Hernando Builders Association and Sunrise Propane are hosting the 2015 Hernando County Parade of Homes. The Parade of Homes is a self guided home tour that highlights the many options new home buyers have in deciding who will build their new home. This is a major event for the local building industry as it serves to bring in much needed business.
The following thirteen builders have homes in the parade: Adams, Alexander Custom Homes, Artistic Homes, Dream Custom Homes, GreenPointe Homes, Hartland Homes, Jamelin Custom Homes, Palmwood Construction, Pastore Custom Builders, Royal Coachman Homes, Homes by Deltona, Richard Van Orden Distinctive Homes and William Ryan Homes.
The building industry in Hernando County is still experiencing a lull in new residence construction. Pastore Custom Homes has gone from building hundreds of homes in a year during the height of the boom to tens of homes. Van Orden has experienced the same with having built between 60 to 70 homes in a single year to now building only a handful. Pastore has been able to survive through commercial construction. Van Orden says they have done a lot of renovations as well as purchasing homes in need of repairs and then reselling them which has proven to be much more profitable.
Another interesting fact is that in the Hernando County market outside of premiere communities, higher end options are more difficult to finance because the majority of new home buyers are not choosing to purchase them. If a home buyer installed higher end cabinetry an appraisal would not add extra value for that. The buyer will end up paying for these higher quality options upfront, since they would not be valued in the appraisal and added to the loan. This means that a buyer that wants higher end options will need significant cash in hand to purchase a home with top of the line options.
Lately, potential buyers with limited cash have had a harder time building in Hernando County since appraisals have been so tight. Many new homes have appraised less than its construction price. In these cases, new home buyers have to provide the difference along with their down payment or the builder is left with the home.
Despite these difficulties, Pastore reports that their residential business construction is just starting to pick up. Now is definitely a good time to build since interest rates and impact fees in Hernando County are low.
If you would like to take the Parade of Homes Tour, the map is available on their website: http://www.paradeofhomesnaturecoast.com/
