Lake Nona is one of the newest places to buy a home in Central Florida, and new does not mean finished. Laureate Park, the Medical City corridor and the communities around them went up fast, and speed leaves a particular kind of residue.
In recent construction we are rarely looking for worn-out components. We are looking for work that was signed off but never completed: duct runs that were never properly supported or sealed, attic insulation that stops short of the eaves, penetrations through the top plate left open, bath fans terminating into the attic instead of through the roof, and final grading that follows the site plan rather than the house as actually built. None of it is dramatic. All of it costs you money in cooling and moisture over the years you own the place.
The timing matters more here than almost anywhere. Most builder warranties run a year, and the single most valuable inspection you will ever buy on a new house is the one that happens with a couple of months left on that clock, while the builder is still obligated to come back. A list of documented defects handed over in month ten is worth considerably more than the same list found in year three. If you are inside that window in Lake Nona, do not wait for it to close.
