Understanding The Difference Between Custom vs. Semi Custom vs. Production Home Builders

If you haven’t looked into building a home before, the process can seem wildly confusing at first. Fortunately, you don’t need an architecture or real estate background to wrap your head around your options. Just a short primer on the ‘home building spectrum’ will do the trick!

In simplest terms, think of the spectrum as having the maximum efficiency of production homes on one end, and the maximum control of custom homes on the other. Semi-custom builders strike a balance in the middle. Deciding which of these options is right for you can come down to any number of critical factors including timeline, budget, and design preferences.

A Quick Overview & Comparison

Production Homes:

• Floor Plan: Pre-set plans
• Plot: Builder Owned
• Timeline: 4-6 Months
• Design Flexibility: Limited/Package based
• Cost Predictability: High

Semi-Custom Homes:

• Floor Plan: Pre-set plans that can be customized
• Plot: Builder or Owner Owned
• Timeline: 6-10 Months
• Design Flexibility: Builder curated portfolio of customization options
• Cost Predictability: Moderate

Fully Custom Homes:

• Floor Plan: Plan designed from scratch
• Plot: Owner Owned
• Timeline: 12-24+ Months
• Design Flexibility: Unlimited
• Cost Predictability: Low/Variable

What is a Production Home Builder? The Efficient Path

Production home builders are the large volume operators, often with a national footprint. Think Lennar, or D. R. Horton. They build a lot of identical homes quickly in large developments. To keep things moving, their floorplans are pre-set. When you choose to build with them you simply pick one of their lots and a pre-set floor plan.

This system offers a few big advantages for home buyers. First, you get to move into your brand new home relatively quickly, often in half a year or less. Second, you know exactly what you’re getting, since it’s exactly the same as the model homes you toured prior to buying. But that’s also one of the biggest drawbacks for many potential buyers. Having no opportunity to customize can feel like a missed opportunity when you’re going through the cost and trouble to build new.

What is a Semi-Custom Builder? The Middle Ground

Semi-custom home builders are typically mid-sized, region-specific operations like Country Joe Homes. They strike a balance between the speediness of production home builders and the flexibility of custom home builders by incorporating elements of both systems. Buyers start by choosing a design from a library of pre-set floor plans, which allows for faster and more efficient construction. But once your floor plan is selected, you also have access to a portfolio of customization options that allow you to refine your home to your liking.

With semi-custom, buyers still get to enjoy the perks of personalization, while avoiding the uncertainty and high costs of starting from scratch. Semi-custom homes also typically have a higher-quality of finish than production homes. For those with very strict budgets, though, the fact that the price is less ‘fixed’ than it is with a production home can be a concern.

Read more about semi-custom home builds here.

What is a Fully Custom Home Builder? The Blank Canvas

Custom home builders are often boutique operations and independent architects. In this system, there are no preset plans. The buyer works with an architect to design a one-of-a-kind floor plan, and a builder is sourced to bring that floor plan to life. These homes are often the highest expression of luxury, constructed with premium materials and finishes. And their designs are 100% catered to the whims of the buyer.

As wonderful as all that sounds, achieving that beautiful final product is a demanding process. It often takes multiple years to go from the start of the design phase to the end of construction. Over those years, the buyer will be sinking a lot of money into the project. They are also required to make thousands of individual design decisions, with no default plan to fall back on.

Which Building Approach Fits Your Life?

Now that we’ve hammered out the three different systems for building a new home, how do you decide which method is best for you? As we mentioned in the introduction, there are many different criteria you can consider. But sometimes, thinking about how those criteria fit together in a real-life scenario makes things easier. So next, let’s break potential buyers out into a few ‘personas’ best suited to each home type.

The Budget-Conscious Mover (Production)

This buyer has a strict budget and wants to move within the next six months. They want their home to be new, with the right square footage and enough bedrooms and bathrooms. But as for the specific layout or architectural style of their home, they’re not picky. And for location, they care more about proximity to schools, shopping, work, etc., than they do about the specific lot their home sits on.

The "I Know What I Like" Upgrader (Semi-Custom)

This buyer has some budget flexibility, though not a ton, and they want to use that flexibility to make sure their home has what they’re looking for. They have specific ideas about how their home should generally flow and function, and they’re willing to put a little more time and resources in to make that happen. They may even have a pre-existing lot in mind, and they want to be sure that their home works well with the characteristics of the land it's built on.

The Legacy Home Seeker (Full Custom)

This buyer’s main priority is to own a home that’s one-of-a-kind and built specifically to suit their needs and interests. They like getting lost in the details and don’t mind spending hours contemplating which finishes to use in each room. They accept that the process may take years, and they have ample room in their budget to accommodate unexpected costs. Ultimately, it’s all worth it to bring their vision to life with a luxurious home that can be passed on to future generations.

Which Building Approach Fits Your Budget and Financing?

If you’re going to seek financing to build your home, it’s important to understand that not all new construction homes are eligible for the same types of loans. Production homes almost always use standard mortgages, but for semi-custom homes, there are a few different financing methods that can be used. For example, Country Joe Homes takes a unique approach where we finance the build, and the buyer secures a standard mortgage to close. Finally, custom builds often require a special type of financing called 'construction-to-permanent' loans, which only convert to a traditional mortgage once construction is complete.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Can I bring my own plans to a semi-custom builder? It depends on the builder, but typically the answer is no. At Country Joe Homes, we offer an extensive catalog of floor plans designed to suit just about any buyer. From there, you have a variety of customization options you can implement to personalize your floor plan.
• Which type of home has the best resale value? It depends on your local market conditions. Fully custom homes may struggle on resale if they’re too personalized, to the point where it’s difficult for new buyers to see themselves living there. They can also struggle if they’re valued significantly higher than the surrounding housing stock. On the other hand, production homes may have a hard time on resale if there is still active construction taking place in their development, pitting sellers against the builder for identical floor plans.
• Is semi-custom really cheaper than full custom? Yes. This will vary from builder to builder, but generally, semi-custom is 15% to 30% cheaper. This is largely due to the fact that the engineering for semi-custom floor plans has already been worked out, and the process of their construction has been fine-tuned.

Build the Home That’s Right For You

It’s possible to get a great home from any type of home builder. What’s most important is that you choose the system that works best for you and your circumstances.

• Choose a production home if your budget is tight and you need to move in fast.
• Choose a semi-custom home if you want design flexibility without having to wait years for your home to be built.
• Choose custom if you want a fully bespoke design, and you have enough room in the budget to accommodate unexpected costs.

To learn more about Country Joe Homes and our semi-custom home building process, reach out to our team today.