In principle, the following applies to a property like ours that is located in the flood zone: The higher the stem wall (floor slab) is in relation to the base flood elevation, the more favorable the flood insurance. This fact and the height of the neighboring house must be taken into account when determining the height of the floor slab.
After all the research, organization and planning, we are finally getting started today. After the ground on which the house will later stand has been heaped up to a predetermined level, the sectional framework is erected and the floor plan is sprayed on. It’s an uplifting feeling when you finally see something, even if it’s as small as the orange line that illustrates the foundations of our future dream house.
The next important point is the entry door. If you drive through the residential area of Cape Coral, you will either see ornate doors of all kinds or, in modern houses, white glass doors with frames – always the same and usually made of wood. Scroll doors refer to the various types of molding (profiles).
We experience a completely different kind of color session with our builder, because he and we are probably not the usual kind of builder and builder. This has advantages and disadvantages. The disadvantages are suspected during the selection process, while the advantages only became apparent afterwards. But let’s start from the beginning:
After submitting the work plans to the city of Cape Coral, we were amazed at how quickly the building permit is issued here. It usually only takes about two weeks to get the building permit. Now we are only 31 inspections away from moving in. Yes, that’s right: 31 construction phases are first approved by the city before construction can continue.
As already mentioned, we wanted a real custom home and not just a house based on a slightly modified existing floor plan. This is due to two facts: Firstly, we have a Pie Shaped Lot (pie shape) which is not so common, secondly, we need two offices instead of bedrooms and all regularly used rooms should be arranged with a view of the water.
We had a deja vu while we thought we had found the right builder once again. Unfortunately, the estate agent had to go to an appointment and didn’t have the opportunity to draw up a contract that day. Never mind, it gave us a few hours to think about it and sleep on it for a night. Unfortunately, we were to pay for that, because the next day everything was completely different.
Back in Germany, we racked our brains as to how we could turn the floor plan (left), which we didn’t like but contained everything we wanted, into our dream home. Because when we got back, we were supposed to meet the architect. In layman’s terms, we drew a sketch with pencil and paper in the style of the plan before us. We also created a specification list so that we could turn the estimated offer into a detailed contract as soon as possible.
A lot is being built in Cape Coral – a lot now. 1069 building applications for new residential homes (single-family homes) were approved by the city in 2015. There are a correspondingly large number of builders – just over 100 of them. How on earth are you supposed to find the right builder? Just writing down the experience of searching for one puts you in the position of not knowing where to start.
So we have found our dream of a country. What happens next? The contract goes to the title company. It carries out the purchase in trust. It carries out the title search, arranges for the money to be transferred, splits the costs and prepares all the documents.
