When planning the construction of your new home, one of the first questions that you need to ask yourself is whether you should work with a production or a custom home builder. Whilst there is nothing wrong with either option, you might find that one better suits your needs than the other. In order to make your final decision, you will need to know the differences between the two types of builder. We hope that this article can help!
Production Home Builders
This type of builder can be split down even further into two categories – locally based or regional firms and national companies. Locally based firms will build homes in many different communities within a specific city or region, whereas national companies will built hundreds (or even thousands) of homes per year all over the country. What you can expect from going the production route?
- House and land packages;
- A range of plans to choose from;
- Ability to select your favourite style or design from a menu that covers several product categories; and
- Houses priced for first time, move up and luxury buyers.
Choosing a production builder typically means that you cannot change the basic structure (such as the floor plan, layout of room and the square footage), but each design will have a variety of options to personalise your house. This is the ideal option if you are interested in land in an estate or development.
Custom Home Builders
This type of builder is ideal if you already have your eyes on some land, you want to build in an established neighbourhood, you already have some floor plans, or you want to be heavily involved in the process. This route is less scripted, as there are no pre-defined choices or menus, and you ultimately have control over the whole project. What can you expect from going to custom route?
- A home that can be built on land you own or land that you plan to acquire;
- Supply your own floor plan or to commission a set to be drawn;
- Ability to work with a separate architect and builder, or with a company that will manage both sides;
- Ability to be more involved in the process and make most of the decisions; and
- Pick from nearly any product in a category within your budget.
When working with custom home builders, you should expect to pay more for the project and expect it to take a little longer to complete. Both of these factors, however, will be a direct result of the options you have chosen, as some are more expensive than others and some take longer to install.
At the end of the day, the difference between a production and custom home builder is quite simple. A production one will simultaneously build multiple homes from a library of plans; each is customised in several ways, and buyers can personalise their design in many categories. A custom home will typically create a one-of-a-kind home that offers a greater range of design choices. So, which do you think will best meet your needs?
