Comments (8)

  1. Timothy Senak

    Great advice Dave and Cindy. With these volatile construction costs it is essential for your attorney to build an “escape clause” into any contract. With the construction delays you might be looking at 18-24 month build times. Banks will not lock mortgage rates over 6 to 12 months. Buying an existing home you get an “out” if you don’t qualify for a mortgage, but builders’ standard form contracts don’t let you out of the contract if a bank won’t give you a mortgage. Pat and I purchased our first home in the “Carter Era” with rates north of 18%. Who knows if mortgages will dry up in 2 years so better protect yourselves now. An attorney will also check to see how many lawsuits are filed against your perspective builder which is also something good to know. Good luck to all neighbors in any stage of building. Pat and Tim Senak

  2. Dave and Cindy Dyal

    Greetings! Here are some things to consider while you are in the beginnings of your build process. We built during the pandemic, so it was a challenge for labor and products for sure.

    Due to the antics of this and previous boards and ARB’s, some custom builders will not build in here again. Despite that, there is no restriction on who you can use to build in here, regardless of the stated “approved” builders list. The HOA has no authority to tell you who to use. I suggest that when you start your project that you may want to consider having an attorney on standby. This board and ARB seem to think they can enforce their opinions onto folks building in here. Their antics have resulted in a few lawsuits against them that are ongoing for their ridiculous “cease and desist” orders that have cost homeowners tens of thousands of dollars in costs and delays.

    One thing to keep in mind is that there will be cost overruns simply because of the costs of goods are climbing. Construction delays have cost homeowners more money as their leases expired before their new home is completed and had to re-negotiate their leases where they live now. In your discussions with builders, see how well they are moving their projects along and how many they have in their pipeline now. Some are taking up to 2 years to complete and that’s alot of interest to pay on your construction loan. Cost overruns can be brutal. One owner told me of the tens of thousands of dollars that his trusses cost him when they were finally completed that he had not planned for. Trex is far more expensive now than it was before. Metal roofs are really costly now, but the type of materials has a lot to do with it.

    All that to simply point out that y’all need to be prepared for costs and time to completion to be unstable. Talk it over with whomever you chose to build your dream home. It’s worth it.

    We love living here and the neighbors are wonderful (for the most part). Welcome to the neighborhood.

  3. Norbert Sluzewski

    Courtney and Alan. You’ve seen some great insights shared here by others in our community. I would also add that there is a published list of “approved” vendors that you can reference, if you want to explore all of the options. You can find it here: https://www.watsonassociationmanagement.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/78/2021/09/Approved-Builders-Contractors-for-Seaside-Landings-at-Flagler-Beach-11.1.22.pdf
    This list is published on the Watson Management portal, accessible from our website under the Records and References menu.
    Can’t wait to have you as our community neighbors. Anyone who has gone through the process of construction at SSL can give you good, practical insights on best ways to streamline the process. Please don’t hesitate to post your questions here and you can be assured of an immediate stream of responses.

  6. Bruce Grant

    Hi Courtney & Alan,

    We interview a few of the builders in our great new community. We decided on Saltwater homes, the owner Rob and assistant Nichole are very easy to work with…please give us a call 631-774-6504 and we can talk about our experience. Also if you are looking at pools I would recommend Waterside pools…
    Bruce & Donna Grant

  7. Diana and Todd Reed

    Hello Courtney and Allan,
    So excited for you both. My husband and I have lived in the area pretty much all our life and are happy to help answer any questions you may have and provide any recommendations you may need. Like Dave Dyal said, there are some really good builders around here. Please feel free to give me a call 386-562-2284. Best, Diana 🙂

  8. Dave and Cindy Dyal

    Despite the recent actions by the ARB, Waterside builds a beautiful house of which there are several here. Depends on what kind of house style you are drawn toward. I do recommend David at Atlier Design as an architect. He was wonderful to work with on our house design. He too has several houses out here that he designed.

    Feel free to knock on doors out here. Most of us are happy to show our future neighbors our homes. These custom homes at this price range are only attractive to a few builders. Interview a few to see who you feel about them. Cindy and I interviewed 3 before we met Vinnie at Waterside and felt very comfortable with him. There are some very good builders around here.

Leave a comment