The Landings, a redevelopment project on the Chain of Lakes complex property, recently announced that its first tenant will be Panera Bread, and more tenant announcements are expected soon. Other new businesses to the Winter Haven area coming soon including Aldi, Zaxby’s, Murphy Oil Corporation and Pet Supermarket, and the city also offers recently opened businesses including Honey Baked Ham on Cypress Garden Boulevard and the Laughing Owl Market in downtown.

Legoland Florida also has plans for growth. The theme park revealed details of its upcoming water park rides. The water park is set to open by this summer and will include a Build-A-Raft lazy river, Twin Chasers tube ride and the Duplo Plash Safari.

This is just the beginning. Winter Haven continues to look for opportunities to expand and grow to offer more area amenities to local residents. If this sounds like the city for you, then you’ll love our new homes at Overlook Ridge. We’re a leading Winter Haven home builder which means we can offer you the best homes at the most affordable prices. Overlook Ridge features new homes from $115,900, and is convenient to Legoland Florida as well as everything else the city has to offer.

For more information about our Winter Haven new homes, visit the Highland Homes website.

Recently, we noticed that more and more of you choose to access our website from your mobile devices. In fact, we found that 10 to 15 percent of our monthly site visitors were coming from mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. With so many of you searching for Highland Homes’ information on-the-go, we decided that it was high time that we accommodated your needs. That’s why we contacted website developer mRELEVANCE, LLC to create a compact, yet comprehensive, version of our main website.

The mobile site has everything you need to know about Highland Homes including general, community, floor plan, pricing and contact information. So, whether you’re searching for Tampa, Orlando or Lakeland homes from the comfort of your home or while onsite at one of our communities, you can find what you need quickly and easily.

There are several benefits to using the Highland Homes mobile site including faster load times on mobile devices, the site is easy to read with large fonts and graphics built for the smaller screen of a smartphone and it has finger-friendly content so that you can find what you need with minimal clicks.

For more information about Highland Homes, visit our website (from your mobile device)!

Both cities plan to increase their workforces at an accelerated rate this year as compared to other metropolitan areas in the country, and several key factors are contributing to this growth. In Winter Haven, the highly anticipated theme park, Legoland Florida, opened and brought with it approximately 1,100 jobs, and the Winter Haven Chamber of Commerce reports upcoming employment opportunities with CSX and planned retail developments.

In addition to the development in Winter Haven, Lakeland is home to many corporate headquarters including Publix, Geico and WellDyne RX, all of which have been in a hiring mode, and Coca-Cola recently announced expansion of their Auburndale facility.

If you’re looking to be near the exciting economic development offered by Winter Haven and Lakeland, then we have the perfect new home for you.

Recently, we announced the grand opening of Winter Haven new homes at Overlook Ridge, and the community is already seeing a lot of interest. Not only does the community feature affordable new homes priced from $115,900 and a convenient location near Legoland Florida, but it also is home to the Parade of Homes award-winning model, the Edinburgh II.

In Lakeland, we have several new home communities to suit your needs. Whether you are looking in North Lakeland or South, and require three bedrooms or five, we have the location and home you are looking for. Plus, with features such as covered lanais, garden tubs and walk-in closets all at a price you can afford from the low-$100,000s, you’ll find that you don’t have to sacrifice luxury for value.

For more information about our new home communities, please visit the Highland Homes website.

Of course, everyone’s situation is unique and the lender will need to look at a variety of factors, including your credit history and score. But if you are a Central Florida resident looking to purchase a new home after a short sale, then you definitely want to call us to see if you are able to qualify.

We build new homes throughout Central Florida and the Tampa, Lakeland and Orlando areas. Visit our website for a full list of locations and call any of our communities or our corporate office at 863-619-7103 for more information about short sale financing.

Make sure to check back often for more home buying tips and information from your favorite Lakeland, Orlando and Tampa home builder.

This is good news for the national economy as new homes represent 20 percent of the overall home market.  Each home built creates an average of three jobs for a year and generates about $90,000 in taxes, according to the National Association of Home Builders.

In Realtor.com’s “Top Ten Turnaround Report,” six Florida cities were considered good bets for an upswing in sales. Realtor.com created a formula to rank a city’s turnaround potential based on recent price appreciation, changes in inventory, median age of inventory, number of Realtor.com searches by visitors and area unemployment. The site attributes the Florida cities’ success to year-over-year home price increases, reductions in inventory, lower unemployment rates and, in some cases, an upswing in international buyers.

Realtor.com’s turnaround list includes:

1. Miami: Ranked No. 1 in the report, Miami hit the top based on “a healthy inventory that is only half the size from a year ago,” a lower foreclosure rate than the national average and an increase in condo sales.
2. Orlando: While No. 2, Realtor.com says Orlando had more home searches than any other city when compared to the total number of listings. It also had a significant drop in the number of foreclosures.
3. Fort Myers-Cape Coral: Median prices in Fort Myers-Cape Coral have increased year-over-year, foreclosures are down, inventory is lower and foreign buyers are attracted to the area’s real estate prices.
4. Fort Lauderdale: Inventory has decreased and prices have increased, says Realtor.com.
5. Sarasota-Bradenton: About one in 10 foreign buyers look in Sarasota-Bradenton for a home, Realtor.com says. Listing prices have increased and inventory has decreased.
6. Lakeland-Winter Haven: According to Realtor.com, the number of distressed sales has decreased significantly and prices have gone up.

This isn’t news to us at Highland Homes. We have seen steady pricing and an increase in sales throughout our 22 communities for more than 13 consecutive months. We build in six Central Florida counties and continue to look for developed lots throughout the state to increase our business due to the positive outlook.

With all this good news we are looking forward to a great 2012 and hope to expand our operations to a few more counties and other metropolitan areas in Florida. We specialize in finding ways to help all buyers build the Orlando, Winter Haven and Lakeland homes of their dreams, and only require $99 down.

For more information about how you can build your new home with just $99 down, visit http://www.highlandhomes.org.

Inside of the walls is a variety of components essential to your home – electrical, plumbing, heating and cooling – and at Highland Homes, we want you to see what is in your walls and understand how your new home is put together.

During the building process of your Tampa new home, you will be in continual contact with your salesperson and your personal builder, and will meet with your builder several times. One of those contact points is at the pre-drywall stage, which is about the mid-point of your home construction. This gives you the opportunity to see inside your walls, as well as check the locations of TV and phone jacks and any electrical options you added.

Additionally, your personal builder will educate you and answer any questions you have about your home’s features and the construction. After the walk-through, the drywall will be installed, along with paint, flooring, fixtures and all the finishing touches you selected at the Selection Studio to personalize your home.

We build new homes in Tampa Bay and Central Florida – visit our website for a full list of communities.  We are happy to answer your questions and show you why we are a top Tampa home builder – just give us a call or stop by any of our communities!

“We are excited to have the opportunity to share our story with Builder Magazine,” says Bob Adams, owner and president of Highland Homes. “For more than a decade, we have strived to be a leading homebuilder in Florida by constructing quality homes in the best locations throughout Central Florida, always putting buyers first with our focus on customer service and offering customer-friendly mortgage programs.”

Other highlights from the article include our president’s expansive career in the home building industry, our dedication to excellent customer service, our use of social media to stay connected with our buyers and homeowners and our commitment to keeping our employees up-to-date with extensive, ongoing training.

Since 1996 when Bob and Joel Adams started Highland Homes, we have worked to construct quality single-family Lakeland, Orlando and Tampa new homes at an affordable price. With prices starting from the low-$100,000s and our signature $99 Moves You In offer, buyers can purchase their dream homes for less than they ever thought possible.

For more information about Highland Homes, visit our website.

Many factors go into the purchase of a home, but one factor that remains a top consideration for most buyers is the price. CNBC compiled its list by looking at average price per square foot data from real estate website Zillow.com.

For Lakeland home buyers this is another piece of news that proves this is a great time, and one of the best locations, to purchase a new home. When you are shopping for your home though, remember that price per square foot shouldn’t be your primary consideration. What’s inside that square footage goes a lot farther towards proving a home’s value and fulfilling your needs. You want to make sure your abode is not just an empty box, but a home built with quality materials that include the features and products that are important to you, fulfills your needs and will provide you with years of enjoyment.

When you build a Highland home in Lakeland, you get the peace of mind that comes with choosing a top Lakeland home builder. Your home will be constructed with high quality materials from brands like Delta, Armstrong, Amana and Whirlpool, and best of all you design your home with hundreds of included and upgrade features at our Personal Selection Studio. Purchasing a house is one thing, but investing in a home that reflects your style and is built personally for you – well, that is priceless.

For more information about our homes and locations, visit our website.

Toys for Tots West Pasco County: Every year, Toys for Tots West Pasco County collects new, unwrapped toys and books for children throughout the area. Managed by the Marine Corps League, Holiday Florida Detachment 567, there are several drop boxes in West Pasco County.

Metropolitan Ministries Pasco: This organization collects food and toys for homeless and needy families in Pasco County through Dec. 24. With donation times seven days a week, there are plenty of opportunities to help.

Salvation Army of Pasco County: The Salvation Army feeds and provides social services to those in need. Support this organization by donating items for Christmas food boxes.

For more volunteer and donation opportunities, visit the New Port Ritchey Patch.

For more local area information and tips from your favorite Tampa home builder, visit our website.

Black Friday shoppers had the opportunity to receive free upgrades on their new home purchase with incentives of $7,000 on Black Friday, $5,000 on Saturday and $3,000 on Sunday.

Don’t worry if you couldn’t make it by on Black Friday weekend – you don’t need Black Friday to get the best deals on Central Florida real estate. No matter what the day, we offer affordable new homes priced from the low-$100,000s with only $99 down! With communities in Polk, Hillsborough, Pasco, Manatee, Osceola, and Lake counties, and more than 35 plans to choose from, you’re sure to find the new home of your dreams.

Plus, as a top Tampa home builder and Central Florida’s “Value Leaders,” we build with high-quality, name brand materials, giving peace of mind and security for you and your family.

Don’t have to wait until next year’s Black Friday to achieve your dream of homeownership: stop by one of our sales centers today for more information on purchasing your new home for just $99 Down.

For more information about Highland Homes and our affordable new homes, visit our website.

Read more about our Black Friday deals on The Wall Street Journal.