HometownGeorgetown.com

Last week, the folks at Jimmy Jacobs Custom Homes were kind enough to meet with me to tell me all about Woodland Park, which is one of my favorite subdivisions in Georgetown. When Woodland Park was first started five or six years ago, the homes were $475,000-$550,000 on average. Now, some of them are more than $700,000. (There are currently two Woodland Park homes on the market for less than $400,000.) In fact, a home sold within the past month or so for more than $750,000 after just two days on the market. Of course, that house was on more than five acres, whereas the typical lot in Woodland Park has between 1 and 1.5 acres.

The final phase to be developed is Phase 4B, which consists of 20 lots. 15 of them will be released in the near future, each between 1 and 1.66 acres. The prices range from $55,000 on up to $115,000 per lot. In the rest of Woodland Park, there are currently 13 lots available. What comes next if you decide to buy a lot? Your next step will be to choose a builder. You don’t have to hire Jacobs Custom Homes to build in Woodland Park. However, you will need to go through them as the developer to get your builder of choice approved, if you do go with another builder. Production builders may not build in this subdivision. The homes in Woodland Park are all high-end custom homes. They must be at least 2500 square feet and have 100% masonary exteriors.

Woodland Park West has its own Home Owners Association, but in all other ways, it feels like an extension of Woodland Park. The restrictions are basically the same. The lots in Woodland Park West go for around $70,000-$90,000 and run between 1 and 1.88 acres. Phases 1 and 4 have been developed, and Phase 5 is currently under development.

If I were to build in Woodland Park, I would definitely choose Jacobs Custom Homes. They build a gorgeous house. The designers they have on staff seem to really have a handle on what people like. Many of the kitchens have brickwork around the stove and across the front of the island that looks Old World luxurious. The master bathrooms in their model homes are showpieces. I’ll confess… I first visited a model in Woodland Park six years ago, and I liked the bathroom so much that I saved a brochure with its picture for ages in my Dream Home file at home.

Speaking of models… Jacobs Custom Homes are in the process of building two new models in Woodland Park. They like to keep a model open for just a couple of years before building another. That way, they can stay on top of the latest trends and technologies for the home. The Jacobs folks don’t just build in their own developments. They will build on your own lot anywhere within the triangle created by Georgetown, New Braunfels, and the Highland Lakes area.

I asked them whether the recent tight market had affected them, and I was delighted to learn that they did very well in the fourth quarter of 2007. They typically build 110-150 homes per year, and usually have about 25 spec homes on the ground. At the time I interviewed them, they had only 8-10 spec homes unsold. The rest had already found happy families. Some of their prices have gone down simply because the tight market has enabled them to renegotiate with their suppliers and subcontractors. They felt that they should get a break because they had consistently paid in full and on time. The suppliers and subcontractors agreed, and the Jacobs folks passed those savings on to their customers.

There are currently 9 homes listed in the MLS in Woodland Park and Woodland Park West. 4 of them were built in 2007 and 2008, and the rest are resales. They’re priced from about $370,000 up to about $580,000. Six homes sold in the past six months, including the one I mentioned at the start of this article.

If you would like more information about Woodland Park, or about building a home on your own lot, please call me at 512-876-6544 or send an email to Jenel@HometownGeorgetown.com. I would love to talk to you.