From buying your first home to building a custom home, it’s a large decision, but don’t let it loom over you. Here are things we recommend reviewing on your path to a successful custom home.

Location Can Be Crucial

If you have not already asked yourself this, you may want to again- what qualities are important to you in the community you select to build a custom home in? Get specific with your priorities to help begin putting the pieces together for a home you will love.

Are the neighborhood amenities important to you? Are you hoping to move closer to family and friends? Do you want to live close to where you work? If you have children, do you feel confident in enrolling your children in the school district associated with the neighborhood? How much longer will they be in grade school? Are you looking to live in the city or alternatively looking at a suburban or more Hill Country environment? How long do you expect to live in Austin or Central Texas?

Whether you already have a location you’re considering or have land already purchased, we’ll work with you to design a beautiful home that accentuates the best features of your home lot.

Budget

Many financial professionals recommend budgeting no more than 28% of your pre-taxable income on housing. Once you have selected a location, estimate and compare your monthly expenses including home insurance, taxes, and any mortgages payments using tools like a Mortgage Calculator.

Custom, Production Built, or Previously Constructed Home

If you are looking to own a home, you have three options to consider:

- Purchase a previously constructed home
- Work with a high volume builder
- Build a unique, custom home

With a previously constructed home, there’s likely going to be features you are not fond of in any home you seek in your shortlist of desirable neighborhoods to live in. Some of these features may be removed through costly renovations, others you will have to grin and bare it knowing the house is not your dream home. In this scenario you will also have to depend on all the true deal breakers emerging after an inspection and before the moving truck arrives.

That said, if you are simply looking to purchase a home as a possible short-term owner as you are unsure of where you might be living in the next few years, a make-ready home however may be a better fit.

Higher volume home builders, also known as production builders, construct multiple homes based on a limited number of previously designed site plans. Buyers then personalize those floor plans by selecting certain options such as flooring, appliances, and countertops. The options you can customize are going to be more limited than a custom home. Large volume builders are also typically tied to specific communities or sub-divisions which may conflict with where you were hoping to build a home.

If you have an immediate job offer to move to Austin or a new city, you may not be able to immediately work on a custom home or have the ability to wait for custom home construction so renting in the interim may work best for you. However if you’re looking to still design a hassle free, custom home here in Central Texas we’d be happy to help.

Choosing a custom home allows you to design a home that expresses your style. It can also be tailored to your lifestyle and needs down to every detail. If you have selected a piece of land where you can see your dream home, have a unique floor plan you’re ready to construct, or want to be more involved in the design process of your new home from the ground up, a custom home builder can help you. With a custom home you are getting a truly on-of-a-kind home constructed to your vision and needs.

Custom Home Features That Speak To You

If you’ve decided you’re ready to build your own custom home, you will want to think through what features in the home are must haves. Are you building a home primarily to meet specific family needs? Do you want your home to be an entertainment hub for your friends and family?

If you work from home or are looking to transition into it, the home office you design can make all the difference in your productivity. A true home office can also be in your favor during tax season for write offs.

The kitchen in a home is considered by many one of the most important places in a home. A larger, more open kitchen might be a better option for someone that wants to allow people to freely flow in and out of their kitchen, if you are looking to be the primary chef and preparer, a smaller kitchen with larger dining and living rooms might be worth considering.

Other popular features for custom homes in Austin include:

- Private, covered patios with outdoor built-in grills
- Media rooms with theater-style chairs
- Wine cellars set to the perfect temperature to house their collection
- Large steel doors to give a home a more modern edge

If you are unsure, what your custom house looks like quite yet that’s ok and very common. We can work with you to design the home of your dreams and make it as hassle free as possible. During construction of your new home, our team will also be on site every day to make sure your home is expertly crafted to last.

Custom Home Builders Serving Customers For Over 50 Years

Ron McGuire Jr. is a fourth generation custom home builder. The first home constructed by the McGuire family can be tracked back to as early as 1897.

Ron Sr. and Ron Jr. have been working together building custom homes locally in Austin and throughout Central Texas for over 20 years with 50 years of combined experience in custom home design and construction.

Call us today to start talking about the home of your dreams at (512)380-HOME(4663).