Buying a home is a huge step in life. Whether you are considering your first home or your third, having peace of mind that the […]

Each stage of life offers new challenges and as those curveballs are thrown your way, what you need from your home will change. What you […]

The sun is shining, the birds are chirping and that can only mean one thing: spring. The arrival of spring means longer days, warmer […]

Buying a new home is like starting with a clean slate, especially when you choose Gerstad Builders. At our new home communities in Illinois […]

Spring may mean weddings, graduations, youth sports or just allergies for you and your family; but for real estate agents and brokers, spring is the busiest time of the year.  It’s the time they kick it into high gear, with packed schedules, busy days and nights showing and listing homes, meetings with clients and more. And this spring, that is especially true. So the expert team at the Equifax Finance Blog is sharing its top three real estate trends for buyers to watch this busy buying season in the recent article, “Real Estate Trends to Watch this Spring.” Whether you are a first-time, move-up or downsizing buyer, it’s important to know what’s happening in the market.  […]

The Schnobel family purchases Williams Bay home at Bailey Estates David and Angie Schnobel and their two children wake up every morning in love with their new life and Williams Bay home at Bailey Estates in Wisconsin. The family had been in love with the area for years, but recently made their dreams a reality by moving to the area full time this past April. Fast forward just a couple of months and the Schnobel’s would not trade in their 2,170 square foot ranch home for anything in the world. The home they decided on is Gerstad Builders’ Jefferson model and is set on a 1.14 acre wooded lot. This design has three bedrooms, a full basement, and the family opted to add a four-season room that provides an additional 168 square feet of living space. David and Angie were thrilled with these options for their family of four. David said, “After living in a Plainfield home squeezed onto a small home site constructed in a former corn field, we knew our new home must have more land.” Angie added, “The decision to build a four season room onto our new home was not debatable. How could you not want to have this room with the views of the wooded backyard that we have available?” […]

The Biltmore at The Trails of Dawson Creek From first-time buyers to retirees, people from all walks of life have discovered the convenience of a stair-free lifestyle. At Gerstad Builders, we’ve noticed that many of our buyers are searching for ranch homes, 50 percent in fact, and we’re here to accommodate those needs. Whether you’re searching for Richmond, Poplar Grove or McHenry new homes with ranch floor plans we have just the design for you. All of our floor plans our customizable and provide 1,382 to 2,170 square feet. Ranch homes are affordably priced from the $150,000s to the $250,000s, and we have eight distinctive designs to offer homebuyers. However, our most popular ranch plans are the Biltmore and the Jefferson. […]

In January of 2010 the Illinois legislature passed a law requiring all new homes to meet or exceed the 2009 IECC energy standards.  The law passed so quickly that most code enforcement officials did not even know what they needed to look for during inspections. A grace period of six months was granted to builders to figure out how to comply with these new highly restrictive standards.  The old building code required builders to build homes to control moisture transfers as moisture always wants to travel from a warm surface to a cooler one.  The new code also requires portions of the older codes but now also requires builders to increase exterior insulation values and prevent air transfers in or out of your house. Gerstad Builders in the Liberty Tails  of McHenry closed on its first home built by the new standards at the end of October. The energy efficient house originally was design to exceed the code by 2.3%.  Upon final testing the home passed with flying colors.  The new code requires a test to check how often the air changes in the house.  Our […]