AUREABUILDCustom homes · Austin, Texas
Most of the money and risk in a custom home gets decided before the first stake goes in: the lot, the drawings and the budget. We take on ground-up construction in stages and say what's still unknown at each one.
Who this is for: Landowners and families planning a custom home build.
First steps
If you haven't closed on land yet, this is the cheapest moment to ask questions. Is the lot in a flood or watershed area? Is there city water and sewer, or does it need a well and septic? Does an HOA review architecture? How steep is it, and where does the water go when it rains? We can walk a lot with you and flag what to check before you sign.
Soil deserves a look too. Expansive clay east of I-35 drives foundation design, and shallow limestone in the Hill Country slows excavation and utility trenching. Neither is a reason to skip a lot, but both change the plan and the budget. The guide to clay and limestone site conditions explains how, and renovate or build new helps if you're still deciding between building and improving a house you already own.
A custom home is usually drawn by an architect or designer, with a structural engineer and sometimes other consultants. We work alongside that team and can help you put one together. The important part is that cost feedback arrives during design. A finished set of drawings that can't be built for the budget is an expensive thing to discover.
Early numbers are preliminary and get labeled that way. They firm up as drawings, engineering, site information and selections develop, and they swing most on finish level, structural complexity and site work. You'll be told which parts of a number are solid and which are assumptions.
The custom home build guide walks through the stages in more detail.
Flooring, lighting, plumbing fixtures and appliances usually haven't been chosen when the price is written, so each gets an allowance. That's where budgets drift. If the allowance for plumbing fixtures was set for builder-grade faucets and you fall for something else, the difference is yours. Each allowance gets written down with what it's meant to cover, and a set of exclusions goes beside it.
New residential construction needs a permit, and the path depends on where the lot sits. The City of Austin permits through its Development Services Department. Round Rock, Cedar Park, Lakeway, Pflugerville, Georgetown and West Lake Hills each run their own offices, and property outside city limits may follow yet another route.
Review time, comments and resubmittals are real parts of the schedule, and nobody on the builder's side controls them. A complete submission and regular follow-up help. The permit guide describes the general shape.
Electrical, plumbing and HVAC work in Texas is done by state-licensed professionals, and inspections follow the local jurisdiction's rules. The trades are sequenced so rough-in inspections happen before walls close.
A ground-up house goes up in a fixed order, and knowing it tells you when each decision is due.
A tile selection that shows up after framing can force rework. A site condition that was assumed gets billed as a change order. A schedule with no room for rain, inspection dates or late deliveries stops being believable somewhere around the middle of the job. Neither the final price nor the finish date can be promised in advance, and what each depends on gets stated early.
A decision calendar keeps the owner's choices from becoming the delay. If you want to talk about whether a property and a plan suit each other, request an estimate and start there. Fit for new ground-up work also depends on the lot and the calendar when you call.
Common questions
No. Many conversations start with a lot and an idea. We can go through feasibility, what the stages look like and how to assemble a design team. Pricing gets more meaningful as drawings, engineering and site information come together.
It firms up as the design, engineering, site conditions and selections get settled. Early figures are preliminary and labeled that way, and allowances show which pieces are placeholders for choices you haven't made.
Size, design complexity, permit review, site conditions, selections, weather and trade availability all set the pace, so no date gets named before those are known. We can walk through each stage and what usually slows it down.
We can review a lot before you buy and flag what to check: zoning, utilities, access, slope, soil, drainage and HOA rules. Do it before closing, because the answers change both the plan and the budget.
Yes, when that fits. Having the designer, engineer and builder talk early keeps the plans buildable at your budget. If you don't have a design team yet, we can talk about how to put one together.