There will be a bond attached. The bond is the funding mechanism used by the developer to pay for the infrastructure costs to build a village.

Flood zone
 

Do not worry about flood zone, we purchased our last 2 homes in flood zones, after about a year, fema will do another survey and you will be removed from the flood zone. The villages always brings the soil above flood zone, just takes time for fema to catch up. We paid about 500 for flood insurance the first year. The biggest problem with being in the initial flood zone is that you have to escrow your taxes and insurance, which most banks demand when you are in flood zone, unless you pay cash for the house. Good Luck.

Can you build a 2 story house there like in the coastal flood plane areas?

Good advice. When we were looking to buy, we learned than much of Chitty Chatty and Bradford were on "flood plains". They would require flood insurance in order to get a mortgage... IIRC, it wasn't THAT expensive.

Sea level isn't the issue...

It's the nearby LAKE Level...

I am in Lake and I have a bond - Village of Pine Ridge

City of Leesburg
 

Here is an interactive map for Leesburg. There are some flood zones south of Lake Dedham area. Bridget, Vanbeck, Tanya, Newell, Gary, Ralph, Christian, Wettstien, Meggison and Schroeder are problem areas. As far as taxes, from what I understand Leesburg has their hands in the millage till up to the Lake County line, while Wildwood has everything south of 44 in Sumter.



ArcGIS Web Application

I do have some basic questions based on reasonable conjecture:

1) Were lot prices reduced because of flooding charts and additional costs to the prospective homeowner?
2) Reduced prices seem to correlate with a time period where interest rates are higher making someone look like the good guy? Was this the plan all along to get the most for the Villages dollar on otherwise questionable real estate?

“Full steam ahead on the flood zone area we bought! Hurry, interest rates are going up! We can finally ditch this swampland!”

What you were able to do is great.

Prior to fall of 2022, you had many more custom choices than the ones you suggest. It seems like this isn’t always presented to new buyers. We created bathrooms, moved bedrooms etc. Anything you want (reasonably) for your pool and birdcage. Have the word “custom” thrown around to frequently. All new buyers should ensure they know what that means before they make a purchase decision and wait for their “custom” new build.

No need for "conjecture." They elevated those areas, you can see it in the latest GoldWingnut video. The flood zone maps have not yet been updated to reflect final grading in that area.