T-Minus 217 Days: Verde Ridge in Clermont

Join us for a drive through of the Verde Ridge in Clermont as we try to figure out where we want to move to.

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T-Minus 218 Days: Analyzing the house choices

 We recently went house hunting in Florida. To pay for that, we are now in a two week quarantine. Luckily, we are able to work from home during this time, but, we are stuck living in just the bedroom and the office. When we aren't working, we are pouring through all the house material we brought home from Florida. We have easily spent 25 hours pouring through the data.

I developed a spreadsheet to keep track of our research and I'll share some of that with you along with some sample data.

The first part of the tracker has the builder name, model, the community where it is built, the city, and the base price. Next are six features that were important to us so we decided to track it: the square foot of the house, whether the first floor has a certain configuration we are interested in, what floor the master is on, the floor for the laundry, the floor for the office, and the lot size. Finally, an area for some notes.

As I continue to scroll to the right, I capture some of the financials: the monthly HOA feeds, CDD fees, Capital Contribution cost, the cost of the lot, the required down payment, the present discount being offered, and a budget for upgrades. There are two kinds of upgrades: structural (like adding a lanai, a bedroom, 3 car garage, or another bedroom) and the other is upgrades to things like cupboards, carpets, and door knobs. The structural items are, of course, very expensive. The point is important: the base prices are very misleading because they might strip down the base model to attract you to take a look, and then make up the difference with all the upgrades.

As I continue to scroll to the right, I get into some more financials. All the white columns are formulas, so, I don't have to enter anything into them: The total cost of the house, the downpayment (20%), property taxes/mo, insurance cost per month, closing costs, the amount of the house loan, what the house payment will be, the cost of the house appraisal for the bank, total of the pre-paid amounts, and the amount of cash needed at closing. Next are two more calculated columns that are colored green: The total amount of cash needed and the monthly payments. I also have a "cost per square foot" column (not shown). 

Some of these numbers are estimates (like the home insurance) but I believe everything is realistic.

We are collecting the data for 14 houses (of the two dozen we selected) to help us make a financial decision (per month and total cash), the things we care about, and location.  This will help us to make a data driven decision. The data driven decision won't be the final decision because we can override based on any reason we want, but, it should help to narrow down our decision.

T-Minus 219 Days: Sawgrass to Western Way

 Western Way is the western entrance into Disney World. Someday, Sawgrass Bay is expected to connect to Western Way, giving all the communities within Sawgrass Bay quick access to the parks. Drive along as we go through Sawgrass Bay and find the area where it is likely to connect to Western Way.

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T-Minus 220 days: Sand Key by Taylor Morrison

 The Sand Key model by Taylor Morrison is an incredible house. Unfortunately, it is a little too expensive for us. We enjoyed investigating this house because it became the gold standard from which we compared everything else. When the cost of another house started to get too expensive, we simply said "For this price we could have the Sand Key!" and that helped bring everything into proper perspective. 

Check out this walk through of the Sand Key and I think you'll understand why this house is one of our favorites.

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T-Minus 221 days: KB Homes Plan 3203

 We looked at many home builders during our trip to Florida. And now we have some difficult decisions to make. Elements we need to consider include: Cost, lot size, and location.

Cost = it is very tempting to go over our budget. But we want to stick to our budget so we have money for Disney, for furniture, and everything else.

Lot Size = Many home builders cram all the houses onto 50x110 lots. That is barely enough room to hold the house much less anything else! We want a pool in the back yard and an area for our dog, and 50x110 is just too small.

Location = The north west area of greater Orlando has many newer highway options including The Florida Turnpike, Rt. 429, and (even though it has stop lights) Rt. 27. Unfortunately, many of these new highways are toll roads and it is easy to rack up $100/mo in tolls. On the other hand, the south west area of greater Orlando is tied to I4 which is one of the busiest and perhaps dangerous highways I have ever been on. Everyone in the area knows to avoid I4. 

The KB Homes Plan 3203 offers a good cost, great lot size, and a nice location in Minnrola.

The following is a virtual walk through of KB Homes Plan 3203. KB names their plans after the square foot of the house, so, Plan 3203 has 3203 sqft. KB has several plan, such as the 3016, 3203, and 3530 - they are all nearly identical, except perhaps one plan has a little bump out, or, a slightly different option. Once you go through this virtual tour you will have a good sense of what the rest of the plans look like.

You will notice several half walls. The half walls can be removed, however, the pillars they attach to can not be removed because the pillars are load bearing. A 3 car garage is also available. 

Enjoy the virtual walk through brought to you by KB Homes!

https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=1DUiaUCP6Z7

Alternatively, here is a video made by Heart and Home Orlando

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T-Minus 222 days: Amelia by Taylor Morrison

 Take a walk through the Amelia model house by Taylor Morrison. This is a good house only if we can convert the tandem garage into an air conditioned game room for the boys.

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T-Minus 233 Days: The Reserve at Lake Ridge

 Take a drive through the Reserve at Lake Ridge by KB Homes in Minneola, Florida. We like this location because it is in the north west of Greater Orlando, it is near the Turnpike, the lots are large, and it is on a hill side (which is rare in Florida) so there is the possibility of having a view.

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Here is an areal view of it too:

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