Buyers who are searching for the perfect Lakeland homes but don’t have the time to wait on new construction are in luck. We have move-in ready homes with special savings just for you! From now through Feb. 29, 2012, we’re taking care of the closing costs for you on all of our move-in ready homes. That’s right. You can purchase a new home without having to worry about the closing costs, for just $99 out of pocket. Just visit the Highland Homes website and print the coupon.

We have move-in ready homes in several communities including Mandolin II, Blackwater Oaks at Imperial Lakes, Oakford Estates, Towne Park and South Oak.

Buyers shopping for Winter Haven homes will love Mandolin II. This gated community boasts three move-in ready homes priced from $164,900. Buyers may choose from a home with three or four bedrooms, one or two stories, and if you want to live on the water, we even have a lakefront home available.

Those in search of Tampa new homes in the Bradenton area should visit South Oak in Ellenton. The community has one move-in ready home available with four bedrooms and three bathrooms priced at $165,400. Featuring the Shenandoah II home design, this floor plan offers a covered lanai, open family room and kitchen, formal living and dining rooms, and master suite with luxury bath and lanai access.

In Lakeland, we have three communities that offer move-in ready homes: Blackwater Oaks at Imperial Lakes, Oakford Estates and Towne Park. Each community boasts a 4 bedroom move-in-ready home, ranging from 1,844 to 2,034 square feet, with great features such as lofts, luxurious master baths with walk-in closets and garden tubs, covered lanais and formal dining rooms. These three distinct communities, all in South Lakeland, are some of our most popular– in fact, the home at Towne Park is the last home available in that community!

For more information about this incentive and to print the coupon, visit the Highland Homes website.

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.

The number of foreclosures in the city is decreasing and new home building is on the rise, making Orlando a highly desirable city. Not to mention the employment and entertainment opportunities that are right around the corner at Disney World and other Orlando amusement destinations. With prices on the rise in such a sought-after location, you’ll want to hurry and purchase your Orlando new home while you can still get the best pricing.

As one of the area’s top Orlando home builders, those looking to buy a new home in this flourishing city will have peace of mind when choosing a Highland Home. We have several new home communities conveniently located to Orlando, and just a short drive from the opportunities and excitement of Disney World. With three to five bedroom new homes currently priced from the low-$100,000s and our $99 Moves You In special offer, buyers are sure to find the home of their dreams at the best price.

Disney employees: Don’t forget about our “Why I Love Highland Homes” video contest. Contact Carmen Arbizu at 407-593-2115 to schedule an appointment to make your video.

For more information about Highland Homes and our new home opportunities in Orlando, visit our 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)!

That’s why we’re announcing the “Why I Love Highland Homes” video contest, just for our wonderful Disney residents. To participate, Disney employees should contact Carmen Arbizu to set up an appointment to make a video by calling 407-593-2115 or just stop by the Deer Creek sales office. The video should explain your favorite part of owning a Highland Home or what you loved most about your Highland Homes experience.

The videos will then be posted on a special Facebook page. The video that receives the most likes will receive a special prize. However, everyone is a winner. Highland Homes will give you a $10 coupon just for participating.

Located just a short drive away from Orlando’s Disney theme parks, Deer Creek, Andover and Mystery Ridge are wonderful new home communities that boast both convenience and luxury. New homes are priced from the $119,000s and feature three to five bedrooms, as many as three bathrooms and up to 2,827 square feet. Stop by one or all of these communities today to see what makes us one of the area’s top Orlando home builders.

For more information about Highland Homes, visit our website; and make sure to keep an eye out for the Why I Love Highland Homes video contest Facebook page, as well as information about the contest in Disney’s Eyes and Ears newsletter.

We know you want your new home to reflect your personality, needs and taste – so our floor plan layouts are just a starting point. We can make basic modifications to the plans to meet your needs, and you design your home with hundreds of options at our Personal Selection Studio.

We are a top Lakeland, Tampa and Orlando home builder, and you can be confident that your home will be constructed to the highest quality. As a local builder, 100 percent of our focus is satisfying the needs of Central Florida home buyers. From our new home sales specialists, to your personal builder, our staff is 100 percent local and accessible to you. Highland Homes has built more than 12,000 homes in Central Florida, and we have the knowledge and experience to build you a high-quality home you will enjoy for many years to come.

Not only is the On Your Lot home building process simple and satisfying, but you’ll find that financing your new home is just as easy. We will introduce you to our preferred mortgage lender where you will receive the same great offers as when you build a new Lakeland, Tampa or Orlando new home in one of our communities; and in most cases you can move in with just $99 down!

Give us a call at 863-619-7103, email us, or visit our website for more information about building a new home on your lot in Central Florida!

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!