Autodesk® Revit® Architecture

We have a new secret weapon here at Jenkins Custom Homes: Autodesk® Revit® Architecture.  According to the website: “Autodesk® Revit® Architecture building information modeling (BIM) software helps architects and designers gain a competitive advantage with tools that enable you to design freely, keep information better coordinated, and deliver more efficiently.”

For our residential designers, this means that “From conception to construction documentation, [they can] design projects within an intuitive environment.”  For our clients, it means it is now possible to see – and experience (through virtual reality) – their developing home before the design is even completed!  According to Jenkins Vice-President, Bethany Jenkins, “It’s pretty amazing…The design of a home can now happen faster and clients can get real time feedback.”

Beyond 3D modeling, with Autodesk® Revit® Architecture, our residential designers can produce “photo-realistic” drawings like the one seen here.  This is especially helpful for our clients who are not local.  We can email screen shots and drawings of their home as the design develops.

Except for the picture above, all of these are drawings of homes that are currently in the design phase or are already under construction here at Jenkins Custom Homes.

Hot Off The Presses!

Lake Travis TV recently interviewed Shan Jenkins, owner of Jenkins Custom Homes, about his homes and his processes. See the interview in its entirety here:

Jenkins Custom Homes Named Number 5 Custom Homebuilder in Austin!

The Custom Homebuilders List, released each year by the Austin Business Journal, just hit the streets and Jenkins Custom Homes has been named #5 on the list of top builders in Austin for 2010!

Moving up from #9 in 2009, this is an honor that also highlights the growth of Jenkins’ business. The journal ranks Custom Home Builders by size, and Jenkins has been shooting to the top the past 5 years. In a market where most home builders are shrinking, Jenkins has gone from #23 on the list just five years ago to #5 in 2010.

When asked if Jenkins aspires to be #1, Shan Jenkins says, “Not necessarily – we strive to provide superior quality and service in our market, and if we continue to grow it will only be a by-product of our company mission and core values. In fact, with our focus on quality and service, we may choose not to build certain projects in order to maintain our reputation for excellence”.

The Austin Business Journal is the primary source for news and pro-business information in the Austin and surrounding areas. Jenkins Custom Homes is pleased to be associated with the Austin Business Journal.

Team Members Tour Andersen Corporation

The secret to the success of any company is a great team. For Jenkins Custom Homes, that is no exception. In fact, two of our team members – Adrian Fudge and Ryan Bates – were recently invited on an all-expense paid trip to Minnesota where for 3 days, they are touring the Andersen Corporation facilities and learning all about the windows and doors that this company produces. These types of trips help keep our employees up to date on the latest technology, which is a plus for them and ultimately, a plus for our clients.

Our Most Recently Completed Project

Custom Home Builder Jenkins Custom Homes just finished its latest masterpiece in the Rimrock subdivision located in Driftwood (not far from The Salt Lick restaurant).  This project, which was 100% conceived, designed and built in-house using our proprietary Lifestyle Analysis(C) system, is a Texas Tuscan style home with all the amenities owners have come to expect in a  Jenkins home.  Aside from the gorgeous kitchen with its custom cabinets and wrought iron details, this home also features a hidden pantry.  From the kitchen, the pantry appears to be only the standard 24 inch depth, when in reality, it opens up to the space under the stairs, giving the home owners approximately 48 linear feet of additional shelving space.

This home also features beautiful stained ceiling beams, custom lighting fixtures throughout and a great outdoor kitchen built entirely of stone and stainless steel appliances.  The outdoor kitchen, complete with a seating area and TV, extends the home’s living area and takes advantage of Central Texas’ unique temperate climate.

The master bedroom and guest bedroom are both located downstairs, while the upstairs contains two more bedrooms and a playroom (in addition to the media room).  The master bedroom contains the typical Jenkins closet with chrome hardware, pull-down racks, lots of shelving, and built-in drawers.  There is also space for seating and for placing a suitcase when packing.  Inside the master bathroom, it is the tub that draws your eye, with its beautiful chandelier above and glass tile surrounding the tub deck.  Through a door at the back of the walk-in closet is a private exercise room, which also has access to the over-sized study with wall to wall built-in cabinetry.

Another special feature of this home is the granite bar which stretches the width of the media room – a room wide enough to fit three large TVs side by side. The end result is a home that is both beautiful and functional – trademark features of a true Jenkins Custom Home.

5 Reasons To Consider – or Reconsider – Building

Right now is perhaps the closest thing to the perfect time to build a new home we will ever see. If you have been holding off breaking ground on your new home, it may be time to reconsider your position. Here are the top 5 reasons why we think now is the time to build:

1. Mortgage rates dropped to a near record low, even as recently as this week, but are expected to start moving up again soon. “Experts say it’s time to get a loan now, or end up with a higher rate later…Mortgage professionals believe rates are poised to jump sharply within a few weeks.” (source: http://www.bankrate.com/finance/mortgages/mortgage-rates-drop-to-2010-low.aspx).

2. Home prices continue to fall, but not as drastically. According to CNNMoney.com, while home prices have fallen another 2.5% during the last 3 months of 2009, that was a “big improvement over the past three years.” This means that the trend down may be about to change, and housing prices may be about to start trending up instead of down. (source: http://money.cnn.com/2010/02/23/real_estate/2009_Case-Shiller_report/index.htm)

3. The price of materials will inevitably start to go up as building resumes. CNNMoney.com reports that “Home Depot said it returned to a profit in its fiscal fourth quarter after posting a loss a year earlier, with earnings of 18 cents per share, two cents better than expected.” (source: http://money.cnn.com/2010/02/23/markets/markets_newyork/index.htm)

4. Land prices are at an all-time low.  While this is, of course, specific to your region of the country, in Austin, TX, the general belief is that these prices are only going up from here. “January 2009 was the low point of this cycle…with steady improvement throughout 2009 that continued in January 2010, we can see that we’re one year into the recovery in Austin.” (source: http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/stories/2010/02/15/daily52.html?ana=from_rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+bizj_austin+%28Austin+Business+Journal%29)

5. Tax credits have been extended. “The Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009 has extended the tax credit of up to $8,000 for qualified first-time home buyers purchasing a principal residence. It also authorized a tax credit of up to $6,500 for qualified repeat home buyers.” (source:http://www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com/)