News on Builder News
We're going to the Show!
Every year, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) hosts the International Builders’ Show® and, yet again, your Austin custom home builder will be attending. With more than 50,000 attendees, 900 industry suppliers and more than 165 education sessions, this is by far the home building industry’s largest event of the year. You’d think the show would give us a chance to get away from the stress of the office and soak in the warm Orlando sun. Yeah, right!
At Sterling Custom Homes, we set up an intricate schedule for each team member to follow so we can get the absolute most out of the show. During every time slot of education sessions, each team member is assigned a specific session and a back up session. When a team member is not in a session, they are on the showroom floor checking out new industry specific products, innovations, and business solutions. Not all home builders go to the show, but to remain cutting edge in a constantly evolving custom home industry, we believe it is imperative to remain as current as possible with industry trends and standards. The International Builders’ Show® presents us with the absolute best opportunity to do so.
We don’t go to the show solely for our benefit, but even more for the benefit of our clients. The knowledge gained through the education sessions helps us optimize our construction processes, which improves our clients’ experience with us. The new products we are exposed to on the showroom floor increases the efficiency of the homes we build, positively affecting client satisfaction with us, but more importantly, their home.
We are very excited to go to the International Builders’ Show®! This year, thanks to the wonders of social media, we are going to provide you with nuggets of information we receive at the show in real time. In order to accomplish this, stay tuned to our Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Pinterest pages for updates. We will also publish a daily blog post to wrap up each day of the show, so stay tuned!
Make sure your draw schedule and construction schedule are in sync.
At Sterling Custom Homes we have certain processes in motion to help us to continue building the best custom homes in Austin TX. When a client begins to build with us, we develop a draw schedule based on when certain projects during the construction of the home, i.e. pouring the slab, framing, roofing, etc., are going to be started and completed. When clients finance their home through a bank, an account is set up that we can draw out of to fund the different projects during the construction of the home. Once a draw is made, the financial institution sends out an inspector to the construction site to make sure the project that the draw was for has begun to be worked on.
That’s all well and good, but what happens when clients elect to fund their Austin custom homes with cash? It’s actually a similar process. Your custom home builder in Austin will instead transfer money directly from the client’s personal account. Since the bank’s money is not being drawn upon, no inspector is sent to the construction site to ensure that the project the money was drawn for is being worked on or has been completed. This is why it is very important to be careful to know your builder very well before you begin to build with them.
We currently have some clients who are funding their home with cash. They decided to hire a 3rd party inspector to ensure that our construction schedule and draw schedule are in sync. Two weeks ago, when an inspector began to check out our build site he was very pleasantly surprised! The inspector told Cody, our Construction Manager, that it’s rare for some builders to have the two schedules in sync, especially when clients are funding their home with cash. Needless to say, the inspector was very impressed with the way we conduct our business.
Delicious!
Last night the premier custom home builder in Austin, Sterling Custom Homes, celebrated the end of its 22nd year in the custom home building business with its annual Christmas party. The Sterling Team gathered with family and friends at Gumbo’s Steak and Seafood at The Galleria in Bee Cave, TX. If you have not had the chance to go there, we highly recommend it. The food was absolutely amazing! Better than the food, though, was the opportunity for the company to spend some quality time together outside the office. We keep so busy throughout the year that it becomes difficult for us to get together and bond as a staff. The Christmas party always provides us with the opportunity to do just that.
In between ordering and receiving dinner Sterling Custom Homes’ President, Duke McDowell, stood up and addressed the staff. He congratulated them on a job well done in 2011 and expressed his gratitude for everything they do for the company. He went on to express the things he is most thankful for in his life and encouraged other members of the team to do the same. This speaks volumes for how much Duke cares about his co-workers and from the responses I heard last night, everyone holds Duke in high regards as well.
The Johnson Residence
Sterling Custom Homes is proud of our ongoing association with one of the finest waterfront communities on Lake Travis – The Reserve at Lake Travis. We remain busy with projects in this fine community, recently completing a beautiful custom home on Poco Bueno Court built to the exact specifications of our clients, the Johnson’s. This has been a fun home to build for some really neat people. The home is an engineering feat, with the pool suspended 15 feet out of the ground and a 10 car garage tucked below the house and pool! Over the years we have come to be known not only for our quality and integrity, but also for the high level of technical expertise we bring to each and every project. We’re a builder with an engineering background, not a marketing company that builds homes, which causes us to stand out among other custom home builders in Austin.
The Mahood Residence
Another project underway in The Reserve at Lake Travis is the Mahood residence on Ruffian Heights Court. A tight-knit family, each of the children had input as we developed this plan and worked through the specifications. The home sits high on the ridge above Lake Travis and will take advantage of the incredible Lake and Hill Country views from that perch. We always look forward to their visits from out of town! This is another fun project that will result in a quality home for a great family.
Are You and Your Home Ready for the Winter?
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Pretty leaves cause ugly messes.
It might just be me, but it sure seems like fall lasted all of about two weeks. It’s that time of year again to start thinking about performing some winter maintenance on your homes to ensure that they maintain their quality of the best custom homes Austin Texas has ever seen. The following are some tips you can use when preparing you Sterling Custom Home for the winter.
Safety Tips – Check the batteries in your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Change or replace your heating system’s filter grids. You might want to clean the vents, too.
Outdoor Tips – Clean leaves, twigs, and other debris out of your gutters. Trim branches and shrubs away from the house. Stay on top of raking and instead of bagging all the leaves, consider starting a compost pile. You can add perennials and summer plants to it as well. Check to make sure your irrigation system is drained and shut off to prevent pipe bursts due to freezes. Remove and drain garden hoses and store them in a garage or shed. Be sure to cover outdoor spigots to prevent against freezing. Retrieve outdoor furniture cushions and umbrellas and store them in a garage or shed. Cover grills with waterproof covers.