• Hardwood flooring throughout
• Office with custom built-in wood shelving and paneling
• Gorgeous trim details throughout
• Granite countertops in kitchen with breakfast bar island
• Custom home design offers open living areas and built-in shelving around fireplace
• Oversized windows
• Custom finished paver patio with firepit and pergola on wooded homesite
• and MUCH MORE!

In May, we introduced three new home designs to the Meridian Collection in many Estridge new home neighborhoods. These 2-story homes all boast incredible architectural details and custom features, as they were designed by Greg Cradick, Estridge Custom Galleries Architect. 10’ ceilings throughout the main level, art and furniture niches, open designs, varied window sizing and distinctive window placement and much more combine with Estridge quality construction to create custom home designs with great investment value.

Distinctive architectural details make this home stand out from other new home construction. A sight line from the guest foyer through to the back door creates the illusion of even greater space, as does the close proximity of the two corner windows in the great room. Furniture niches, arches and distinctively sized windows provide design variation and smart placement of furniture. Great flexibility in this new home design also adds to the custom feel of this home - it provides opportunity for at least six bedrooms, as well as a large bonus room, master retreat area, and much more.

One of these new home designs, The Concord in Rock Bridge, is currently under construction and scheduled to be ready for move in September. As a home built for sale, this home offers custom design features such as building a main level guest suite as opposed to an office. As it is being constructed, the Concord available home in Zionsville offers:

3805 Hearthstone Drive, Zionsville 46077
Reserve at Rock Bridge in Zionsville
5 bedrooms, 4 baths

$414,500

• Finished lower level + large unfinished storage area
• 10’ Main level ceilings
• Elegant guest foyer with furniture niche
• Gorgeous gourmet kitchen with granite countertop, including kitchen island with overlooking sink, stainless steel appliances including double ovens
• Upper level loft
• Unfinished storage space on upper level
• Tray ceiling in master suite
• Jack and Jill Bath
• Much more!

View more photos of this home on MyEstridgeHome.com or visit the Rock Bridge model for a tour of this new Estridge home under construction in Zionsville.

Building on Matt Borushko’s 6 Tips for Buying a New Home Builder, we provided 4 additional tips that will help you confidently build your dream home.

1.)               Have Representation

2.)               Don’t Overbuild

3.)               Prioritize Your Choices

4.)               Choose Location Wisely

5.)               Financing

6.)               Have Proper Expectations

7.)              Understand how your current house fits or doesn’t fit your lifestyle.

8.)              Know your comfortable investment range, not only your pre-approval amount.

9.)              Identify components of a quality new home and new home neighborhood.

10.)         Feel comfortable.

Tip #7, understand how your current house fits or doesn’t fit your lifestyle, is provided in greater detail below.

With a new home, you have the unique opportunity to design it to truly fit your family’s lifestyle, as well as include the features and style you desire. Taking the time to think through what you like and don’t like in your current house is a crucial step in determining the right design for your new home.

What do you enjoy about your current house? Is there an outdoor living area that you will especially miss when you make your move? Does your family cozy up to a fireplace in the winter? Is there a person in your household who would benefit from a private bath? Are you looking for private space through a main level master suite?  These are features and spaces you will want to include in the design of your new home in Indianapolis.

Consider each room, the popular traffic flow, areas you wish you utilized more often and what keeps you from doing so. Are there features that would help to keep you organized that are missing, like a family foyer with storage cubes and coat hooks? If you were able to interact with your family while you were cooking, would you do more of it?

Take the time to do your research. Review floorplans online. Walk a variety of resale homes and new homes from Indianapolis builders to see how homeowners use the space in their home and consider what would be helpful in yours. Most likely, there are ways in which space is being utilized or designed that you haven’t seen, but would find helpful (for example, the PDA Pantry in many Estridge new home designs).

Create a list of your new home design priorities (not only the style of the home) and reference these as you are shopping online or visiting a builder and reviewing home designs. Browse Estridge new home designs at www.estridge.com or visit Estridge model homes for ideas.

Matt Borushko of Keller Williams in Indianapolis, recently posted “Tips for Buying a New Home from a Builder" on his Matt Sells Indy Blog. He provides 6 tips to ensure that building your new home is everything you dreamed, and not a nightmare.

Matt’s 6 tips for buying an Indianapolis new home are:

1. Have Representation
2. Don’t Overbuild
3. Prioritize Your Choices
4. Choose Location Wisely
5. Financing
6. Have Proper Expectations

Read Matt's full article here.

As a new home builder in Indianapolis for over 40 years, we see that the more prepared our new homeowners are, the more smoothly the process of choosing a new home design, personalizing the home, construction and closing on the home are. There are 4 additional hints that help new home buyers choose and build the home of their dreams.

1. Understand how your current house fits or doesn’t fit your lifestyle.
2. Know your comfortable investment range, not only your pre-approval amount.
3. Identify components of a quality new home and new home neighborhood.
4. Feel comfortable.

• News from the Indianapolis Extreme Makeover project, led by Estridge
• New Estridge Home Designs
• Recipe from the Tuscan Romance Cooking Class at HOMExperience
• Summer Home Maintenance Hints
• Tips on How to Hang Artwork in your Home
• News from Wood Wind Golf Club
• Upcoming Estridge Events
• Much More!

We are proud to announce the introduction of three (3) new Meridian Collection home designs in Estridge neighborhoods, including one main level master home design. Enjoy unique architectural stylings and custom home design details throughout. Designed by Greg Cradick, Estridge Custom Galleries Senior Architect, these new luxury homes draw on our background as an Indiana custom home builder and feature open designs, elegance and floorplan flexibility.

To learn more about these new homes and view the full design and personalization opportunities, schedule an appointment with an Estridge New Home Consultant in Centennial at 146th Street, Lincolnshire, The Reserve at Rock Bridge, Manor at Anderson Hall or The Reserve at Highland Green.

Or visit Estridge.com to learn more about the NEW Meridian Collection homes.

1275 Balsam Fir Pass
Avon, IN 46123

$315,000

BLC#2905108
www.tourfactory.com/471710

Estridge Community: Whispering Pines in Avon, located off of CR625, 2 miles south of Rockville Road.

Featured Estridge Home Highlights:

• 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths + loft
• Finished lower level with 9’ ceilings
• Over 3700 square feet of finished living space
• Designer kitchen with staggered height cabinets and solid surface countertops
• Open great room features fireplace with custom crafted mantel
• Hardwood flooring
• Luxurious master suite with cathedral ceiling and garden bath
• 3-car tandem garage
• Large treated wood deck provides great outdoor living space! 

Learn more about this Estridge 627 Whispering Pines Collection home design

View Photo Tour of this luxury new home

View all new Indianapolis Homes Available Now by Estridge.
Learn more about Estridge, Indianapolis Home Builder

At Estridge, our philosophy of Building a Better Life isn’t exclusive to building a quality home. It also includes designing community-driven neighborhoods, ensuring that your design is well-thought out and your home is personalized like you’ve always imagined. But, it doesn’t end there. Helping you build a better life includes helping you care for the home, decorate your home, even sharing recipes and more.

Estridge Dot.Home, the new monthly Estridge newsletter, is designed to provide the pieces outside of the actual construction to help you build a better life – whether it is in an Estridge home or elsewhere.

View Estridge Dot.Home Edition 1

View Estridge Dot.Home Edition 2

Sign up to receive Estridge Dot.Home electronically.

The new Estridge home designs released in June of 2008 have been extremely popular with new Estridge homeowners in Estridge neighborhoods all around Indianapolis over the past six months. A new Centennial Collection Tremont home design, by Estridge - luxury home builder, was recently completed in Centennial at 146^th Street.

The 3-bedroom, 2.5-bath Tremont offers an open home design features a main level master suite and many custom details. The Tremont offers homeowners many custom design details throughout, such as the arched entries and tray ceilings. Visitors are welcomed at the Guest Foyer and walk through an elegant tray-ceiling vestibule to the open main living space. 

This luxury home features an abundance of smartly-designed formal, casual and recreational space. The open living space includes the kitchen with a generously sized breakfast bar island and lots of cabinet and counter space, the sunny breakfast nook opening to the back patio, and the spacious great room highlighted with a fireplace featuring a custom crafted mantel.  Oversized windows across the back wall and 10’ ceilings create an open air, sunny space. Homeowners enjoy formal dining space off the guest foyer highlighted with an arched entry. Additionally, the included unfinished lower level offers many possibilities for recreation and storage space as well as finishing for additional living space.

The master suite offers a luxurious retreat with an arched entry, gorgeous tray ceiling, and well-appointed bath including a garden tub, separate shower, double vanities and private water closet.

One of the most popular features of this home is the organized family foyer off of the garage. The foyer provides storage cubes for shoes, coat hooks, a cabinet for purses and other items, as well as a PDA Pantry complete with hidden, but accessible electrical outlets and shelves for phones, iPods, MP3 players, cameras and more.

View Photo Tour of the Tremont.
Learn More about the Tremont Home Design. 

Optimism about the Indianapolis Real Estate industry is spreading throughout the media. Below is an article from wthr.com that further details the current sentiment in the real estate industry discussed in yesterday's Estridge blog post, Predictions prove positive for Indianapolis Real Estate in 2009.

Updated: Jan 9, 2009 09:29 AM EST

Lynsay Clutter/ Eyewitness News

http://www.wthr.com/Global/story.asp?s=9644610

Indianapolis- The housing market is hurting across the country, but there is hope here in Indiana, with signs of improvement.

Foreclosure rates began to plateau at the end of the third quarter, and housing inventory is starting to decrease, leading local realtors to believe the market is on its way to correcting itself.

It is a hopeful sign, but it's going to be a long road.

In the 9 Counties of Central Indiana, Colliers Turley Martin Tucker's reports, home closings fell 11% in 2008, the average home price fell 5% and building permits fell 37%.

Foreclosures helped contribute to the problem by flooding the market with inventory. Indiana ranked 6th highest in the nation with 30,800 mortgages in foreclosure.

The Indiana Builders Association says high home inventory and falling home values are at the core of the current economic crisis.

With no demand in the market, at least two local builders, Gunstra and Davis Homes, recently closed their doors.

"Home builders create a lot of jobs going to and from the job every day, and also the ripple effect. Someone who buys a new home, buys furniture at the furniture stores, appliances and the appliance stores, and draperies, and everything that goes into a new house. That all helps stimulate the economy and create jobs for folks around the state of Indiana," said Rick Wadja, Indiana Home Builders Association.

Wadja was in Washington DC Wednesday asking Indiana's local delegation for help. Builders want a package of subsidies included in Obama's Economic Stimulus that would bring mortgage rates to just under 3% for the first half of the year.

Optimism is the overwhelming attribute you’ll find when speaking with anyone in Indianapolis Real Estate. At Estridge, a strong finish to 2008 with increased activity in December from both future homeowners and real estate partners has led to lots of excitement and activity in our neighborhoods. We are beginning 2009 starting a lot of luxury home building around Indianapolis and that activity is breeding even more.

Incredible interest rates are helping build consumer confidence and a steady decrease in Central Indiana housing inventory throughout 2008 suggests a correction of local housing. While Indiana’s market was never affected as severely as most of the nation’s, all of the excitement is creating a stronger optimistic outlook throughout the industry than was experienced at the beginning of 2008.

In the FC Tucker 2008 market analysis, James Litten, president of F.C. Tucker Company’s Residential Real Estate Services Division stated, “I believe efforts to reform the nation’s lending practices will strengthen consumer confidence in 2009. Moreover, Central Indiana continues to have a strong economic base of business activity and one of the steadiest real estate markets in the nation. I am optimistic that we’ll see improvement in 2009.”

According to panelists from Indiana University’s annual business outlook, Indianapolis should see more positive numbers for Indianapolis in the fourth quarter. Our market could rebound more quickly than other U.S. cities, primarily due to our nationally recognized affordability.

We are definitely looking forward to 2009 – how about you? What have you experienced lately?

Read more from the 2008 market analysis.

View all Estridge homes for sale on Estridge.com.

3785 Stonington PL
Zionsville, IN 46077
Price: $435,000
BLC: 2822907
www.tourfactory.com/443688

Estridge Community: Reserve at Rock Bridge in Zionsville, located off of CR400, west of CR875.

View Photo Tour of this luxury new home

Learn more about this Estridge 735 Meridian Collection home design

Featured Estridge Home Highlights:

• 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths + bonus room
• Large finished lower level
• Extensive custom detailing throughout lower level
• Designer kitchen with gas cooktop, double ovens and granite countertops
• Hardwood flooring
• Dual-sided fireplace with built-in shelving surrounding
• Luxurious master suite with garden tub, ceramic tile and spacious, organized walk-in closet
• Elegant brick home with arched front windows
• 3-car side-load garage 

View More Photos of this new Estridge home in Zionsville.

View all new Zionsville Real Estate by Estridge - Home Builders in Indiana.

This unique 2-story custom home design is a great addition to the Grandin Hall Designer Gallery Collection of homes. With 4 bedrooms and 3.5 baths offers great flexibility in size from 3,451 to 5,208 sq. ft. the Townsend is complete with features and finishes ideal for how families live today. You can begin building your very own Townsend at Grandin Hall from $435,000.

From Estridge Custom Galleries, Indiana Custom Home Builder for over 40 years, the Designer Gallery in Grandin Hall features a variety of flexible custom home designs with open living spaces, main level master suites in some homes, designer kitchens and much more! All with the commitment to quality and attention to detail you expect from one of Indiana's finest luxury home builders.

Call the Grandin Hall team at 669.8700 to learn more today or visit the model in Carmel off of 146th St. between Gray Rd. and Hazel Dell Pkwy.

View the Townsend home design.    
Learn more about Grandin Hall.

View Grandin Hall Photo Gallery: http://www.myestridgehome.com/home/GrandinHall/

Dear Mr. Estridge,

My husband, Kyle, and I are getting ready to move in to our new Estridge home on December 22nd and couldn't be more excited. I wanted to take an opportunity to pass along our story to you, as I think it is always important to share positive feedback.

Kyle and I began our home search over two years ago. We were living in the Fishers area, in a ranch style home that we were rapidly growing out of. After looking for several months we settled on a Pulte home in a Meadowbrook Estates. We started to work through the process, and given the housing market conditions wanted to look in to a Guarantee Buy program. Shortly after working with the realtor we realized it wasn't going to work. We would be spending so much money out of pocket it wasn't even worth moving forward. Feeling pretty discouraged, we put our plans for a new home on hold.

Several months later we ran in to an old friend who lived in Somerset Woods. He suggested we check it out. He commented on how great the location was, and how happy his family was with their Estridge home. We liked the tree line and pond, and thought it would be worth our while to go talk to someone.

Here's where it gets good....first, we met Laura Turner. How can you not like this girl? She was fun and energetic and was really interested in helping us find the right home for us. We liked her instantly! We visited the 657 model at Anderson Hall, and Tisha was just as helpful...even though she knew our hope was to build with Laura in Anderson Hall. We loved the 657B...and decided to move forward.

Given that we had a home of our own to sell, we looked in to the SOEG program. It seemed too good to be true, and when we sat down with Michelle, Kurt, and Laura I assumed it would be the same as when we ran numbers with Pulte. However, this was a whole new ballgame! With your program, we knew that Estridge was willing to help us realize our dream of a new home. We signed the paper work and got to work getting our existing home on the market.

Our experience at the design center was wonderful! Janine and Josh helped us make our selections, offering support but never being pushy or trying to offer options that didn't work for us. We worked quickly to get our selections made so we could spend the holiday in our new home. We also had a good experience with Mike DeWitt as we worked to secure financing and determine the right options for us.

Next came Jason Deckard, and Jason Wilson, who were both incredibly patient and helpful while we asked question after question about the construction of our home.

One of the best parts of this story is that with the help of Kurt and his team, we sold our house in 31 days...and even made a little money on the sale of our house, which is great in today's market.

In the past several days we have spent a lot of time talking/emailing with Laura, Jason Wilson, April Sjoholm, Molly Johnson, and Mike DeWitt as we prepare to close. They have each been incredibly kind, helpful, and responsive as we work through the last few details. Our experience has been a complete success, and I want to thank you and your team for all your hard work. I wish you and your family a safe a happy holiday! I know my family will enjoy the holidays in our new Estridge home.

Best Wishes

Most reports regarding shopping for real estate state that between 70% to 85% of home buyers start their search on the internet or do online research at some point throughout their new home shopping. We also know that every home buyer shops differently and uses different resources. That’s why we’ve tried to develop many different places for you to find Estridge on the web.

Where can you learn about Estridge homes and neighborhoods? All over.

-   www.Estridge.com – Estridge Collections’ official website with information on Estridge history, companies, homes, neighborhoods, Estridge Design Studio at HOMExperience, lifestyle tips, photo tours of neighborhoods and homes, view home designs, learn about the surrounding communities and more. Plus, Ask Angie, the Estridge Online Concierge for assistance in finding information, relocating, scheduling appointments and more.

-   www.EstridgeCustomGalleries.com – Estridge Custom’s official website with information on Estridge Custom Galleries homes and neighborhoods, Paul E. Estridge homes, building your custom home on your own homesite, custom homes available now, and a wide library of photos to view. Use the Online Concierge chat to quickly answer all of your questions about building an Indiana custom home.

-   Blog.estridge.com – The Estridge blog –information about Indianapolis homes, Indianapolis real estate, tips on living in your home, featured Estridge homes available now, HOMExperience cooking class recipes and much more.

-   www.MyEstridgeHome.com –Extensive photo library with over 900 photos of Estridge homes, neighborhoods and HOMExperience. View photos of Estridge homes being built, custom design features and much more. MyEstridgeHome.com is also where new homeowners can create their very own Estridge home website.

-   www.TourFactory.com – View photo tours of Estridge homes available now and neighborhoods.

-   www.Facebook.com – Become a fan of The Estridge Companies on Facebook. View photo galleries and information only found on Facebook.

-   http://www.youtube.com/estridgehomes – Estridge has a YouTube channel with informational videos from the Estridge Building a Better Life DVD and photo tours of our new homes around Indianapolis.

-   Estridge Homes Available Now and neighborhoods are also found in other Indianapolis homes and home builder outlets: www.Trulia.com, www.Mibor.com, www.Homes.com, www.google.com, www.Yahoo.com, www.HomeDebut.com, www.Zillow.com, www.CraigsList.com, and more

Other Estridge Companies websites:

-   www.WoodWindGolf.com – Wood Wind Golf Club at 161^st Street and Towne Road.

-   www.FirstSourceCap.com – FirstSource Capital is Estirdge’s inhouse mortgage lender

-   www.FirstMileUSA.com – First Mile is Estridge’s technology company that serves many Estridge neighborhoods and businesses around the greater Indianapolis area with internet, phone, cable, and security services.

With the media spotlight constantly on negative news in the economy and the real estate market I’m sure that some are thinking, “Why on Earth is anyone moving right now?” But they are. In fact, we welcome new homeowners to our Estridge communities every week. And more visit us every day to learn how they can build a new home. So why are these people moving?

Below are a few of the reasons they chose to move that new homeowners have shared with us:

Below are this homeowner’s comments on overall building experience:

We are grateful for the warmth of all your professionals, who seem to love working with Estridge and believe in your product.

- Centennial Homeowner, Estridge community in Westfield

Below is an excellent blog post from IDEA ONE MEDIA. While the post is speaking directly to new home consultants, it is entirely relevant to anyone employed by residential builders or involved in the Indianapolis Real Estate market.

2009 Housing Market: Reasons for Optimisim

December 4, 2008

I have been asked at several developer meetings lately if I am optimistic about the housing market in 2009. I tell them I am. They look at me with disbelief. “Why?”

Here’s why: because I choose to be.

I choose to be because being pessimistic has never put more money in my pocket.

I choose to because being positive about anything adds years to my life and being pessimistic takes years away.

I am because it takes too much energy to feel fear, worry, stress and defeat.

I am because I believe there is more within our control than we are actually taking responsibility for.

Being optimistic is not the same as being naive, or walking through the world with my head in the clouds. It’s a choice. But it’s rooted in something else as well: in 2008 we were liberated as an industry.

Read the complete article