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Program 03
Ground-Up Construction in Orlando
Start digging in Orlando with ground up construction loans.
Built for spec home builders and developers. We fund the land and the vertical build up to 70% LTV and 85% of cost, with draws that keep pace with the job. In metro Orlando a CDD layer can ride on the finished house's tax bill, so check the parcel first. Business-purpose only, and every structure is set in underwriting.
70%
max LTV
85%
of cost
Most states
funding
$5M
max loan
Typical figures, subject to underwriting and market conditions. Not a commitment to lend.
How it works
We finance both the land and the vertical construction, with a draw schedule built around your timeline. Experienced builders can access higher leverage on cost.
Who it's for
Spec home builders
Developers and operators
Lot purchase or teardown
Build-to-rent strategies
Typical terms
Loan amountUp to $5M
LeverageUp to 70% LTV / 85% LTC
Term12 to 24 months
DrawsPer build schedule
RateFrom 10.00%*
UseSpec or build-to-rent
*Typical terms, subject to underwriting and market conditions.
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Local FAQ
Ground-Up Construction in Orlando, answered.
How long does permit review actually take in Orlando, Orange, Osceola, Seminole, or Lake County?
Florida sets a statutory backstop, not a courtesy target. 30 business days for a single-family permit under 7,500 sq ft, 60 business days for a larger single-family or multifamily project up to 50 units, and 60 business days for commercial under 25,000 sq ft. The local government has to give written notice of anything missing within 5 business days of your application, and if it blows the deadline the permit fee drops 10% per business day of delay, 20% per day on a resubmitted revision. That is the statewide floor under Florida Statutes section 553.792. We do not have observed, jurisdiction-specific review times for Orange, Osceola, Seminole, or Lake County beyond that statutory clock, so budget to the statute and confirm the working timeline with your local building department before you set a draw schedule.
Sources: flsenate.gov
What are impact fees on a new build in the Orlando area?
We don't have a citable fee schedule for Orange, Osceola, Seminole, or Lake County to publish here. What is safe to say: Florida new construction carries impact fees on top of permit fees, and school impact fees are a real line item in the Orlando counties. Get the current schedule from the county building department for your specific parcel before you finalize a construction budget. Talk to your CPA on how impact fees factor into your cost basis.
What is a CDD, and why does it matter for a new build in Osceola, Lake, or the Davenport corridor?
A Community Development District is a special taxing district under Florida Statutes chapter 190. Its assessments show up on the same county tax bill as your property taxes, permanently. A CDD can levy ad valorem taxes, up to 3 mills for operations plus more if authorized, and non-ad valorem benefit and maintenance assessments that fund the infrastructure bonds behind master-planned communities. These are common across Osceola, Lake, the Davenport corridor, and the Horizon West side of Orange County. The underwriting point: a CDD community's all-in tax bill includes debt service a seller's listing may not spell out, and it does not go away at closing. We don't have dollar examples for specific communities like ChampionsGate or Storey Lake to cite, so pull the current assessment from the district or the county tax collector before you underwrite the exit.
Sources: flsenate.gov
Where is new construction actually concentrated in metro Orlando right now?
The value data points to Winter Garden and Horizon West in west Orange County, and Clermont out SR 50 in Lake County. Winter Garden carries the highest submarket home value in the metro at $569,557 (Zillow ZHVI, June 2026), and Clermont sits at $432,288. Both read as the growth corridors where a spec build or build-to-rent project is most likely to find buyer or renter demand at delivery. That's a reasonable inference from where value is concentrating, not a construction-permit count, so pair it with your own site-level diligence.
Sources: files.zillowstatic.com
Does a new build's short-term rental use depend on which county or city it's in?
Yes, and this matters before you break ground, not after. Whole-home short-term rental is not permitted in the City of Orlando or in unincorporated Orange County's residential zones, while Osceola County allows it only inside mapped short-term-rental overlay districts and its STRPD zoning designation, concentrated along the W US 192 corridor. If a build-to-rent-STR strategy is the exit, confirm the parcel sits inside a jurisdiction and overlay that actually permits it before you fund the lot.
Sources: orlando.gov, osceola.org
Does the CDD layer change how much of an Osceola or Davenport build I fund myself?
At least 15% of total cost, and more if the land runs high-cost. We go up to 70% LTV and 85% of cost, whichever binds first, with draws released against the build schedule. On a $500,000 all-in Orlando project that is up to $425,000 from us and $75,000 from you (500,000 x 85% = 425,000). Remember that the finished house's tax bill in Osceola, Lake, or the Davenport corridor can carry a CDD assessment on top of county millage, so carry that into the exit math rather than the build budget. Subject to underwriting.
Is there a minimum credit score on an Orlando ground up construction loan?
No minimum score on this program. We pull credit, but a construction file is underwritten on the land, the budget, the build schedule, and the finished value, so credit carries far less weight than it would at a bank. Weaker credit is typically handled with lower leverage rather than a decline, which on a build means a larger cash contribution up front rather than a different draw process. There is no hard credit pull to start. Subject to underwriting.
Does a builder new to Orange, Osceola, Seminole, or Lake County get the top of the range?
Usually not the top of the range. Experienced builders can access higher leverage on this program, up to the 70% LTV and 85% of cost caps. A first Orlando spec build tends to price closer to the middle of that range, with the gap covered by your own cash rather than by a decline. What moves a newer builder up is a defensible budget and a general contractor who has actually cleared permits in Orange, Osceola, Seminole, or Lake County. Subject to underwriting.
Is a 12 to 24 month term long enough for Florida's 30 and 60 business day permit clocks?
Yes, if you set the draw schedule against the statutory clock rather than a hopeful one. The term runs 12 to 24 months with draws per the build schedule, and Florida gives the local jurisdiction up to 30 business days on a single-family permit under 7,500 square feet and 60 business days on larger residential work or on commercial work under 25,000 square feet, with missing items flagged within 5 business days. We do not have observed review times for the four Orlando counties beyond that statute, so size the term to the statutory maximum and confirm the working timeline with the building department before the first draw. Subject to underwriting.
Sources: flsenate.gov
More Ground-Up Construction questions, answered on the program page
Resources
Guides for Ground-Up Construction
Fix and Flip · 6 min read
Fix and Flip Loan Requirements: What You Need to Get Funded
Read the guide Fix and Flip · 5 min read
What Is ARV (After-Repair Value) and How Do You Calculate It?
Read the guide Construction · 5 min read
How Ground-Up Construction Loans Work
Read the guide Getting Funded · 4 min read
LTV vs LTC: What's the Difference?
Read the guide More in Orlando
Other programs in Orlando
Fix and FlipUp to 90% / 100% rehabRental / DSCR30-yr fixed, DSCR from 0.75CRE BridgeUp to $10M, 24-36 moTransactional FundingSame-day double-close capitalBank Statement / No-DocNo tax returns requiredConventional InvestmentNon-owner-occupied investmentPortfolio LoansMultiple properties, one loanCRE PermanentLong-term agency & permSBA Financing7(a) & 504 placement
About the local figures on this page
Local rules move. Every tax rate, fee, ordinance and market figure here comes from a primary source and carries the date we read it, and we correct them as the rules change. Where a number is mid-change or we could not verify it, we say so rather than guess. Before you commit a budget, confirm anything that drives it with the city or county, and talk to your attorney or CPA on questions of law or tax.
Published by USA Mortgage Funding, LLC, NMLS #152588. Researched from primary sources by our team, drafted with AI assistance, and every figure checked against its source before publishing. Where an answer rests on a public record, that record is linked under it. Figures read on 2026-08-12.
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