2 Acres Lots Availability For Custom Home Construction in the Dallas Area. Luxury Builder Market Trends and Updates.

December 12 2022.

Recently I had the amazing opportunity to interview Tony Prutch, owner of Homes By J. Anthony-Award-Winning Custom Home Builder. During our conversation Tony gave valuable insight into the design and construction process for building a custom home in Dallas, including updates on the local luxury builder market and current Custom Home building trends. He also detailed two new inspiring communities that are being developed in Fairview TX and Lucas, TX where buyers can own gorgeous lots of two acres or more, and build the home of their dreams.

Be sure to check out my Youtube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@DallasRealEstateAgent) for all Dallas Real Estate related videos!

Key Points In This Article:

• 1. Review of 2022 Custom Homes Builder Activity

• 2. How can you identify a quality home builder in the Dallas area?

• 3. Why are Lucas, TX, and Fairview, TX, such popular destinations to build a Custom Home on a large Acreage Lot?

• 4. 2-Acre Lots Available to Build A Custom Home in Fairview, TX

• 5. 2-Acre Lots Available to Build A Custom Home in Lucas, TX

• 6. 1-Acre Lots Available to Build A Custom Home in Celina, TX

• 7. Build A Custom Home On Your Own Lot in the Dallas area

• 8. How Long Would It Take To Build A Custom Home in The Dallas Area?

• 9. Custom Pools in The Dallas Area

• 10. Basement in your Custom Home in The Dallas Area

• 11. Latest Trends in Custom Home Building in The Dallas Area

• 12. Detached Garages and NextGen Suites with your Custom Home

• 13. Looking to build a custom home in the Dallas area? You’ve come to the right place!

Interview with Tony Prutch (Homes By J Anthony)

Pictured in the Photo: Oleg Sedletsky, Dallas Realtor® talking to Tony Prutch, Award winning custom home builder in Lucas, TX

Review of 2022

Oleg Sedletsky Realtor ®:  Thank you Tony for meeting me today, it’s been a year already,

Tony Prutch (Homes By J Anthony):  it has, it has…

Oleg Sedletsky Realtor ®:   How was this year for you?

Tony Prutch (Homes By J Anthony):  Well, this year was, obviously it had its trials. For us, you know living through COVID, we ended up closing around 43 houses this year. Which is, you know, a big number for us and so I’m very very happy with the outcome of it.

We had to make some modifications of our schedules and things like that in order to keep the houses moving, but you know, things are starting to loosen up a little bit now and our cycle times are continuing to drop and we’re starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel!

In regards to the company itself I couldn’t be more proud! We have an amazing team throughout the process from color selections to sales people to superintendents and supervisors and the accounting department and our swimming pool company, I mean they exceeded expectations!

Despite the things that they had in front of them to work through. And I couldn’t be more proud.

Oleg Sedletsky Realtor ®:   You’ve won another Star Awards?

Tony Prutch (Homes By J Anthony):  We’ve done very very well! The state of Texas has honored us with multiple Awards, we just found out that we’re up for some national awards as well, which those will be present presented in the first week of February at the National Builders Association. It’s something I’m very very proud of!

To be recognized by my peers, to be recognized on a national level, you just don’t see that kind of opportunity come to you very often and so to say that I’m ecstatic would be an understatement.

I’m honored and I’m proud to even be able to make it to the dance as I would say.

Oleg Sedletsky Realtor ®:  Well, I think you deserve it, because the quality and the caliber of product kind of speak for itself! And the recognition by the state and now that you enter the National Arena, this means a lot! That speaks for itself!

Tony Prutch (Homes By J Anthony):  Thank you!

Well it’s a lot of hard work, with a lot of great people in order to accomplish that! Exactly! I’m one spoke on a really big wheel and I can’t give enough credit to the team for maintaining that quality and caring about the houses and caring about the product and wanting to be the best.

And you know, I saw a guy out this morning sweeping off a lead walk because he didn’t want his customers to get their feet muddy when they walk up to the house! When you’re looking at that level of detail you’re really at a higher level and so like I said, I’m very very proud of the team and what they’ve accomplished!

And I’m just looking forward to 2023, I think it’s going to be a great year for us!

Oleg Sedletsky Realtor ®:  Well, hopefully for everybody! For home buyers and for Builders! The bottom line is: to keep people happy!

Tony Prutch (Homes By J Anthony):  Well that’s really what this is about! Right! I mean it’s about not building the norm just building the best that you can build and providing a product that’s the best for the customer and I will continue to strive to be better at that! I think we do a great job already but if you don’t continually look at better ways and better processes in order to achieve that goal, normalcy is just not something we’re good at.

How can you identify a quality home builder in the Dallas area?

Oleg Sedletsky Realtor ®: It’s interesting, because as a Realtor, when I’m looking through the MLS, I have noticed the trend: when there is a very reputable Builder and very quality home listed, in the description of that listing you always see the first line who is the Builder! For example: this home is built by this builder…

And when I see some listings of the houses that you built in the past and it’s like exclamation point! Like this home build by Homes by J Anthony! exclamation point. That means a lot, and I wanted to congratulate you with this big achievement!  Because, I mean it’s a big deal!

Tony Prutch (Homes By J Anthony):  Thank you! There’s been a lot of value that’s been established by using our name, and building a product and you know that kind of segways into: we’ve built multiple homes for the same person! I’ve got one customer that’s built four homes with us! That’s a big statement!

When you build one house for somebody, that’s great, you build a second house for them, that’s great you build three and four houses for the same person and in each one of those cases they made money on each house!

Oleg Sedletsky Realtor ®: So the name builds the equity!

Tony Prutch (Homes By J Anthony):  It does, I think it absolutely helps with the equity!

Oleg Sedletsky Realtor ®: Absolutely, well, it’s a great position to be in and it’s exactly as your slogan says: Quality Vision Trust and Design, and that people trusting you to keep building homes for them!

Tony Prutch (Homes By J Anthony):  Those are four words that have a lot of meaning, and take a lot of effort to perform on a daily basis!

Pictured in the Photos below: Home listings featuring home builder (Homes By J Anthony) in the listing description

Why are Lucas, TX, and Fairview, TX, such popular destinations to build a Custom Home on a large Acreage Lot?

Oleg Sedletsky Realtor ®: That’s great, thank you. Let me ask you, last video that we did in January 2022 we were in the Stoddard Farms community and that was what like three, four Lots left?

Tony Prutch (Homes By J Anthony):  Well, today there’s one lot left, and the only reason that lot is left is because I was going to put a model home on it, but the subdivision sold out before I could get the models started. So we’re actually going to move our model into the Hendrick’s property, which is a new development too.

Oleg Sedletsky Realtor ®: Is it in Lucas, TX or it’s in Fairview, TX?

Tony Prutch (Homes By J Anthony):  It’s still in Lucas, TX. Lovejoy schools. We’ll put the model there. We have 25 Lots. Roads are poured on it currently and all 2-acre lots starting in the $650k range for the lot.

Oleg Sedletsky Realtor ®: My clients who are looking to build a custom home, obviously they’re looking for acreage, the Fairview, TX and Lucas, TX seems to be a very popular destination.

Tony Prutch (Homes By J Anthony):  It is, I mean you’re three to five miles from anything you could want: from food to shopping to entertainment.

Oleg Sedletsky Realtor ®: And yet you have privacy.

Tony Prutch (Homes By J Anthony):  You still have the privacy and you’re on the bigger Lots. So when you have one and two acre lots obviously you can build a bigger house but you can also have a little bit more elbow space. It’s a really unique area where you have great school systems bigger lots and proximity to everything that you could want to do and I think that’s one of the things that makes this area so sought after.

Oleg Sedletsky Realtor ®: Yep, so the school district (Lovejoy ISD) definitely helps but the question is that how build out are Lucas, TX and Fairview, TX?

Tony Prutch (Homes By J Anthony):  Well, it’s almost built out. Between the subdivisions that I have: Stoddard Farms, Danielle’s Crossing, Pinnacle Estates, which is coming online Hendrick’s, there’s no real individual properties that are out there anymore!

And I think that what you’re going to see is these older homes, you know, it’s been around a long time, homes that were built in the 70s, and maybe even a few in the early 60s, are on two and three acre pieces of land and so that land has a value to it that probably supersedes the cost of the home.

So I think what we’re going to see over the course the next year is those older homes are going to get sold for their land value and we’ll start tearing those houses down and building new homes on top of that.

Oleg Sedletsky Realtor ®: But as far as like a clean, empty land/Lots?

Tony Prutch (Homes By J Anthony):  There’s just not. It’s almost gone, it’s pretty much gone. I mean we still have there’s probably I 40-50 Lots in total in the Lucas, TX Lovejoy ISD area that you can build on. So when you hear those words you have to look at how do you continue to build in an area that’s highly sought after, and the answer to that is you’re going to have to start tearing down older houses and putting new ones up.

And we’ve seen that process happen in a lot of different areas: in South Lake, and Dallas obviously a great example. This area is no different. People are going to continue to move here they’re just going to be building on an existing land instead of new home construction.

2-Acre Lots Available to Build A Custom Home in Fairview, TX

Oleg Sedletsky Realtor ®: The Fairview, TX. You got a new, brand spanking new subdivision.

Tony Prutch (Homes By J Anthony):  I’m so proud of that subdivision! Pinnacle Estates. We have 18 Lots, all two acres or more, right in the great great location! Proximity to HWY 121, obviously the malls and stuff, the outlet malls, all the food beverages things that you would want! And again 18 Lots, five of them are sold already, and we’ve just announced it.

Oleg Sedletsky Realtor ®: It’s gonna go quick!

Tony Prutch (Homes By J Anthony):  It’s gonna go quick! I was actually just before you came in, I was designing the entryway. I want kind of an old world Italian Villa, horse ranch style to it, so I even named the streets after Italian horses, so it’s really just going to be a neat subdivision that’s in a beautiful area on Old Stacy Road and I’m really excited about that subdivision!

Oleg Sedletsky Realtor ®: All right, all right, So the roads already there?

Tony Prutch (Homes By J Anthony):  Well, we’re lining the subdivision right now, we’ll be starting the roads in about two weeks and it takes a couple of weeks to be able to get the roads in, but I would say in the next three to four weeks you’re going to be able to drive into the subdivision and see what I’m talking about.

Oleg Sedletsky Realtor ®: Today is December 12th 2022 so we’re talking probably the end of the year?

Tony Prutch (Homes By J Anthony):  Yeah end of the year. I mean, obviously we’ve got the holidays and stuff but I would say first week of January you’re going to be able to drive through there and actually see what I’m talking about. It’s spectacular, it’s truly spectacular.

Oleg Sedletsky Realtor ®: Well, that’s great! That’s great to have this opportunity to still build the home in the Fairview, TX and a Lovejoy ISD!

Pictured in the Photo: A new subdivision in Fairview, TX featuring 18 lots (2 Acres+ each lot)

2-Acre Lots Available to Build A Custom Home in Lucas, TX

Oleg Sedletsky Realtor ®:  Well, and you said the Lucas, TX will have a new subdivision like next year I guess?

Tony Prutch (Homes By J Anthony):  Yeah, so the Hendrick’s property which is on Country Club and Blondie June. Great, great location! It’s fantastic location! Yeah, we are we already have the roads poured there. We have 25 Lots.

Oleg Sedletsky Realtor ®: Is it two or one acre?

Tony Prutch (Homes By J Anthony):  They’re all two acre lots, 2-acre, they’re all two acre lots and again just the serenity of Blondie June, It’s a very nice area!

Oleg Sedletsky Realtor ®: It really is a beautiful area!

1-Acre Lots Available to Build A Custom Home in Celina, TX

Tony Prutch (Homes By J Anthony):  Yeah so really excited about that. And don’t forget we also still have Celina,TX. I mean we’re really focused on the Celina, TX.

Oleg Sedletsky Realtor ®:   I was gonna ask you about Celina TX!

Yeah so not many lots left there as well?

Tony Prutch (Homes By J Anthony):   Well, there’s two lots that are left in the subdivision. I’m going to put a model home on the last, it’s the first lot coming in. Also we have Redbud Estates, which is right behind Carter Landing on 2478 and 171 and so there’s another 20 plus lots that are going to be back behind that we will model out.

I really want to maintain a good footprint in Celina, TX because I believe that as Lucas, TX where the Lovejoy is, starts to shrink a little bit we have to maintain what we’re used to doing. And I think that Celina is the area that’s going to be the best for it.

Oleg Sedletsky Realtor ®: Celina, TX at this point in time has the opportunity to kind of secure the privacy, scenery and location.

Tony Prutch (Homes By J Anthony):  Yeah it’s one of the highest points in all of the Collin County so it’s a beautiful spot.

Build A Custom Home On Your Own Lot in the Dallas area

Tony Prutch (Homes By J Anthony): And don’t forget we also have your Build On Your Own Lot. And you know, a large majority of the homes that we build today are on lots that are already owned by an individual. So it’s not just the lots that we’ve developed or we put on the ground, it’s what the customers have already! They might have been holding on to for a couple years.

Oleg Sedletsky Realtor ®: Exactly, and how far are you travel to build on the customer lot?

Tony Prutch (Homes By J Anthony):  Well, for us anything that’s in Collin County we’re very comfortable with that as being our sandbox. Collin County is a big area but that takes you all the way up in close going into what was it Rockwall, TX. I guess we actually are outside of Collin County in some of those, because we have McLendon-Chisholm, TX we have the Heath, TX Rowlett, TX Rockwall, TX we’re in all those cities.

But anything Collin County we’re really focused on.

Oleg Sedletsky Realtor ®: How does a price being structured on the build on your own lot?

Tony Prutch (Homes By J Anthony):  That’s a good question, it’s done the same exact way, so we take the living square footage times $205 a square foot and that includes nine pages of standard features that come with that $205 a square foot. The only real difference that you have in a build on your own lot versus a lot that we already own is the development of that lot itself.

Sometimes you might have to bring in more dirt, sometimes you can have a soils report that’s required you might need Piers or fill, things like that but the $205 a foot plus those variables that’s how we price all of our houses.

Oleg Sedletsky Realtor ®: Great! But technically if a customer comes to you and they have land in some place in Collin County, basically they just come to you and you take care of everything. Right?

Tony Prutch (Homes By J Anthony):  That’s correct. Yeah, we really pride ourselves on being the concierge for the customer, which is taking care of the utilities, taking care of designing the house all the way.

Oleg Sedletsky Realtor ®: One-Stop shop!

Tony Prutch (Homes By J Anthony):  I mean we have people on staff that can actually shop and help you decorate the inside, buy furniture for you, blinds, window treatments, things like that. I mean there literally is nothing that we can’t do for the customer!

I mean we have people on staff that can actually shop and help you decorate the inside, buy furniture for you, blinds, window treatments, things like that. I mean there literally is nothing that we can’t do for the customer!

How Long Would It Take To Build A Custom Home in The Dallas Area?

Oleg Sedletsky Realtor ®: And what is the build time again? I’m always asking that question, but the time changes, the condition changes, the COVID knocked down a lot of supplies….

Tony Prutch (Homes By J Anthony):  Time’s been tough, I mean we used to build houses in eight to ten months. Today we’re 14 months. And hopefully that’s going to change and if we can get that under a year I think that’d be outstanding! But with some of the material delays that are still happening with brick and windows and things like that.

Oleg Sedletsky Realtor ®: Appliances?

Tony Prutch (Homes By J Anthony):  Appliances are crazy right now! I mean I ordered a coffee maker for a customer last week and they’re saying I’ll get it in February of 2024. It’s getting better but it’s going to take time to correct those type things. So to build a house in 14 months is considered a victory today. Yes. But I think that by first and second quarter of next year we’ll start to see those things start to pull a little bit in our Direction, and I think we’ll see the time frames come down accordingly. Keep in mind we want to build the house as quickly as we can! We just want to make sure we maintain the quality and that it’s clean complete without defect.

Oleg Sedletsky Realtor ®: So that 14 months actually will include the lot development. Right?

Tony Prutch (Homes By J Anthony):  It does, yes sir, and the planning… that includes the initial Design Concepts and everything, the permitting etc.

Oleg Sedletsky Realtor ®: It’s really not that bad! Yeah for this kind of a caliber of homes it’s fantastic actually.

Pictured in the Photo: A new Custom Home construction in progress in Lucas, TX

Custom Pools in The Dallas Area

Pictured in the Photo: A Custom Pool built by Pools By J Anthony

Oleg Sedletsky Realtor ®: What about Pools?

Tony Prutch (Homes By J Anthony):  Yes, we build a lot of swimming pools! So I own the pool company Pools by J Anthony. We have two designers on staff, we have three supervisors that are in the field building the pools. Most of our customers opt to build their swimming pool with the home.

Oleg Sedletsky Realtor ®: And you have won the awards for that?

Tony Prutch (Homes By J Anthony):  Yeah, we’ve won a lot of awards on our pool company. Both for the design and the construction and the all aspects of the of the swimming pool. I’m very proud of swimming pools and got a team there that’s just magnificent.

Oleg Sedletsky Realtor ®: That’s truly One-Stop shop!

Basement in your Custom Home in The Dallas Area

Tony Prutch (Homes By J Anthony):  Yeah, so they also build my basements, the pool company builds basements, which there’s nobody in Texas that are building basements the way we are.

Oleg Sedletsky Realtor ®: So the basements are patented?

Tony Prutch (Homes By J Anthony):   It’s a patented system and it’s been proven! We’ve been building them for four years now and it’s a great product that people love. If they have questions about basements just come in and talk with us about it, something that’s really close to my heart

Oleg Sedletsky Realtor ®: Well, what else could you ask for???

Latest Trends in Custom Home Building in The Dallas Area

Oleg Sedletsky Realtor ®:  If you don’t mind I would like to ask you a few questions.

The clients are asking: What are the latest trends in custom home building?

Tony Prutch (Homes By J Anthony):  You know that’s interesting! So you know last year, actually the last two years, it’s always been white exteriors with the darker Browns and blacks and that’s continuing. A lot of those lighter exterior colors were directly related to the availability of brick itself. But today that’s continuing through. I think we’re going back to more of a traditional look with the lighter tones so that’s what you I think you’re going to continue to see that throughout next year. But the design concept itself is going to go from a little less of the modern a farmhouse to more of a traditional look but still maintaining the lighter tones.

Oleg Sedletsky Realtor ®:  If you don’t mind I would like to ask you a few questions.

The clients are asking: What are the latest trends in custom home building?

Tony Prutch (Homes By J Anthony):  You know that’s interesting! So you know last year, actually the last two years, it’s always been white exteriors with the darker Browns and blacks and that’s continuing. A lot of those lighter exterior colors were directly related to the availability of brick itself. But today that’s continuing through. I think we’re going back to more of a traditional look with the lighter tones so that’s what you I think you’re going to continue to see that throughout next year. But the design concept itself is going to go from a little less of the modern a farmhouse to more of a traditional look but still maintaining the lighter tones.

Oleg Sedletsky Realtor ®: Are people still looking to have multiple offices?

Tony Prutch (Homes By J Anthony):  Well, that’s still a big thing! During COVID everybody wanted to have two offices in their house. Well, now what they’re doing is they’re building an additional bedroom and they’re doing more of a flex room where it could be a kid’s Retreat or a second office or some aspect of that but otherwise most of the trends that we saw last year are continuing in through this year it’s just your color palettes change quite a bit. Everything’s light, bright, cheerful that type thing.

Now I will say that people are putting a lot more of their outside entertainment in, so swimming pools obviously have gotten really big, game rooms have gotten a lot bigger, because you need pool tables and hockey machines and foosball tables and things like that.

Media rooms still a really big deal! There was a point where we were moving towards larger game rooms with sitting areas for a media area. It’s going back to the media room still and now if we ever went through a lockdown again we’re going to have everything in our house that we need in order to still have to have fun.

So that’s some of the trends that are coming through. And then obviously just trying to bring the outdoors in is always going to be a big part of it.

Oleg Sedletsky Realtor ®: What about like a smart home, EV Chargers, generators?

Tony Prutch (Homes By J Anthony):  All still really important! And you know, we’ve teamed up with one of the best around Galactic audio video works with us and smart home technology is not going away it’s only getting better and better and better. It used to be controlling your lights and things like that, now it’s controlling your media, controlling your lights, controlling your security, the ambience of the of lighting, it is becoming very important now. The smart home technology is just continuing to evolve and Galactic’s done a phenomenal job of guiding those customers through and we’re going to continue to see even more and more of that.

Detached Garages and NextGen Suites with your Custom Home

Pictured in the Photo: Detached Garage built by Homes By J Anthony

Pictured in the Photo: NextGen suite built by Homes By J Anthony

Oleg Sedletsky Realtor ®: And you also build a detached garages, not only with new Builds but also with the existing builds?

Tony Prutch (Homes By J Anthony):  Yeah, it’s not uncommon to build a four-car attached garage and a six, eight, ten car detached garage. We also do in-law suites, which are very popular, especially when you’re on bigger land.

Oleg Sedletsky Realtor ®: Right, because you have plenty of space.

Tony Prutch (Homes By J Anthony):  You have the space, but you also have the ability to pay for the lot once and put two houses on it! And save that additional land cost! Say an in-law suite might cost you $350 000 well if you were to put it on its own lot it might be $500 000. And if you can attach that and bring that all together, you’re bringing family together, you’re saving money at the same time. You’re getting a great product for it.

Oleg Sedletsky Realtor ®: Thank you!

Tony Prutch (Homes By J Anthony):  I look forward to another meeting with you and in the next couple of months and talking about the models and that type thing.

Looking to build a custom home in the Dallas area? You’ve come to the right place!

Are you looking to build a custom home in the Dallas area? Have you been searching for a builder and the perfect lot on which to build? Look no further! Contact me today at 214.940.8149, and I’ll help make all your dreams of having a custom home come true.

With a large selection of lots to choose from and access to skilled, experienced builders, I can make sure your new custom home project is stress-free from start to finish so that you have peace of mind throughout the building process. Don’t hesitate – contact me today, and let’s get started on creating the home of your dreams!