Home Building 101: How Long Does It Take to Build a New Construction Home in FL?

The i’s are dotted, t’s are crossed, and your Highland Homes construction team is ready to lay the foundation and build your new construction home in Florida. Exciting, right? Now, how long do you have to wait before you can hang those new Ikea curtains?

Contrary to what some home-renovation TV shows lead us to believe, building a new construction home is not a two-week process crammed into 30 minutes of entertainment. In a recent conversation with our Director of Production, David Adams, a home building professional with over 20 years of experience, we got an overview of the factors that affect the time it takes to build a new construction home in Florida.

Projected Build Time 

Before construction can begin on your new Florida home, the building permit must be obtained. From city to city and county to county, permit processing can vary and take between 30 and 60 days.

Once the permit is ready and your home is released for construction, on average it may take 3.5 to 5 months to build your new home, although the process and timeframe to build a single-family home in Tampa Bay are not the same as building a multi-gen home in Ocala. Factors such as the jurisdiction where the home is being built, weather, and material supply and demand can affect how long it takes to build a new home in Florida.

According to David, over the past year, several counties have been taking a little longer to process paperwork due to increased housing demand and staffing concerns. To optimize construction timelines, our builders and construction support team works on what we can control: Our scheduling, the building forecast, and communication.

Supply and Demand 

With the permits approved, your home building team works to ensure tradespeople are scheduled and all supplies are ready and available, even when building materials are scarce. For example, during the 2004 Atlantic Hurricane season, shingles were hard to come by and pushed the construction time for many homes to 8 months while the construction teams waited to receive shingles. In 2008-09, David found supply and demand flowed seamlessly; every supplier was well staffed, employees and building materials were ready and available, and the average time to build a new home was an astounding 60-80 days.

This year, due to high demand for home building and renovation materials as well as public health circumstances beyond everyone’s control, David is projecting there may be a shortage of some building materials at times that may affect the overall build time for new homes in Florida.

Positive, Proactive Communication

Your Highland Homes builder prides himself or herself on being proactive. While processing permits, closings, and the weather are out of our control, our building team and internal processes work diligently to stay on target.

“Homebuilding is not a one size fits all process,” says David. "Highland Homes is prepared for that; each construction manager is in regular contact with our sales managers who, in turn, make sure our sales team is informed about build statuses, to keep everyone updated and on the same page. There are daily communication and connection meetings internally as well as with our suppliers and trade partners, which have allowed Highland Homes to fare well in managing volatile market conditions and continue to serve you as one of the top home builders in Florida."

The stages of building a new Highland Home are concrete when it comes to the structural build; the overall timeline, not so much. At the end of the home building process though, David wants to ensure you that our homeowners are the beneficiaries of Highland Homes’ mission statement, “To deliver the American Dream through the excitement and empowerment of our dedicated team members and create the most satisfying home buying experience on earth.”  We know you have a choice as to which builder you choose to build your dream home and while all builders will experience market-related issues, Highland Homes’ goal is to provide peace of mind during the home building process and deliver a quality home you will enjoy for many years.

David encourages future homeowners to look at our model homes, as our quality is on display to see in every Florida new home community in which we build.

Your Florida Home Builder 

As the number five Largest Homebuilder in Tampa Bay, Highland Homes has been dedicated to making your homeownership dream a reality since 1996. If you are already in the process of building your new construction home in Florida with Highland Homes, congratulations!! And, if you are still considering which Florida home builder is the right builder for you, we invite you to learn a little bit more about building with Highland Homes by previewing the Path to Ownership, getting inspired to design and decorate your new home with our online Inspiration Gallery, and seeing what current homeowners have to say about the Experience of Building with Highland Homes.

Ready to start building your new home in Tampa Bay, Metro Orlando, Ocala, Bradenton-Sarasota, or Lakeland-Winter Haven? Our New Home Specialists are excited to connect, answer any questions you have, and make your new home dream come true! Call us or email us anytime.