The process of finding the ideal home for your family can be daunting. Many would-be homebuyers are dissuaded from buying an existing home. The main reasons are time-consuming issues that can arise with older houses, from greater repair and maintenance costs to needed remodeling projects.
Once you’ve decided that building a new house is the right choice for your family, however, you will immediately face another decision: should you use a production home builder or opt for a custom home builder?
The major difference between these two types of home builders is simple:
A production home builder uses pre-designed home plans with a few aesthetic choices left to the home buyer
A custom home builder works with the home buyer to create a home that is specifically designed to meet their exact needs.
This choice is an important one that every prospective homeowner looking to build their own home must make, and opting for a custom home builder can provide a number of key advantages over going with a production builder. Here’s why…
Increased choice of location
Some potential homeowners dream of building a home on a quiet, private lot surrounded by trees; others want to find a lively and established neighborhood to become a part of.
Whatever your vision for your ideal location, however, working with a custom home builder can make it possible–while a production home builder almost always imposes limitations on your location choices.
In general, builders who offer only pre-designed homes often work within master-planned communities. The lot and home plans are sold together as a package, with the home buyer restricted in choice of lot location to available lots within the planned community itself.
The differences between these lots are typically minor; some might be bigger than others, but all of the lots are largely similar in size, tree density and elevation characteristics. Moreover, the placement of your new home on your lot will be predetermined with no potential for adjustments to optimize views or privacy.
On the other hand, using a custom home builder allows you to choose from all available land in your area. You can find a build-ready lot in an existing neighborhood, or you can purchase raw land and adapt it to meet your exact needs.
A custom home builder can also work with the specific details of the land that you decide upon; for example, window placement can be designed to shield bedrooms from street views.
Greater involvement in the design process
For many would-be homeowners, one of the major draws of opting to “build new” is the potential to create a dream home. Perhaps you’ve always fantasized about a breakfast nook overlooking a garden, or you want the closets in your master bedroom to allow you to elegantly display all of your shoes at once.
It’s this level of design choice that turns a standard home into one that is perfectly suited to fit your family’s lifestyle, now and in the future–but you won’t be able to be this involved in the design process if you choose a production builder.
By their very nature, the design process for pre-designed homes is mostly complete by the time you come to choose a home plan. If it happens to fit the wish list that your family has for your new home, wonderful; if not, the potential for you to change anything is extremely limited.
With a custom home builder, you can be involved in the entire design process, ensuring that the resulting home perfectly fits your family’s needs and wants.
You might have an exact vision for every element of your home, or you may simply have a list of design features and functional elements you want included; in either case, your custom home builder can work with you throughout the process to make sure that every aspect of your new home fit your guidelines.
Click here to see the true cost of building a custom home
Enhanced range of options
Similar to the greater involvement in the overall design process, custom home builders can also offer a much greater range of options for specific details. From the shingles used for the roof to the doorknobs used for your downstairs bathroom, any available option on the market that fits your budget is open to you.
In contrast, builders who produce pre-designed homes do provide some personalization options, but often with a strict set of limits on these options. For example, you might be able to choose the cabinets for your kitchen–but only from the five available options supplied by your production home builder.
Is a custom-built home right for you?
Ultimately, working with a custom home builder frees you from many limitations; the only restrictions placed on your new home come from building codes and your own available budget.
For prospective home buyers who have a specific vision for their dream home, the advantages of working with a custom home builder over a pre-designed home builder cannot be understated.
For more information about custom homes, contact Highland Builders online or call us at 804-449-6006.
