about after it is done because it is out of sight and out of mind. If you are lucky and the lot that you bought already has water and sewer lines there waiting for you to hook up your plumbing lines to them, cross this cost off your list and congratulations! If not, then you will need to budget for water and sewer. If…

WHAT ARE THE COSTS TO PREPARE THE LAND FOR A NEW HOUSE?

mwilhite - Tuesday, January 1, 2019
WHAT ARE THE COSTS TO PREPARE THE LAND FOR A NEW HOUSE?
Once you purchase the perfect lot for your new house, there are a several additional requirements before you can start building on the land: You will need a land survey. The land survey defines the boundary lines of your property, and shows the elevations, as well as the location of any existing structures, utilities, easements, roadways and trees. The cost for a land survey will depend on the size of your lot, the amount of trees, and the number of…

BUILDING ON YOUR OWN LOT 101 BY ALL STATE HOMES

mwilhite - Tuesday, January 1, 2019
BUILDING ON YOUR OWN LOT 101 BY ALL STATE HOMES
Building a new home on your own lot can be one of the most exciting and rewarding experiences of a lifetime. On Your Lot customers decide where they want to live, affording them the opportunity to consider important factors such as schools, community, traffic, and more, ensuring them that their family will have ready access to the amenities that are important to their lifestyle. Choosing a builder with strong experience in the On Your Lot industry is the number one…

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO BUILD A HOUSE ON YOUR OWN LOT?

mwilhite - Tuesday, January 1, 2019
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO BUILD A HOUSE ON YOUR OWN LOT?
Unlike buying an existing preowned or new construction house, where you can compare house prices by the cost per square foot, buying a house that has not been built yet requires answering a few more questions first: Floor plan:  How much of the house will be heated and how much will be unheated (garage or porches)? Will it be one story or two? How many bathrooms and bedrooms? Fireplace? Materials:  Will the exterior walls be wood, Hardie board, brick or concrete? Will…

PLAN AHEAD FOR RETIREMENT

mwilhite - Sunday, December 23, 2018
PLAN AHEAD FOR RETIREMENT
It remains the dream of many people to retire to Florida. Sometimes retirement age also brings with it diminished physical abilities for you or friends and family members. But there are steps you can take when building a house to make sure limited physical abilities won’t stop you or anyone visiting you from enjoying your Tampa Bay home. Here are a few simple, cost-effective design decisions that - if made early on - can help you enjoy your home well…

WATER IS THE BIGGEST THREAT TO YOUR NEW HOME’S VALUE

mwilhite - Sunday, December 16, 2018
WATER IS THE BIGGEST THREAT TO YOUR NEW HOME’S VALUE
Touring Italy many years ago, a student came across a 400 year-old villa - still in use - that was built of simple wood, stucco and a tile roof. The student turned and asked his guide, an architect, “how is it your houses last so long?” Without hesitation, the guide exclaimed: “YOU MUST MANAGE THE WATER!” Water, whether in the form of rain, leaky pipes, mold or mildew represents probably the single most destructive threat to your home’s value. Among…

BUILD A NEW HOME AND AVOID FUTURE EXPENSES

mwilhite - Sunday, December 9, 2018
BUILD A NEW HOME AND AVOID FUTURE EXPENSES
Are you currently living in an older home but facing major renovations? Are you considering the purchase of an older home on a really nice lot, but fear being trapped in a potential money pit? Building a new single family home may make sense from an investment point of view. New construction homes offer the additional benefit of reduced ongoing costs like maintenance, utilities and insurance. Even with the best inspections of an existing home, there can still be surprises.…