What are Impact Fees?

How do they affect my use of a vacation home in Orlando

Around 2017 developers learned that there was a way  to save considerable money on new home build costs buy negotiating with the county to reduce or eliminate impact fees.
Impact fees are monies that a developer pays to the local county on new homes to grow the county funds for items such as schools. People who buy vacation homes are not likely to put kids in local school so there is no real need for that builder expense.

In return, new home buyers may sign a waiver that they won’t be using the home as a residence and will not stay in the home for a set period of time per year – usually no more than 30 days.

There are however some buyers who would like to spend more time in the home so its possible they could contact the county independently and agree to pay those fees. We believe its about a one time $6,000 – $8,000 fee. We have not verified this independently to date.

Here is where it gets tricky. To date, there is no “department” of impact fees nor is there anyway for the county to police how often an owner uses the home. We expect the red flag would occur if a pupil tried to enroll in the local schools but as yet we have no way of knowing because no one has tried to our knowledge.

It’s a bit of a grey area that we guess was pieced together when the developers realized they were unnecessarily spending those monies on every new home so they negotiated with the county – and we end up with a policy that is neither clear or apparently enforceable in its current form.
What makes it really hard for us as Realtors is there is no department, no one to call and ask: “has impact fees been paid on this home”.

If you purchase a new our resale home built in a major resort around or after 2017 this is something that you should be aware of and take into consideration.
We believe that the following resorts have this policy in place: Championsgate The Retreat, Windsor at Westside, Windsor Island, Solara & Storey Lake.

We have knowledge of many homeowners who use their homes many times a year for extended periods so it does not seem to cause any issues but we want to make sure all of our clients are aware and understand what and why this is a clause in the purchasing contract. Make sure you discuss this with the sales staff if you are buying  anew home. It is a question they deal with daily and can advise you further.

Please check with us on other locations, our research current only shows the above have this policy but may of course change as new locations are added or updated.