How to Choose a Custom Home Builder in Austin
During construction of a Taylor Wilson Construction past project
184 people move to Austin every day. In recent years, the Austin real estate market has grown significantly. This has caused an increase in demand for housing. Even more so in the high-end home space, as luxury homes have been limited for several years. As a custom home builder in Austin, we're working to meet this surge in demand with a focus on quality and timeliness.
Increase in Demand
Through this demand, there are still a lot of custom home builders in Austin. If you're interested in building your dream home, you'll have several custom home builders to choose from. These home builders range from production homes to high-end custom home builders that will work with the architect of your choice. With so many options, it's important to find a trustworthy and transparent builder that will exceed your standards. You will work with the custom home builder for at least a year or more, so who you choose matters.
Considering we are a high-end custom home builder, we will discuss how to best choose a local home builder with experience in the luxury home space.
Selecting a high-end custom home builder in Austin involves a certain list of requirements. You'll need to select an established builder with connections in the local real estate community. It's important to ensure your home builder will be with you long-term and has strong relationships with the city managers and contractors.
Austin can be a challenging city to build in, with heavy regulations and permitting, especially in the luxury home space. Your builder should thoroughly understand city code and permitting and have a history of building in the area you're building your home. They should have a history of working with talented local architects, even better if they have worked with your selected architect. Whomever, that architect is will be working closely with your builder, especially during the beginning phases. A solid relationship between the two will make the project an easier task for everyone. They should have trustworthy relationships with local contractors who can work to get material costs down and ensure materials are delivered on time. The right custom home builder in Austin will have subcontractors with a repertoire of experience and craftsmanship.
Understanding Your Needs and Preferences
When it comes down to taking on a large project, a common method to live by is whether you want to do it cheaply, quickly, or high quality. Typically, the saying goes that you can only have two of those options on any given project. However, we strive to prioritize all three. Regardless, it is important to narrow down what's most important to you when it's time to build your dream home. Certain custom home builders will be better on a tighter budget, others will have a reputation of working with quality subcontractors and materials.
To assess what you want in your dream house, you should define your specific needs. Establish what is missing from your current living situation. Maybe it's additional rooms or storage. First, envision where you see yourself and your family in the next 5+ years. Before starting the exciting part of the design, you have to go through the rudimentary steps of what is necessary. There are three key elements you should determine before diving deeper into the home-building process.
Size
You should first determine the size of the home you need or want. This will eliminate or open up your options for a custom home builder in Austin. There are custom home builders in Austin who specialize in standard homes, smaller homes, or larger homes. At Taylor Wilson Construction our average build size is 8,000 square feet. A builder with a history of building 2,000 square foot homes, won't be the ideal choice for a 5,000 square foot + home. Consider your current living situation and whether or not you need a size increase or decrease.
It can be helpful to take on the role of a client looking to buy a house and tour local houses to better understand square footage size. There is a rule of thumb that you should aim to have 600 square feet per person in your family. However, this will not always be true in the high-end home space. You should consider your entertaining, functional, and living space needs. You might want a large kitchen or primary bedroom. Prioritize spaces with your architect to determine which ones matter to you most so they can design the size appropriately.
Style
Next, you should start with the style of home you want. This will drastically affect the architect and potentially the custom home builder you choose. Pick an architect with a niche or experience in the style that you love. A custom home builder with experience in your style can be helpful as they may have connections with specific subcontractors and craftsmen who can achieve the desired look.
Determing the style of your home can be an exciting part of the process and one to further explore with your architect. Make a vision or Pinterest board with your family and look for homes online that catch your interest. You'll begin to notice a particular style start to emerge through the collection of photos. After you find an architect that works best with your initial style, they will usually ask for a vision board. It's their job to understand your stylistic inspirations to create your unique dream home.
Features
Now it's time to prioritize features in your home. After determining the size and a general style, you should spend time discovering new and upcoming features in the high-end home space. When you tour homes keep an eye out for interesting features the home may have. Maybe you plan on entertaining and will need a butler's pantry. You could love your outdoor space, and want a sprawling courtyard. Establishing a list of priority features will help your architect design your home around those features. If you want a large island in your kitchen, that will determine the size of that space. One workshop you'll do with your architect is creating a list of pieces from your current home that will go into the new home. If you have a large sculpture or piece of furniture you love, that can be built into the design of the space.
Budget
After solidifying the size, style, and features you're ready to start establishing and understanding your budget. You should have a solid understanding of your budget before selecting the architect and custom home builder. There's a large spectrum of architects and custom home builders varying on budget. Your budget will determine the type of architect you will use, or if you should even use an architect.
Award-winning architects can completely custom design your home. Other architects can have pre-made plans that can be slightly altered at a lower price. Alternatively, you could go with a home builder who will provide you with plan options. Some people buy ready-made plans online, at an even lower price point, eliminating the need for an architect. Whichever route you go, it will have a starting and lasting impact on your overall budget.
Most home builders will charge for cost plus 15%. That should be properly built into your initial budget estimate. Once you determine your budget estimate, you should always add a contingency of 15 to 20%. As you go through the home building process there may be features you want to add that can increase the cost of the build. After determining a budget with contingency, you should get bids from multiple custom home builders to compare before making a final decision. The right custom home builder will work with you on your budget and can determine where to save and spend on the project budget.
Researching Potential Custom Home Builders in Austin
After determining the vision for your future home, you should start researching local custom home builders and architects. This is one of the most important steps, as you'll work with the home builder for months to years.
Tips for Researching Local Home Builders
First and foremost, you should ask around in your community for recommendations. Word of mouth from someone with experience with the custom home builder is always best. Additionally, architects can recommend local custom home builders they have worked with. You should speak with anyone who has built a custom home you like and find out which builder they worked with. You can talk to real estate brokers or agents in your community to see which custom home builders they represent and what they are like to work with. Once you discover a few options, you should look at their portfolios which should be available online. Then, reach out to the builders you've selected and ask for references and testimonials.
Importance of Local Expertise
Always go with a local custom home builder who has experience in the area you're building in. A custom home builder with years of experience will understand the city regulations, have built connections with local architects, and know the right subcontractors and engineers. Custom home builders with experience will have seen all types of situations during the home-building process and will know how to handle any problems promptly and efficiently.
Social Media and Local Forums
Lastly, during your evaluation process, you should look at the home builder's online presence. Look at their social media to get a better understanding of their culture and experience. Do a deep dive and look on online forums like Nextdoor or Reddit. Possibly, someone in your neighborhood has had their home built by the custom home builder you're evaluating. A builder's online presence can speak to their professionalism and culture.
Visiting Past Projects
Once you've narrowed down your options for a custom home builder, it's crucial to go and see their current projects. You should ask to tour the homes to test for quality and to see if their craftsmanship matches your selected style.
Why Visiting Past Projects is Crucial
You should see the quality of the custom home builders' work upfront and in person. In addition to references and testimonials, oftentimes you can determine the quality of work simply by looking at the product. You can drive by their previous projects during the initial evaluation to see if their product is even close to what you want. Then ask to tour a previous home if possible.
What to Look For
If touring a current project, you should look and see how the builder keeps their job site. A clean and safe job site reflects they take pride in their craftsmanship. If you're seeing a dirty job site with supplies strewn all over and trash, then you most likely should go with another builder.
Look to see if the project is abandoned or actively being worked on. A smooth operating project should have almost constant activity unless there is currently inclement weather. If the job site appears to have little to no action, you should be inquisitive and ensure you receive a solid explanation. If the current job is halting, you can be sure your project will too. Try to tour a finished project. If you can then you should look to see how the quality of the product has withstood the test of time.
Assessing Compatibility With a Custom Home Builder in Austin
You will work with the custom home builder you choose for a year or more. It's important that you like the team you'll be working with. You need to like and respect the builder you hire, and you should look forward to weekly calls and meetings with them. Home building can be a very stressful process and it shouldn't have added stress due to a poor relationship with the home builder.
Choosing a custom home builder can be an arduous but exciting process. It's crucial to select a home builder with experience and one that you will get along with. We have extensive experience in high-end custom home building in the Austin area. We pride ourselves in our quality and transparency throughout the entire home-building process. If you're building your dream home, contact us today to learn more about our process and to see our current and previous projects.