What is a CDD fee and how much is it?

A CDD, or Community Development District, is a special taxing district that funds the roads, water and sewer lines, and amenities in many new-construction communities. You repay it in two parts: a long-term bond assessment that pays off the infrastructure over roughly 20 to 30 years, plus an annual operations and maintenance charge. The combined amount is commonly in the range of a few hundred to a few thousand dollars a year and appears on your Florida property tax bill, so ask for the exact figure before you write an offer.

Do new construction homes cost less to maintain?

In the early years, usually yes. A new roof, new HVAC, new appliances, and modern plumbing and electrical mean fewer surprise repairs, and current Florida building codes make new homes more storm resistant and energy efficient. A builder warranty also covers many defects for a set period. Remember that a CDD assessment can offset some of those maintenance savings, so compare total cost of ownership, not just the repair budget.

Can you negotiate the price on new construction?

Builders resist cutting the base price because it affects the comps for the rest of the community, but they often negotiate in other ways. Design-center credits, closing-cost help through the builder's preferred lender, upgraded finishes, or appliance packages are common. Having your own agent represent you costs you nothing and gives you an advocate at the negotiating table. Nothing here is a guarantee, and terms vary by builder and by community.

Buyer Guide

New construction vs resale in Florida

Both paths can be the right call. The best choice depends on your budget, your timeline, how much certainty you want, and how comfortable you are with the extra line items that come with a brand new Florida community. Here is an honest comparison, with the details that catch people off guard.

Price and negotiation

Resale homes are priced against recent sales of similar homes nearby, so there is usually more room to negotiate, especially if a home has been on the market a while or needs work. You can ask for repairs, credits, or a lower price, and the seller weighs your offer against the risk of waiting for another buyer.

New construction works differently. Builders tend to hold the base price firm because dropping it lowers the comparable values for every other home they still have to sell in the community. What they will often move on is everything around the price: design-center credits, upgraded flooring or countertops, appliance packages, or closing-cost assistance if you use their preferred lender. Read those lender incentives carefully and compare the rate and fees against an outside lender before you commit.

Bring your own agent to the model home. Builder sales staff represent the builder, not you. Having an Evolve advisor register you on your first visit costs you nothing and puts an advocate on your side of the table. Ask about the agent-registration policy before you tour, because some builders require it on the very first visit.

Understanding CDD assessments

This is the single most misunderstood cost in Florida new construction. Many newer master-planned communities are built inside a Community Development District, or CDD. A CDD is a special-purpose local government that issues bonds to pay for the roads, water and sewer lines, drainage, and amenities like pools and clubhouses before the homes are ever sold. Instead of the builder pricing all of that into the sticker, the district spreads the cost across the homeowners over time.

You repay a CDD in two parts. The first is the bond assessment, which pays off the infrastructure debt over roughly 20 to 30 years. The second is the annual operations and maintenance charge that keeps the shared amenities running. Both typically appear as line items on your annual Florida property tax bill, on top of your regular county property taxes and any HOA dues.

The CDD bond can often be paid off early. Some districts let you pay down the remaining bond balance in a lump sum, which removes that portion from future tax bills. Ask the district or the builder for the exact current bond balance, the annual assessment amount, and the payoff terms in writing before you go under contract. On a resale home in a CDD community, ask whether the prior owner already paid the bond off.

CDD amounts vary widely by community and are commonly in the range of a few hundred to a few thousand dollars a year. Because it rides on your tax bill, a CDD raises your effective monthly cost even when the mortgage looks affordable. Two neighborhoods a few miles apart can have very different CDD loads, which is why comparing total cost of ownership matters more than comparing sticker prices.

Warranties and early maintenance

A big draw of new construction is the builder warranty. Coverage varies, but many builders offer a short-term workmanship warranty on the first year, a multi-year warranty on major systems like plumbing and electrical, and a longer structural warranty. On top of that, everything is new: the roof, the air conditioning, the water heater, the appliances. In the first several years you are far less likely to face a surprise five-figure repair, which is real peace of mind in a Florida climate that is hard on roofs and HVAC systems.

Resale homes trade that certainty for character and location. A ten-year-old roof or an aging AC system is a normal negotiating point, and a thorough inspection tells you what you are inheriting. You can budget for those items, and a well-maintained older home in an established neighborhood can be an excellent value. Just go in with eyes open about the age of the big-ticket systems.

Energy efficiency and building code

Florida updates its building code regularly, and homes built to current standards tend to be more storm resistant and more energy efficient than older stock. Newer construction often includes better insulation, higher-efficiency HVAC, low-emissivity windows, and tighter building envelopes, which can lower your electric bill in the Central Florida heat. Impact-rated windows and updated roof-to-wall connections can also matter for your homeowners insurance premium, which is a meaningful cost anywhere in the state. An older resale home can be upgraded, but you are paying for those improvements yourself over time.

Lot, location, and timing trade-offs

Resale usually wins on location and mature surroundings. Established neighborhoods come with grown trees, finished landscaping, established schools, and a sense of the community you are actually joining. You can walk the street on a weekday evening and see what daily life feels like. New construction communities are often on the edge of the metro where land is available, which can mean a longer commute today and years of nearby building activity before the area fills in.

Timing is the other trade-off. A resale home lets you move in weeks. A to-be-built home can take many months, and construction timelines in Florida can slip with weather and material availability. If you are relocating on a deadline or your lease is ending, that difference is not a small detail. Fast-growing areas like Horizon West in west Orange County and St. Cloud in Osceola County have strong new-construction pipelines alongside established resale pockets, so it is worth comparing both within the same area before you decide.

Compare the real numbers

The honest way to choose is to put both options on the same footing over the years you actually plan to own. That means adding up the mortgage, the county property taxes, insurance, HOA dues, expected maintenance, and, for new-construction communities, the CDD assessment. A lower resale price with a higher maintenance budget can land close to a higher new-construction price with a warranty and a CDD, or it can be very different. You will not know until you run it.

Run both side by side. Our new vs resale calculator compares total cost of ownership over five or ten years, with CDD, HOA, and maintenance built in, so you can see which option really costs less for your situation rather than guessing from the sticker price.

Use the calculator to test a real scenario, then bring the output to a conversation. Small changes, like a different county tax rate or a paid-off CDD bond, can swing the comparison, and it helps to talk through the assumptions with someone who knows the Central Florida market.

Talk to a local Evolve advisor

There is no universally right answer between new and resale. There is only the right answer for your budget, your timeline, and the community you want to live in. A local Evolve Estates advisor can pull the CDD details for a specific community, compare it against nearby resale options, and make sure you are seeing the full picture before you write an offer.

Call 407.871.3352

Disclosure. This guide is for general informational purposes only and is not financial, tax, legal, or insurance advice. CDD assessments, builder warranty terms, HOA dues, property taxes, and insurance premiums vary by community, builder, and property, and change over time. Always confirm current figures in writing with the district, builder, lender, and appropriate professionals before making a decision. Evolve Estates Group is brokered by eXp Realty. Equal Housing Opportunity.