William Thomas Homes

Your New Green Home?

William Thomas Homes just acquired a downtown lot, walkable to all of the entertainment and metra station of Crystal Lake. Located on tree-lined Elmhurst Street, in the historic section of downtown Crystal Lake, William Thomas Homes is offering the opportunity to build your very own, completely custom green home. Give us a call today and let us begin the discussion about the possibilities in creating your dream and turning it into a reality: 815-459-1205 or contact paul@williamthomashomes.com

“Buy Now – Build Now, Why today could be your best opportunity to invest in Real Estate” is the topic of a Seminar scheduled at Home State Bank on May 6th, 2009 at 7:00pm. The seminar will be held at Home State Bank’s Community Room located at 611 S. Main Street in Crystal Lake.

Lewke Partners and William Thomas Homes are sponsoring the Seminar and will address opportunities in new construction and existing real estate. “With all the doom and gloom surrounding the real estate market, we felt that it was time to let people know that there are great opportunities for those who understand the market place,” said Tom Stephani, President of William Thomas Homes. He went on to say that, “Our goal is to educate those people on how to evaluate financing options, property values, construction methods, and income potential.”

Barb Kelly, Assistant Vice President and Residential Mortgage Branch Manager of Home State Bank will discuss financing options, especially for first time buyers. Tyler Lewke of Lewke Partners will speak to purchasing existing properties, including foreclosures and short sales. Tom Stephani of William Thomas Homes will discuss remodeling and new construction options, including Green Building. The Seminar will last approximately 1½ hours with plenty of time for questions.

Reservations are a must as space is limited. Call (815) 459-1205 or Register HERE:

We see so much opportunity these days it makes us wonder “where are you customers?”  This is the time to buy or build.  Never before has it been more so but credit, consumer confidence and many other factors are stymieing any activity.  If you are looking to move to downtown Crystal Lake, the possibilities are bountiful to say the least.  Certainly, the existing home market is packed full of great homes ready to go and the prices we see around town are at generational lows. But did you ever think to build new?  Believe it or not, there are several dozen empty lots downtown that are just begging to be built on.  

If you are looking for this type life style, William Thomas Homes is here to answer any questions you may have about sustainable, green home building that might peak your interest.  Infill building is an environmentally sound development choice.  How? Your home would utilize existing utility services, typically smaller lot size (literally, “footprint”), walkable to shops, bars and restaurants.  Work in Chicago and commute via train?  Well, wouldn’t it be nice to walk to the train station?  If you can be a one vehicle household, imagine the $$$ and carbon you will save?  Maybe $6,000 or more cash in your pocket every year and that is a conservative estimate.  

Check out our article about this subject in the Chicago Tribune….. Click Here!

What was old is new again.  Have you heard this before?  Perhaps but now more than ever residential construction is headed towards re-development and in-fill propositions.  Change from the past 17 years or so building boom is welcome for some.  Maybe now we will see less cornfields go the way of the Randall Road corridor to more concentrated, shall I dare say “more dense”, “urban style” developments?  Out here in Crystal Lake, the words “urban” and “density” conjure up images of Chicago, city blight and crime.

I however, feel that these concepts are crucial to the health and vibrancy of any community, here or in Cornville, Illinois.  I’m not suggesting that we see mid-rise condo buildings downtown near Georgio’s or new zoning for 25′ by 125′ lots that are common in Chicago.  No, I’m simply suggesting that there are better ways to land plan than what we have seen in the past.  Many point to developers for the current layout and look of our newer communities.  The truth is it is far more complicated than that (Aren’t most issues more complicated with many, sometimes unintended participants?).   The players include existing neighbors and neighborhoods, the consumer, local government officials, politicians, engineers and developers all had a hand in our current car-centric, sprawl-fueled community developments.   

As we catch our breath from the last “boom”, during this “bust” we can re-evaluate our past mistakes and look to more logical ways to grow our future communities and re-develop our existing ones.  Transit oriented, smaller homes on smaller lots is undoubtably the future of our company and we feel the industry.  Take a look at how some developers and land planners are tackling these issues in January 2009 Green Builder Magazine.

The purpose of this blog is to reach out into cyberspace and tell our stories, ideas and passions for what we believe our vision is for the home building industry. We want to hear from you and get your participation too with feedback and comments. 

With a passionate disdain for “slash and burn-cornfield development”, we hope to bring people back to the villages where small-town suburbia living began.  McMansion, McSchmansion we say.   Craftsman Bungalows and Four Square styles is what we love.  Perhaps here we can create a conduit for you the consumer, neighbor – the community what you really would like and see as the future for downtown Crystal Lake and surrounding communities.  Please join us in our quest for urban renewal and the celebration of our hometowns.  Posts to come soon…