Alamo Heights Cottage Builders (San Antonio, Terrell: hardwood floors, apartments, daycare)

[Tommi]

My husband and I are moving from Philadelphia to SA on March 1st. We went down to SA over the weekend and got alot accomplished; found daycare (actually we are on the wait list for the place we want/1st Presbyterian and got in somewhere in the interim), got temporary housing/Crescent Apartments near the Quarry shopping area and looked at houses in Alamo Heights.

After days and days of looking, we think we have decided on the Cottage district with a preference to Corona & Abiso streets.

Questions:
Does anyone know any good builders in this area?
We saw a few homes being done by Distinctive Homes & Houser. Any comments on these builders?
What is the approximate cost per square foot of a remodel?
Anyone know what the builder markup is? We were thinking 20%

The remodels we saw would have been great but the finishing was terrible quality for the price ($600-$650k). We have never remodeled but thought with what we saw perhaps we could do it better.

Please share your thoughts.

Thanks!

[210]

For custom homes, my personal favorite is Richard Heller Homes.

They do really great work.

http://richardhellerhomes.net

[wCat]

Originally Posted by Tommi

My husband and I are moving from Philadelphia to SA on March 1st. We went down to SA over the weekend and got alot accomplished; found daycare (actually we are on the wait list for the place we want/1st Presbyterian and got in somewhere in the interim), got temporary housing/Crescent Apartments near the Quarry shopping area and looked at houses in Alamo Heights.

After days and days of looking, we think we have decided on the Cottage district with a preference to Corona & Abiso streets.

Questions:
Does anyone know any good builders in this area?
We saw a few homes being done by Distinctive Homes & Houser. Any comments on these builders?
What is the approximate cost per square foot of a remodel?
Anyone know what the builder markup is? We were thinking 20%

The remodels we saw would have been great but the finishing was terrible quality for the price ($600-$650k). We have never remodeled but thought with what we saw perhaps we could do it better.

Please share your thoughts.

Thanks!

Hello Tommi! Welcome to San Antonio!

Your post has me a bit concerned. Are you working with a Realtor that knows the Alamo Heights area? If not, you may need to switch Realtors if you want anything in this area. About 6 months ago, Alamo Heights passed a moratorium to halt remodels that are within the city (of AH). The area you mentioned falls within the city limits. That doesn't mean you cannot remodel, but you will have to pass very stringent building permits to update....especially on the outside. This was put in place to prevent property developers from coming in and razing these great old homes....buying 2-3 lots and building gargantuan houses in their place. Unfortunately, not all remodels involve that effort, but it is now more difficult for smaller scale projects. It still is possible to raze a house or two, but it almost has to be condemned in order to do that. This is preserving the neighborhood.....but hurting resales somewhat.

Keep in mind that the 09 zip includes property that falls outside the city of Alamo Heights.....which includes, Terrell Hills, Northwoods, Northridge, Terrell Heights, Oak Park etc. These areas fall under the City of San Antonio jurisdiction. (Except Terrell Hills..also it's own city) Make sure your realtor knows the city limits and the school district boundaries. 09 zips don't guarantee AHISD either.

PM me if you have any specific questions. I'm not a realtor....but I do know the area pretty well.

[Torrey]

I lived in Alamo Heights years ago and it's my favorite part of the city of San Antonio. However the cost of houses and taxes is SO HIGH, that people are selling and moving away. That is, IF they can sell. Recently I looked at a nice home about 3000 sq ft, and almost fell down when I heard the price. It was $700,000 and it was on a little patch of grass, with a car port. No yard, just a little place of grass in the back and front to say "I have land with grass", and a CAR PORT. For $700,000 I better have a 6 car Garage and a big yard.

[Tommi]

My mistake. The builder is not Distintive, it is Definitive Builders.

Anyone heard of them?

[montevista1]

Torrey prices in San Antonio are affordable compared to the rest of the country this house in Alamo Heights if placed in most cities in america would be at least 30% more. In places like San Diego it would cost 4 to 6X the amount. The issue is property taxes which are a killer!

[Tommi]

Okay, I have spoken to Greg from Distinctive Builders (very polite and straightforward) and am quite impressed thus far with their operation. They have a home listed in AH that I think with some modifications may be the house for us.

I gave Greg a list of the things that I would like changed:
No carpet in bedrooms, replace with hardwood floors
Wire house for surround sound and hang 2 flat screen televisions
Add gues suite above garage
Add garden tub to master bath, right now only has shower
Enlarge backyard deck
Install sprinkler system

Greg is going to send me a proposal this afternoon for our review. What prompt attention!

The quality of the workmanship was very much reflected in the beautiful custom cabinets and molding through out the home. The home we are looking at is currently 3br/2ba @ 2,000 sq. ft. for $470k and we are looking to add an additional 400 sq. ft. to include 1 additional room and 1 additional bathroom with possibly a galley kitchen. Greg said ballpark estimate is $60k; I'll confirm this with the estimate today. This would make the price per square foot come out to $221. I think this is reasonable. Please share your thoughts.

Compared to our current home in Philadelphia:
3br, 3ba
full basement
total square footage is 2,300
$602,000 - this is what we just sold it for with no realtors on either side!
nothing brand new like the home in SA

Thanks!
Tommi

[OlmosCyclist]

I went through the same process recently. I think you will find that Olmos Park has a slightly lower price per square foot, but with bigger yards. It's also in Alamo Hieghts Ind. Schoold district.