My folks are looking to purchase a smaller home in BCS and dad thinks new or nearly new will have fewer headaches. Are there any builders in that range that are any good? The area may be in the Fitch/Greens Prairie or Oakmont.

Not considering DR Horton.

Stylecraft builds a lot in that range. How are they? I looked at a Kileo. Anyone know anything about them? Any others?

Would spending a little more get better? This isn't about fancy upgrades but rather having decent quality and the builder actually fixing problems after they have your money and not stonewalling until the warranty is out.

I appreciate any suggestions.

New houses that are small and in that price range limit everything. Stylecraft will probably be your best bet.
Not perfect, but better than their competition and better than they used to be.

Texasclipper said:

---

My folks are looking to purchase a smaller home in BCS and dad thinks new or nearly new will have fewer headaches. Are there any builders in that range that are any good? The area may be in the Fitch/Greens Prairie or Oakmont.

Not considering DR Horton.

Stylecraft builds a lot in that range. How are they? I looked at a Kileo. Anyone know anything about them? Any others?

Would spending a little more get better? This isn't about fancy upgrades but rather having decent quality and the builder actually fixing problems after they have your money and not stonewalling until the warranty is out.

I appreciate any suggestions.

---

Stylecraft is a good solid builder. Good service on any punchlist items.

They have new subdivisions down hwy 30 on Elmo Weedon and also about seven or eight miles out Hwy 30 that you may want to look at. The ones farther away are in Grimes county....lower property taxes and just a few miles from Tower Point area. I would probably look at those two locations if I was moving here as a retiree.

My mom moved down here a year ago and went with Avonley Homes in Austin's Colony. They're part of the Reece Homes family and were good to work with through the process. A little slow to respond to warranty requests but ultimately have taken care of everything we've asked for.

If you're not locked into new construction, there's an over 55 area near the Bryan Post Office on Wm. J Bryan that has a few smaller houses for sale. Close to St. Joseph also.

Stylecraft has become a really good builder over the years and the French family is good people. I'd def call them first if you're on a budget.

At $350k you're probably limiting yourself to around 1,700 sqft assuming you've got the land already to build on.

Rudder Point, Avonley Homes. New subdivision, hubs and I love it. Paid 350k for 1800 sf.

91_Aggie said:

---

Orlando Ayala Cant Read said:

---

At $350k you're probably limiting yourself to around 1,700 sqft assuming you've got the land already to build on.

---

I still can't believe this is the starting cost for a 1700 square foot home.

Salaries have definitely not kept up with housing costs.

---

$200/sf is a good baseline budget right now. I think we sold our last house (Stylecraft) for $204/sf last year.

We lived in a StyleCraft house for 7 years. The only real complaint I had was lack of drainage in the backyard, but that was due to the large existing oak trees that limited the amount of grade work that could be done.

Local lender here, feel free to reach out if you need mortgage assistance.
Email is user name

@Texasclipper: The fellow who owns Kaleo built my previous home. Good dude. Was very responsive to the very few issues we had.

Southern Pointe in South CS, Surrounding Stylecraft neighborhoods mentioned above, Rudder Pointe or Possibly Austin's Colony will have offerings in that price range. Oakmont will not, other than maybe a few listings.

It's crazy how much more expensive houses are now. We built a custom home in 2008 in Castlegate (closed a couple months before the housing/mortgage collapse) for less than $120/sq.ft.

Avoid a tract builder if possible. We have many semi-custom builders in town with great reputations.

In that price range?

I'm in a similar boat as you. Been primarily looking at Stylecraft as they fit into that budget pretty well. I don't have personal experience with them, but I've been renting a new 2022 town home that was built by them for a couple years now and the quality is decent.

Ranger Home Builders. Give Caleb a call and he will take care of you.

ByteTraveler said:

---

I'm in a similar boat as you. Been primarily looking at Stylecraft as they fit into that budget pretty well. I don't have personal experience with them, but I've been renting a new 2022 town home that was built by them for a couple years now and the quality is decent.

---

I have purchased myself, and have handled probably fifty Stylecraft homes for clients and all were very good homes and very competitive on price/value. No, they aren't custom, but also not $250+/SF either.

To get trades to show up for a one off, new construction, 3/1 build on a random lot is not happening for an end sales price of $150/SF. The time, energy, and effort to execute that along with the liability/insurance the builder needs makes it not worth it to the builder and makes that type of project come at a premium for the end user.

Also, OP mentioned an outright home purchase. A significant part of any home is the land/lot that it sits on and the infrastructure available to service that lot. What it costs for a build ready lot is very different nowadays.

*Edit to add, for those who want to know, building permit and impact fees in City of CS for a 2000 sqft house is $11k, just to have the 'permission' to start building.

Thanks for that information! That is definitely helpful as I consider my options, I appreciate it.

Would they consider a townhome or patio home?

There are nice townhomes at Oakmont on Appalachian and Mooney Falls. The HOA covers a lot, making it less maintenance. They're in the low to mid $400s.