Greater Homes of Orlando... Can anyone give me some feedback?

[flyinglizard]

Hopefully, we will be putting our deposit down to build a new home in Orlando soon. We've looked at a lot of builders, communities and homes in the past few years. We've pretty much decided that Greater Homes is the builder we want. Can anyone offer some advice, good things, bad things, recommendations or tips regarding this builder?

We have narrowed it down to two communities...

Thank you for your help!

 

[sorcerormickey]

That's who we are building with too!

We did a lot of research beforehand, and thought Greater was the way to go. From what I have seen of their homes, they seem to include many more features that would normally be upgrades with other builders. And, the opportunity to be able to interact and talk to the different contractors if needed was a real plus too.

I love my new house and can't wait for it to be finished - about 4 more weeks! What development are you looking at?

 

[vernon]

I bought a house from them about 5 years ago. I was very happy with my dealings with them. They seem to build to a better quality than many of the builders in the area.

The only thing I would have done differently and with the benefit of hindsight, is that in the kitchen I went for a vinyl floor covering instead of having the whole area tiled. IMHO this was a mistake as if you are unfortunate enough to have a small leak anywhere hidden, excessive condensation from a fridge/freezer or even due to the humidity in the air it is possible for water to find it's way under the vinyl flooring and any ensuing mould can slowly discolour the flooring, necessitating new flooringing every 5 or so years. Full tiling is initially more expensive, but IMHO it's a better surface and lasts a lot longer.

 

[Rikersmom]

Vernon--I'm considering buying a house/condo in the Orlando area. Is yours a single family home? How do you manage the outside upkeep if you live in England? How much time a year do you spend in the house? If these are too personal questions, I understand. I'm just really excited about the idea of having a place near WDW to spend part of the year. I don't want to rent it out when I'm not there, but I worry about leaving it empty. Thanks for any info you can provide.

Karen

 

[flyinglizard]

sorceromickey- We've been looking at the South Ridge/Greater Pines developement. We also looked at Cypress Chase, but we don't care for the "narrow lot" homes as well as the wider lot designs.

We've looked at many other builders, but we find the Greater Homes interior details "comfortable"- things like the niches, the curved corners, the built in entertainment centers, the arched lights above the windows, and on and on...

I would just like to hear from a few "satisfied customers".

vernon- That is exactly the kind of "tip" I am looking for from someone who has been there, done that! Any more suggestions... no matter how small you may think they are? Thanks...

 

[vernon]

Hi Karen, no problem at all.

I've sold that house ( it was a single family home) about 18 months ago due to getting divorced it was too much of a financial drain when I had a lot of other commitments. I'd guess it was running at about a $3-4k a year loss. It was being rented out while I wasn't there. Most years I was getting about 6 weeks a year use for that $3-4k loss.

The house was run by a management company, they organised pool cleaning, garden, pest control, house cleaning, paid bills etc. The cost of doing it that was was about $800 a month ( I think). The mortgage was about $1,000. Given the climate in Fl I don't think you can leave a house unoccupied or unchecked for very long. A decent management company is an absolute must.

IMHO unless you're going to be in the house for 6 months of the year or more it really isn't economically viable not to rent out. The rental income can help offset costs and it does have the advantage of people regularly coming into the house to check for anything going wrong and discourages burglers. I would guess to leave a house unoccupied is going to cost you about $1000 a month (with no mortgage), if you rent it out for 2 weeks a month you'll break even ( or better). If you can afford to lose $12,000 a year then I guess it's a personal choice, but over 10 years you could almost afford to buy another house :O .


Flying lizard that's really just about it, I can't think of anything that I was unhappy with or thought I should have done differently.


If anyone is looking for information on owning a home in Florida you're probably better off asking as well on the UK boards, there are a lot of Fl owners go there and as the topics don't dissapear as quickly as they do on this board you'll find it a lot easier to track down your answers.