Moving to Pasco County

[LKJ1988]

Originally Posted by deb18

I am paying 1900 for 250000 for lloyds flood insurance. I was NOT grandfathered in when the Brite Waters Act took effect and no I am not living in a trailer nor am I in a under 1600 sq foot house nor am Iliving in an elevated house. Everything is in one level almost even with the street. I live in a high flood zone. FEMA wanted more than Lloyds. There are options out there but u have to do your homework. I am across from canals leading to the gulf. A friend bought an elevated home across from the gulf and FEMA wanted 40,000 a year so be careful. West pasco has good and bad areas. Sorry your experience has been awful. Mine has been fantastic

It's 8k a year to insure these 30 to 40k homes in my hood. The big homes on the water are 20k +. I go bare anyways so it don't matter to me.

[sunigal99]

I agree that Trinity is your best bet. Keep the commute time down by staying near NPR, but get nicer neighborhoods and schools than NPR. I live on the cusp of Trinity and pay $350 a year for flood ins. for a 1500 sq ft block home near ponds, but not waterfront. Sinkhole ins. is the killer.

[TolkienObrian]

Thanks for all the replies. I've been looking online at houses in Pasco, and am finding it a little intimidating. (There are so many houses on the market in that area!)

I have a couple of questions, and if anyone out there can answer them, it would be very helpful during my home search.
1. Do you recommend any builders? There is one company in particular that is building extensively in the Land O' Lakes/Trinity area, and though their houses are priced well, I plan to avoid them because they have a bad reputation quality-wise.
2. Chinese "toxic" drywall, used during 2001-2009, esp. in Florida. Should I really worry about this, or not?

[Bill_Braskey]

I would think that Chinese drywall isn't a big deal any more and should be flushed out of the system. I wouldn't recommend building but rather find a nice community with an average house and rehab it to the point you have what you want. This will save money on CDD type fees if you find the right community.

[retiredcop111]

Take a look at Long Lake Ranch. Its in Lutz but Pasco County. Right off of 54. Very convenient.

[gulfer]

I agree with remaining East of Little Road. You will see why when you drive down there.

Trinity has some great schools to go along with a nice rural area. You can find nice subdivisions and also find homes that are a bit in the country. You price range will find you plenty of options.

Even getting over by the SunCoast Expressway into Land O Lakes keeps the drive very do able and opens up many more options. My daughter graduated from Sun Lakes High School in Land O Lakes and we were very pleased with that.

Going South of New Port Richey brings you options but also would recommend staying away from the flood areas. Primarily for insurance rates, but of course also for flooding. East Lake is a nice area, many areas of Lutz and Odessa are nice as well. Going North away from Holiday and into Spring Hill has nice areas as well and much lower prices than you will find around Tampa. I always liked the feel of the rural areas of Land O Lakes, Trinity, Odessa and Spring Hill.

You have a lot of options by having the job in New Port Richey because you get to stay away from Tampa traffic.

[CaroleS]

We winter near New Port Richey but if we were going to live there, as much as I would prefer to be closer to the beach areas, I would live further to the east. There has been a lot of flooding this year and many roads were impassable.

Pasco residents frustrated over flooded streets
Pasco Flooding: What You Need to Know | New Port Richey, FL Patch

[bentlebee]

Originally Posted by TolkienObrian

Thanks for all the replies. I've been looking online at houses in Pasco, and am finding it a little intimidating. (There are so many houses on the market in that area!)

I have a couple of questions, and if anyone out there can answer them, it would be very helpful during my home search.
1. Do you recommend any builders? There is one company in particular that is building extensively in the Land O' Lakes/Trinity area, and though their houses are priced well, I plan to avoid them because they have a bad reputation quality-wise.
2. Chinese "toxic" drywall, used during 2001-2009, esp. in Florida. Should I really worry about this, or not?

Chinese drywall has been used with many builders and no longer is used as they were all unaware of it.

I understand how buying from a builder can be very intimidating as you see a beautiful model home but that is only what you get if you are willing to add $ 75K - $ 100K on top of the base price as most what you see are upgrades.

I dealt with builders lately with clients and was even more surprised that what used to be a standard size toilet is now an upgrade as you get the very low toilets as standard and many builders don't even add a standard towel bar as that is something you need to buy at a design center and will be an add on making everything more expensive.

This is probably to upset the cost of what many are blindsided from which are granite countertops and because of the cost of the granite the cabinets above the countertop are eliminated which is now a modern oversized countertop but it will be a loss of cabinet space and for a builder cost reducing and another option may be a "ready to own" from a builder as you know what you get for what price.

Keep in mind buying from scratch means you sign a contract and often clients are over the top excited and prior to signing go to a design center to see upfront what there is to get and usually get a price sheet but there is no time to see what cost what as the paperwork is so big and many others will be there and the design center employees will avoid going into much details.

After signing the contract and depositing an escrow money the journey begins and the stress level will go higher to stay within budget unless you don't have a budget.

Later keeping track on what you purchased and what you are charged if you buy more items than average in the design center add another job to see if what you pay for is there as many small items are added to the bill.

Buying from scratch is very nice to get what your taste is if you can deal with everything that comes with that and from what I have seen it is and can be more than stressful.

As an agent I know how you may want a professional on your side when you buy from a builder as things can come up and being there by yourself you can and will be overwhelmed by the giant on the other side.

Professionals come in different ways and I'm not saying you need a realtor as you can hire one at no cost for a buyer but you will need one who has expertise with builders, but a home inspector from start to finish is a good thing to have and have a real estate lawyer at hand if you need one.

The best advise is to talk to others in the community you are buying unless you are the first one in which case others will benefit from your experience.

A decade ago I was a huge fan of buying a new built home but now it scares me a little bit knowing what I know now unless certain things are checked for. This is just due to recent experience with different builders.