Building a custom home (DESIGN)

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PHASE TWO: CHOOSE AN ARCHITECT, COMPLETE THE DESIGN

We have a preferred architect we've collaborated with on numerous custom and speculative homes in Central Texas. We have also worked with many other firms around Austin and are equally comfortable working with the architect of your choice. We suggest that with any architectural candidate you ask to see recent designs that compare with yours in size and style. Take the time for a face-to-face interview. Portfolio samples and printed brochures can't tell you whether there's positive chemistry between you as a client and the person who will bring your dream home to life.

Ultimately, the design of your new home is shaped by three key variables:
1) price;
2) size, and
3) specifications: the materials and features that go into your home.

As a buyer, you can only realistically expect to control two of these three elements. Here's how the scenarios typically play out:
1) If you want to control the price and size of your home, you will need to remain flexible on the specifications of what goes into that home.
2) But if you have a fixed price point and very strong ideas about materials and finish-out quality, that will limit the size house you can build.
3) And finally, if size and specifications are most important to you, your final price will vary. (We're still looking for a supplier that sells Viking appliances at Whirlpool prices!)

To get the most value for your money, it's important to be thorough and specific in the design phase. Some ideas that look great on paper may create cost overruns when they're implemented in the field. Often there are minor modifications in the architectural drawings that can save tens of thousands of dollars in the construction phase. That's where Sendero Homes - with more than 40 years of combined homebuilding experience in the Austin luxury market - greatly benefits our clients. We take pride in our ability to negotiate engineering and technical minefields during the design stages of a project, updating the specifications and the preliminary budget so costs don't get out of hand.

Because Sendero is so intimately involved in the design portion of the project, a deposit for preconstruction services will be required, with the amount dependent on the scope of the project. The deposit is non-refundable but it will be deducted from the total price of your home when we sign a residential construction contract.

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