May 18-20, 2012

As we constantly build multi-car garages when building Austin custom homes, it’s no secret that our clients and friends are car enthusiasts. To make sure you don’t miss out on your passion, we’d like to remind you that the Austin Auto Show is happening this weekend. From May 18^th to 20^th (Fri-Sat: 10am-10pm; Sun: 10am-6pm) at the Austin Convention Center, you’ll have the opportunity and pleasure to see all the new 2013 lines for almost every major automobile brand.

In addition to the new 2013 models, there will be special displays and exhibits. Inspired by the new Formula 1 track under construction in Austin, Michael Schumacher’s F1 race car will be on display, courtesy of Ferarri of Austin. The new Acura NSX concept made famous by the Super Bowl commercial with Jerry Seinfeld will be featured in the Acura area. As a car enthusiast, I’m excited to see both of these displays.

While you are dreaming of all the cars you’d like to have someday, you might want to start dreaming of where you will to keep all your new toys. We’ve built garages for all kinds of different purposes. From custom fit garages for golf carts, to garages that serve more as a showrooms and man-caves with 8 or 9 exotic and luxury cars, kegerator, and workbench topped with diamond-plate counters, this Austin custom home builder will have your big toys covered.

What would you include in your own custom garage?

When you look at custom homes in Austin, the first thing you look at definitely is not the foundation or retaining wall.  You’re looking at the stone and stucco, the roof, the windows, entry gates and doors. Yes, those absolutely give the home personality and flare. The foundation and retaining wall are the structural backbone of the home. They make everything with the rest of the home possible. As Gary explains in this video, raising the home up to a certain level adds value to the home through the views and vistas it brings.

For more “Sterling’s Best Practices” videos and other Sterling Custom Homes videos, check out our YouTube channel.

This Sterling Custom Home accurately reflects Spanish Colonial influence.

Spanish Colonial

It’s no mystery that architectural styles have influence on other architectural styles over time. The same is true today as we build luxury homes in Austin. The Spanish Colonial movement dates back to when the Conquistadors began to build after they dropped anchor in Central America. The Spanish and Mexican influence on architectural design continued to evolve during the early 20^th century with the Spanish Colonial Revival.  Evan though the style continues to be tweaked and modified, homes today remain influenced by these certain Spanish Colonial features:

Thick, stucco-clad walls — Traditionally, these walls are ideal for warm environments. They absorb heat during the day and then radiate heat during cooler evenings.

Small, open windows — Smaller windows, originally sealed by wrought iron grates rather than glass panes, are situated on the home to best capture breezes while avoiding the direct rays of the sun.

One story — The Spanish Colonial is the ancestor of the Ranch-style house. It’s not uncommon for Spanish Colonial homes now to be two stories.

Limited ornamentation — Ornamentation on these informal homes was often limited to arches on entranceways, principal windows and interior passageways. More elaborate homes might feature intricate stone or tile work, detailed chimney tops and square or round towers.

Wooden support beams — Wooden roof supports project out over the exterior walls in classic Spanish Colonials.

Inner courtyard — Historically, the courtyard let families move the cooking (and the heat and steam it brings) outside. Today, patios, porches and courtyards serve as informal gathering spots for family and friends.

When researching custom home builders in Austin, you have to ask yourself, “What sets all these custom home builders apart from one another?” Sterling Custom Homes has created a video series to answer that exact question. “Sterling’s Best Practices” focuses on the unique aspects of the homes we build. These details might not be apparent when you walk a build site or completed home, but they definitely add value your home, and it’s important for you to notice even the slightest things we take into account during construction.

For example, in this video we discuss how and why we install outdoor light fixtures the way we do. When we mount a light fixture on an exterior stone wall, we cut the piece of stone in which the light is mounted on so it sits flush against the stone. When you don’t cut the stone, the light fixture must be caulked which does not feature a smooth, finished look.

Some custom home builders will often overlook “small, trivial details” during the construction process, but at Sterling Custom Homes we constantly strive to develop innovative ways to improve the construction of the custom homes in Austin we build. No detail is trivial to us, and if it means having the foresight to position a cut stone while building a stone wall months before we mount a light fixture to it, we don’t mind because that “small, trivial detail” adds value to the home and produces a better quality product.

Stay tuned to our blog as we feature other “Sterling’s Best Practices” videos in the future. For more videos by Sterling, check out out YouTube channel.

Physical plans are drafted in phase two of the Pre-Construction Process

A few days ago we began a conversation about our Pre-Construction Process of building custom homes in Austin, and discussed the first half of this process. The second half of the Pre-Construction Process deals with the physical plans for your home. These milestones are as follows.

Conceptual Plan – This plan is a 1” to 10’, small scale drawing with the initial dimensions of the home layout on your home site. Once drafted, you review the layout and then meet again to discuss changes and return them to the architect/designer.

Preliminary Plan/Review – This plan is 1/4” scale drawings of the front elevation, floor plan, and site plan with topographic overlays displaying the house situated on the home site. You will now review the plan with furniture cutouts, provided by Sterling.

Finalize Preliminary Plan & Specifications – Once the preliminary plan is finalized, we will walk you through every aspect of your home. Room by room we will define the scope of the project, identifying materials and finishes. Our specially developed interactive software system helps automate the specifications process. This results in a 41-page document defining every detail of your home.

Price Preliminary Plan & Specifications – We price the home based on the finalized preliminary plan. In this meeting we review the initial Construction Cost Sheet & Specifications with you. If the price does not match your budget, we can use the detailed cost sheet to identify potential cost-saving opportunities.

 Complete Construction Drawings (CDs) – The architect/designer produces revised CDs. You review the CD revisions. Together we review the changes to produce the finalized CDs. The architect/designer completes the CDs and prints 35 sets for construction.

Sign the Contracts & Begin Construction – Together, you and Sterling sign the Construction Cost Sheet, Specifications, and contracts. We are now ready to begin construction!

After the Pre-Construction Process comes the Financial Process. Stay tuned to our blog to learn more about the processes we have developed over the course of 23 years as premier custom home builder in Austin.

Pre-Construction Process before the plans are drafted.

With decades of experience, expert craftsmanship and professionalism, Sterling Custom Homes builds the best quality custom homes Austin has to offer. We have developed and mastered several processes associated with the overall construction of the home, from lot selection, all the way through and past the completion of the home. The first of these processes is the Pre-Construction Process. Even this process can be split into two sections: before the plans are drafted and after. Today we will explain the part of the Pre-Construction Process in which plans have not been drafted yet.

Initial Sterling Consultation — As we meet at the Sterling office, we will explain our process. We will discuss your desired location and design criteria, along with your preliminary budget and financing if necessary.

Home Site Selection (if necessary) — Here we will discuss the area in which you would like to live, considering communities and school districts. We will conduct a lot analysis featuring lot criteria, such as being on a golf course, having a view and acreage, and other factors such as sun orientation, topography and trees.

Lot Purchase (if necessary) – At this point the lot goes under contract. A tree/topographical survey is then ordered. We will collect a deposit for the tree/topographical survey and conceptual plan design.

Initial Meeting with Architect/Designer — In this meeting at the home site, the architect/designer will receive direction from you based on your home design criteria.

In the next blog post we will go over the Pre-Construction Process after the plans have been drafted. Stay tuned to your Austin custom home builder to learn more about how we keep this home building machine well oiled and greased so it continues running smoothly.

Whole Foods Market in Bee Cave, TX opens on May 16th, 2012.

Whole Foods Market has been an Austin native since 1980. With over 310 stores across North America and the United Kingdom, Whole Foods has established itself as the worldwide leader in natural and organic food. For Lakeway custom home owners and the area surrounding Lake Travis, it is about to become a whole lot easier to shop for your natural and organic products.

On May 16^th, Whole Foods Market will open a brand new location in Bee Cave, TX at the Hill Country Galleria. As announced by Bee Cave Store Team Leader, Wade Taylor, there will be several festivities going on during the first week of opening. The store will open at 8:00am but you are invited to come at 7:30am for coffee and a bread breaking ceremony. The store will feature a patio balcony with Hill Country views.  Upstairs, there will be a bar called “The Buzz” in which specialty beer and wine will be served on tap.  Opening day will be filled with live music and food.

Whole Foods Market gives you another reason to consider building custom homes in Austin, especially in Lakeway or the Lake Travis area. Now you won’t have to travel more than 20 miles and battle the intersections of 5^th and 6^th & Lamar to shop for your organic favorites. What gets you most excited about the new Whole Foods Market location opening in Bee Cave? I’m excited about treating myself to a nice lunch every now and then, and reading on the balcony patio area.

111 Escavera on Flintrock Falls Golf Course

The city of Lakeway has long been known to be home to some of the best golf in the Austin area. As you watch The Masters, you might experience a strange little tingle deep within you, an urge even. That feeling is what golfers call “The Itch.” It’s a phenomenon that causes you to suddenly have the need to hit the links. Just seeing the lush, green grounds of Augusta National, the best maintained and most exclusive golf club in, perhaps, the world, makes me want to go play some golf. Luckily there are plenty of golf courses in the Lakeway area to escape to. Some of the best custom homes in Austin are built on these golf courses so when I should be able to go on a field trip and can call it “market research,” right?

Speaking of research, here’s a list of the beautiful and challenging golf courses in and around Lakeway.

Flintrock Falls at The Hills Country Club

The Hills Country Club

Spanish Oaks

Yaupon Golf Course

Live Oak Golf Course

Falconhead Golf Course

All of these courses will provide an excellent experience coupled with stunning Hill Country vistas. As you play Flintrock Falls, keep an eye out for Sterling Custom Homes’ available property on the 5^th hole, 111 Escavera Cove. After you play, feel free to go by and check it out. If the front door is not open, call us at (512) 263-2214 nd we can be there in minutes to let you in. As one of the best custom home builders in Austin, that’s just an extra service we provide.

Housing Market forecast looks promising

2012 is looking promising to Austin custom home builders. The housing market is showing signs of gradual upturn from years past.

Although sales of new homes in February fell from January, they grew by more than 11 percent in comparison with last year, and prices rose. The median new home price in February increased 8.3 percent to an eight-month high of $233,700, as compared to last February’s 6.2 percent rise. Existing home sales in February were up 9% from the same time in 2011. The number of new homes beginning construction fell in February, however permits for future projects approached a 3.5-year high. U.S. Builders have shown confidence in the current housing market as they have requested 5 percent more construction permits in February. That increased the annual rate to an adjusted 717,000 permits, the Commerce Department reported.

KB Homes Chief Executive Officer Jeff Mezger suggests, “The overall housing market is better, but this is definitely a localized recovery … and in some cases, it’s a zip-code-by-zip-code recovery.” Since Austin is fairing much better than other areas of the country, we can expect growth at a quicker rate than those other parts.

The conditions are the best right now for beginning to build your custom homes in Austin than they have been in recent years.

Lake Travis is 40.3 feet below the full pool of 681.00 feet.

We’ve all heard the phrase, “Good things come to those who wait.” Well we’ve all waited for a long time and Austin custom homes are finally getting the rain they need for their yards to become lush and GREEN! More importantly, not that your perfectly manicured lawn isn’t important to us, Lake Travis is now up 14ft since January 24th! Austin has received 5.38” of rain so far in March bring the total rainfall for the year to 13.12”. That’s nearly twice the average amount rainfall we see by this point this year.

If we continue to get monthly rain total like we had in March, the Lake will be filled back to capacity by June 30^th. In the storm system that came through last week, the Lake rose 7ft in only four days. All we need are six more storms like that to come through and the Lake will be ready to go by summertime. On average May and June have the most rainfall. Back in 2007, between March 26^th and April 1^st, Lake Travis rose an astounding 12ft. Also, 2007 was the last time the lake rose 14ft within the first three months of the year. Hopefully this year’s trend continues to be reminiscent of 2007. Frankly, we are tired of seeing “Sometimes Island”. We think that the lake will fill up by June 30^th, but maybe we’re looking at the glass half full.

You can continue to monitor the Lake Travis water level at http://travis.uslakes.info/Level.asp. The graph feature on the right side of the page is pretty cool to play with. Now that you’ve heard the prediction from your Austin luxury home builder, now what is your estimation of when Lake Travis will be completely filled up again? Leave us a comment to let us know!