Yesterday, Spanish Oaks, one of the most exclusive luxury new home communities in Austin, announced the grand opening of their premier Estates Collection.

This collection of custom homes will feature 29 homesites with expansive and highly sought-after Texas Hill Country views.  The homesites are in demand and are selling quickly.  Since the grand opening where they first opened the sales, only 22 of the 29 still remain.  Scott Michaels is not at all surprised by this surge, “We’re excited to offer The Estates Collection to individuals who are looking for the perfect location to build the custom home of their dreams…ensuring the ultimate in privacy and peaceful living.”

Private homesites in Spanish Oaks range from 1/2 acres to 4 1/2 acres of lush greenery and natural beauty of the Hill Country.  Special Estate Collection features include:

• Unequaled panoramic Hill Country views
• Homesites from .75 acres to 2.93 acres
• Community design features a 3.5 acre hilltop park and two cul-de-sacs for privacy
• Priced from $475,000 to $1.1 million

Spanish Oaks is known for the resort-like lifestyle it offers and features nationally recognized private golf club and green; it’s been named one of the best locations in the United States by Golf Digest.  It’s a private 18-hole Bobby Weed-designed course that Texan golfers rave about, and residents of the community experience “impeccable service, fine cuisine, and personal attention” as members of the Spanish Oaks Golf Club.  The Pool Pavilion expands over 18,000 square feet, and is a treasured place of fun and relaxation for Spanish Oaks residents.  Interested in fishing?  There’s a “Fish Camp” that is the perfect place to cast your line at the fishing dock and fully stocked lake.  Many families also spend time exploring the 900 acres of natural beauty along the miles of biking and walking trails and enjoying their spacious backyards.  There is something for everyone at Spanish Oaks!

This Austin luxury home community can be found at Highway 71 West and Bee Caves Road.  All homesites within the Estates Collection are available to be viewed by appointment only.  To schedule a private tour of this luxurious Austin new home community, Spanish Oaks Realty can be reached at (512) 533-2300, or you can register online at SpanishOaks.com.

Are you looking for a new custom home in Virginia Beach? LR Hill Custom Builders would love for you to consider their fantastic community, Heritage Park.

Set on your choice of lake, wooded, or open area lots, these custom-built brick homes are beautifully tailored to suit your needs as a homeowner. Area amenities include crystal-clear lakes and walking and biking trails. This community is conveniently located just minutes from Sandbridge Beaches, shopping and dining, and a local horse stable and riding center.

Children living in this neighborhood will attend Virginia Beach Public Schools, including Three Oaks Elementary, Princess Anne Middle, and Kellam High School. Homes here start in the low $500,000 price range.

To get to this community from General Booth Blvd South, turn left on Princess Anne Road. At Hills Corner, head straight onto Sandbridge Road. Go past the shopping center on the right. Heritage Park will be on your right, directly across from the entrance to the Lagomar subdivision.

LR Hill Custom Builders strives to make the building process as stress-free and smooth as possible for both their building team and you. Recognized as Virginia Beach’s Small Business of the Year, they are committed to providing the highest quality service possible. If you’re looking for a new custom home in Virginia Beach, be sure to check out Heritage Park.

If you’re contemplating building a custom home, there are several key factors to review before choosing a builder.

Be sure to ask around for references and recommendations for builders and remodelers. Family, friends, and acquaintances can be a great resource, especially if they have first-hand experience; an even better place to check would be with your local home builders association.

You can also check to see if a respective builder has a permanent location for their business and is in good standing with suppliers and area banks. The Better Business Bureau is another good source to review for any complaints against a particular builder.

Most custom builders take 5 or more years to truly establish their presence in the market and to gain financial stability. This is important for any warranties they promise on a home because if the company goes bankrupt before the warranty is up, they may not be able to follow through on the guarantee. You will want to check to see if they have liability insurance to cover any accidents that may occur on site.

You can ask a builder to provide you with names previous clients; be cautious if they decline, and if they do give you names try to contact them to discuss their experience with the builder. It’s also a good idea to ask to see a current project site the builder is working on; check for safety issues and material quality.

Get to know your potential builder. Make sure you feel comfortable with them and try to get a feel for how effective their communication skills are. Research their website a bit and try to get a feel for what kind of work they have the most experience with; some builders specialize in a particular architectural style.

Once you’re ready to compare contracts and looking to accept a bid, there are a few more considerations to keep in mind. Make sure any contract you are asked to sign is written clearly and is free of grammatical errors and review the home warranty and homeowner manual as well. Cross-reference these documents to ensure consistency. If a builder offers you an unusually low bid, take caution; if they are unable to buy the appropriate materials and cover the cost of labor, you will end up with sub-par work.

Though the task of choosing the perfect builder for your custom home may seem daunting, these simple guidelines will help you make that tough decision. Your ideal dream home is absolutely possible with the right custom builder.

For more information regarding this issue, check out the NAHB Builder Checklist.

Good news for custom home builders! Builder confidence has risen five points this May, for the strongest reading since May of 2007. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) records that builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes have reached a level of 29. This is up from a downwardly revised reading in the previous month.

Derived from a monthly survey the NAHB has conducted for 25 years now, the HMI records builder perceptions of sales expectations. Gauged for the next sixth months, they’re rated “good”, “fair”, or “poor”. The survey also asks builders to rate the traffic of prospective buyers as “high to very high”, “average”, or “low to very low”. Scores are then collectively calculated for a seasonally adjusted index.

For May, the sales conditions and prospective buyers have risen to 30 and 23, respectively. The traffic component has hit its highest level since April of 2007. The section for sales expectations rose three points to 34. Both have rebounded from declines in April. The Northeast recorded a six point gain to 32, the Midwest five points to 27, and South five points to 28. The West posted a two point decline to 29.

Barry Rutenber, chairman of the NAHB and a home builder from Gainesville, Florida notes that, “Builders in many markets are reporting that buyer traffic and sales have picked back up after a pause this April. It seems we have resumed the gradual upward trend in confidence that started at the beginning of this year, as stabilizing prices and excellent affordability encourage more people to pursue a new-home purchase.” Read the whole article here.

The market is still competitive, but with more people interested in buying new homes, the better the custom home market will do. Which is certainly good news! Have you seen an improvement in your single-family homes? What have you been doing to gain attention and drive interest in this slowly improving market? Along with your listing here on Custom Builders, we can provide SEO and website design to help you turn those prospective buyers into happy homeowners. We also create mobile sites, a new function of home shopping that’s increasingly important in this perspective market. Builder Designs doesn’t merely create websites: we create sale opportunities. Consider the effort and cost you’d pour into a model home if you were promised all 9 out of every 10 buyers coming to see it for their new custom home! Your internet presence is an important part of your overall marketing scheme, and we’d love to help.

As a custom home builder, you’re skilled at balancing market trends and popular requests with caring for the individual needs of your homeowner. We’ve seen an very important change in the homeowner market over the last few decades: women’s purchasing power. Women make a great deal of the homebuying decisions. And too note that single households are most likely to be headed by women.  Market research indicates that of our popular design trends, some are especially important and appreciated by women homeowners.

Drop Zones: These are areas near a garage or door that offer a place to store and organize important items. Coats, shoes, rain gear, mail, keyholders – all the things that become scatted throughout the home and make a disorganized mess. These drop zones are a great solution. As a custom home builder, what kind of drop zones can you create for your client? There are all sorts of aesthetic choices possible in finding just the right look for just the right spot!

Electronic Drop Zones: Between smart phones, tablets, ereaders, and music players, the modern family owns a plethora of electronic devices – and with them, a multitude of cords. As a custom home builder, consider offering a convenient, well-designed place that houses all of those cords for quick charging and storage. They hide the mess and protect against loss.

Convenient Laundry Rooms: The location of the laundry can save – or create – a lot of hassle. Having the laundry room built near the bedrooms is an increasingly popular trend. It’s a huge time saver, and far more convenient for washing and putting clothing away. What laundry room locations do you find popular for new custom homes?

Kitchen Storage: As a custom home builder, you know how important the right kitchen is to your client! Storage is often one of the top must-have for women buyers. This is especially true for kitchen cabinets. Pantries and cabinets that provide plenty of well-utilized storage space make the kitchen more usable and appealing. Important, too, is keeping them well-lit and easily accessible.

These are just a few popular trends in the custom homes market. Custom home builders create homes that are perfectly suited for the owner’s needs – and those of her family. What trends do you think are well worth watching?

According to the latest forecast, Houston is going to top the country in new home sales this year!  The Dallas News reports predictions for new home sales in the city as topping 12,000 units in 2012. And that’s very good news for our custom home builders.

As a luxury custom homebuilder in Houston, Bella Vita offers the finest subcontractors, suppliers, and artists for custom homebuilding in Houston. They have twelve communities for Houston custom homes. Having sold over $77 million in custom homes, Bella Vita is dedicated to superb quality with efficiency.

Another luxury custom homebuilder in Houston, WhiteStone Custom Homes calls their style “Practical Luxury”™. They have a unique design/build process that can put you in your new Houston custom home in as little as sixth months after the day you walked into their model. WhiteStone has seven communities for custom homes in Houston.

Grand View Builders is a custom homebuilder in Houston dedicated to affordable custom homes with interior beauty and exterior style. They have sixteen communities in the area, from the $90’s to the $240’s. Their features include a very successful Build on Your Lot program.

J. Patrick Homes builds custom homes in Houston in some of the finest master-planned communities. They have twelve new home communities as well as ten move-in ready homes in Houston. Their homes feature wide-open views, spacious rooms, and versatile floor plans they are happy to customize.

A Graduate Master Builder, the highest designation available on the State or National level, Keystone Classic Homes is a custom homebuilder in Houston who specializes in the move up and move down buyer market. They have nine communities open for custom homes in Houston. And they offer over 30 foorplans to choose from, ranging 1900 sq. ft. to over 5000 sq. ft, with three decades of experience as a Houston custom homebuilder.

With the market forecast so promising, Houston custom homebuilders are ready for a great year.

The NAHB releases their improving market list this month. This index identifies metropolitan areas which housing markets show measurable improvement. Dallas has improved in housing permits, employment, and house prices for more than six consecutive months. So it’s a great time for custom homebuilding in Dallas. Dallas custom homebuilders are assured of a market holding steady, with consistent improvement.

As a luxury custom homebuilder in Dallas, Bella Vita offers the finest subcontractors, suppliers, and artists for custom homebuilding in the Dallas/Ft Worth area. They have fourteen communities for Dallas custom homes, including Highland Park and The Creeks at Preston Hollow.

Shaddock Homes is another luxury custom homebuilder in Dallas, with over 40 years of experience. They’ve earned a reputation for distinctive designs, superior craftsmanship, and homeowner satisfaction in Dallas custom homebuilding. They have nine communities for Dallas custom homes, from the $300’s to the high $600’s.

American Legend Homes offers a wide variety of custom homes in Dallas, including move-in ready, single-family, low maintenance garden homes, and luxury townhomes. Priced from the $170s to $600s, this Dallas custom homebuilder is dedicated to innovative design and unparalleled customer service. They have fifteen communities for Dallas custom homes, including the fast selling Royal Oaks.

Since 1957, Sandlin Custom Homes has been building custom homes in Dallas, family-owned and operated and the winner of multiple awards. They have twenty communities for custom homes in Dallas, from the $130’s to the $400’s. As a Dallas custom homebuilder, Sandlin concentrates on innovative homes that have superior quality for exceptional value.

Another great Dallas custom homebuilder is Cheldan Homes. They are focused on just one rule: to make creating, buying, and building your new home simple. They are an extreme green builder, for economic, health, and environmental benefits. These efforts also improve the general community, important for custom homes in Dallas. They have eight communities in the area, including Arbor Heights. Their Dallas custom homes offer world-class client care, during and for long after your home purchase.

The security and growth of the Dallas home market is a very good sign for both custom homebuilder and custom home buyer alike.

Looking for a custom home in Houston, Texas? J. Patrick Homes is now building in Parc Lake Estates. Off highway 249, Parc Lake is a gated, enclave lakeside community. With waterfront lots and a forested backdrop, Parc Lake offers comfort and convenience. Walking and nature trails overlook a community park with a gazebo and pier atop the lake. Nearby amenities include the Willowbrook Mall, Cypress Creek YMCA, and three golf courses, including Blackhorse Ranch. There is easy access to Methodist Willowbrook Hospital, North Cypress Medical Center, and Cy-Fair Hospital, and Parc Lake is inside the Cy-Fair high school and Hamilton middle and elementary school zones.

J. Patrick has two move-in ready homes in Parc Lake and 15 available plans starting in the 350’s. They are also happy to customize any floor plan, which are well known for their spacious rooms and wide-open views. J. Patrick is leader amongst Houston homebuilders for their commitment to design, quality, and luxury.