Owner's Ace Blog

Builders toss a lot of confusing terms around, but our customers often give us a puzzled look when we talk about custom and semi-custom new homes.  So what are these?  What's the difference?  And why should you even care? First of all, it's important to understand that new homes fall into one of ...

Who are we kidding?! No matter how much singing, dancing and praying we do, the rain is still going to come. It’s simply that time of year in Florida. So how does that impact building a custom home? Well it’s critical for scheduling, material management and moisture prevention. Given this rainy e...

Enjoy this home tour of one of our most recently completed custom homes. Wonderful home for some super people!

You may have heard the horror stories about people having liens placed on their homes by sub-contractors that were never paid by their builder.  So how do you make sure that you don't fall victim to this problem? As background, when a lien is placed on a home, the homeowner may be forced to pay t...

Is it not enough that retailers have us conditioned to expect fully decorated stores before Halloween?  Now the onslaught of Christmas in July sales has hit the mainstream, too.  All of the advertisements for Christmas in July got me thinking about my fireplace, and whether it is really worth the...

We have built many different styles of custom homes in Tampa and St Petersburg over the years. Mediterranean style homes are pretty popular but many people are surprised that they cost more to build than other styles of homes. When compared to colonial, bungalow, and other styles, the driver for ...

I’m possibly the poster child for this statement. I know my work colleagues, family and friends are nodding their collective heads. It may surprise them that I’ve actually mellowed out over the last few years. I'm certain it has nothing to do with getting wiser with age (the opposite is probably ...

In case you missed “National Get Out Of the Doghouse Day” earlier this week, the more important day might be today, July 19th, “Get To Know Your Customer Day”.  I have no clue who makes these up, but it is a great chance for us to reach out and thank our customers. Building custom homes in Tampa ...

Of course, this is one of the great lines from the movie Forrest Gump.  I think most of us would agree with this statement, too.  Fortunately, this doesn't have to be the case when it comes to building a custom home in Tampa.  Unlike buying a product in a store that you can look, touch, feel and ...

Impact fees are charges that are implemented by local governments on new development to help pay for infrastructure to support the development. The idea is that the population growth due to the new development should help pay for the capital improvements, like schools, roads and water, that the d...