For many, the American dream includes owning your own house. For some homeowners, this dream involves building a custom house they design with the features they want. It's an amazing experience to watch your dreams move from a set of blueprints to your new home's framing.
Building a custom home is also scary when you're doing it for the first time. There are so many moving parts that have to fit together just right. You might not realize that building a house involves more than twenty different contractors arriving in the right sequence with the materials delivered that they need to do their job.
Like most things, custom homes in the northeast are built differently than your typical custom home in the south. So we're going to explore the different ways in which custom homes are built across the US, to help you decide which building style fits your dreams, budget and location.
Who Builds Custom Homes?
First it's important to point out that the process depends on the type of builder you plan to work with. That's because there are big differences between custom home builders and production home builders who build custom homes.
- Custom home builders – are generally small volume builders who build single family homes on land you own or plan to purchase. The houses they build are unique, built to plans you provide or they may offer design-build services with an in-house architect. There is a high degree of interaction with custom home builders as I remember discussing questions and decisions with Gunnar every morning during our 7 am phone call.
- Production builders – are large volume builders who build on land they own, using stock plans. Some (not all) production builders offer a wide range of plan choices/modifications and generous upgrades and options like bump out rooms and a third garage. These builders, like David Weekly's homes shown below, are considered custom home builders with design centers to make homeowner choices easy.
Tradeoffs: Custom Builder vs Production Builder
For those considering building a custom home, you may have the option of picking either a custom home builder or a production builder. In some parts of the country like Newburyport, Massachusets, there is almost no production building because there are no large tracts of land available.
- You may want to live in a community where production builders own all the buildable lots.
- You don't have the time (or patience) to locate a buildable lot which can take months.
- You don't have the time (or patience) to work through the land development process to get town approval, followed by bringing in road access and utilities which are needed for construction.
Steps Involved in Building Custom Homes
All of the steps listed here need to happen when building houses. Some of the steps may occur in a slightly different sequence, and are listed here to show the complexity of building a custom house. This sequence reflects my experience building a custom house in Poughkeepsie, New York. Personal tips are included where they can easily be used by other people building their own custom home.
| Custom Builders | Prod'n Builders | Preparation – Steps Before Building Starts |
| X | X | Identify one or more neighborhoods where you'd like to live. |
| X | Find an architect to draw up your custom home plans. Tina's Tip: Tweaking an existing plan (books or online) is cheaper. | |
| X | Find buildable lots in the neighborhoods you've identified. Tina's Tip: Phone calls to owners work better than letters. Tina's Tip: Engineering companies draw up lot plans for builders. | |
| X | Interview custom home builders and pick one who gets what you want. Tina's Tip: Custom home builders may have lots available. Tina's Tip: Town building department ranks (A, B, C) local builders. | |
| X | X | Negotiate price and sign contract with your custom home builder. |
| X | Obtain necessary building permits (your builder will do this). | |
| X | Prepare the building site (road and temporary utilities handled by builder). |
What you should now recognize that production builders complete many steps up front, before they start building tens and hundreds of houses. The benefit is lower costs to individual home buyers and a fast start to getting your custom home built.
A huge (really HUGE) difference between working with a production builder versus a custom home builder is how you go about picking your flooring, lighting, cabinets and … you get the idea.
- Production builders have design centers where you can pick all your exterior and interior finishes. You're assigned a designer who walks you through the selection process from the kitchen and bathrooms, to flooring, lighting, interior trim and all your exterior finishes.
- Custom home builders have a list of building product distributors that they work with. You'll get to drive around and visit the lumber yard to pick cabinets and roofing/siding choices, plumbing and electrical suppliers and more. You'll learn a lot more (better to do your research before heading to these businesses) but it will take more time and patience.
| Custom Builders | Prod'n Builders | Steps Followed to Build Custom Homes |
| X | X | Note: Numerous building inspections occur to confirm building codes met. |
| X | Excavation and pouring your home's footers and foundation (or slab). | |
| X | X | Framing your house. |
| X | X | Putting the roof on your house. |
| X | X | Weatherization of your home (plywood sheathing and house wrap). |
| X | X | Exterior finishes (siding, windows and doors). |
| X | X | Rough-in plumbing, electrical and HVAC. |
| X | X | Wiring for smart home features like solar, home security system, smartbulbs, etc. |
| X | X | Insulation, drywall and interior textures. |
| X | X | Prime and paint using sprayer before the floors go in. |
| X | X | Hard surface flooring installed (hardwood, tile and vinyl). |
| X | X | Kitchen and bathroom cabinets, fixtures, hardware and countertops. |
| X | X | Finish mechanical trim (outlets, switches and plumbing hook-ups). |
| X | X | Interior finishes including carpeting, railings, light fixtures, fans, mirrors, etc. |
| X | X | Exterior structures (walkways, driveway, deck or patio, pool, etc) and landscaping. |
| X | X | Final additions like smart locks and doorbells, remote control lighting and window treatments, etc. |
| X | X | Final walkthrough where you'll create a punchlist of items to be corrected within 30 days. |
| X | X | The closing and moving in! |
Ready to plan for your custom home?
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Custom homes are upscale construction that stands out from the crowd. In the custom home construction process, as an owner, you have a say in every phase – from the design, floor plan or the fixtures. Custom homes are one-of-a-kind buildings where you can opt for total flexibility in architectural design as well as incorporating luxury upgrades as you please.
Custom builders typically build the project on customer-owned land, or they may even sell suitable lots in their locations. Depending on the size of the management and construction groups, a small team may build fewer than ten homes per year, whereas production builders can build hundreds of homes in a year, usually with a hit on the scope and quality of the project.
Paul, Custom home builders rely on word-of-mouth referrals which means they not only deliver quality, they focus on providing a great customer experience. I’ve had wonderful experiences with a home builder & then a builder/remodeler who added a 4-story addition to my 100 year old Victorian … so much so that I gave them each a bonus at the closing.
In contrast, my first (and only) experience with a production builder was not good. Unfortunately in Florida, these builders own all the land so in order to build near my granddaughters, I didn’t have much of a choice. I met with the site supervisor who was excellent but he disappeared a month after building started & his helper didn’t have the skills to monitor any quality issues, or even fight them when I pointed them out. While I lost the battle to get the punchlist completed, I minimized their profit by gutting the house & installing my own floors, cabinets, countertops, etc.
Through many years of trial and error, professional home builders have had the time to perfect their craft and in turn have the proper knowledge to streamline the build out of your custom dream home.
Couldn’t agree more although it’s hard to explain this to most home buyers.
Once you know your budget and the general type of home you can afford, it is time to find a custom home builder that fits your style. Not every home builder is the same therefore knowing how to choose a home builder that suits your needs is a big decision. Some aspects to consider are reputation, quality of work, and communication throughout the process.
Morgan, Your points are valid & I especially like “communication”. Would add more things like age of business, employees vs contractors, flexibility in giving buyers what they want, etc.
I plan to purchase my own land someday. So getting a home builder who can make a home for me on that land sounds like a great idea. I just need to sell it to my wife.
Thank you for explaining some of the steps that are involved with building a custom home. My husband and I are thinking about building a custom home for us to retire in. We’ll be sure to keep these steps in mind so that we can get started on this project.
We have always wanted to build a custom home. There are unique things we need such as a huge pantry for all of our canning needs and specific energy-efficient fireplaces to conserve energy. We like very basic living. Thank you for pointing out all the many moving parts that have to come together in perfect synchronization in order for everything to work. We have no experience in any of that, so we will get in touch with a professional custom home builder within the month.
I like how you mentioned that it is important to consider making the right choices for your home. My cousin mentioned to me last night that he is planning to have his own custom home and asked if I have any idea what is the best option to do when designing his home layout from scratch. Thanks to this informative article and I’ll be sure to tell him that it will be much better if he consults a trusted custom home builder company as they can answer all his inquiries and figure out what is the best layout for his home.
Aspiring homeowners tend to avoid professional builders thinking that they are expensive. Well, that is not correct. If you look at the whole thing critical, you will realize that professional home builders are in fact, affordable.
Couldn’t agree more. With builders, it’s absolutely the case that you get what you pay for. I certainly learned this the hard way with expectations based on building standards in the northeastern US … that don’t exist in Florida (here’s an example of what I call “pretend insulation” they tried to put into my house).
If you’re looking for a builder, talk to some of their sub-contractors and how much training and experience they have. Florida production built houses are being wired by guys with 2 weeks of training, an absolute joke in my mind.
It’s great to hear how custom home construction companies allow for a much more involved process for you when getting a home built. It’s always been my dream to direct my home’s construction down to the very last detail, so it’s great that these companies can let me do just that. I would love to go around shopping for every little thing about my home as that would help really make the place feel personal and suited to my tastes. I’ve been saving up money for my own home for years now, so I hope that I find a company that can help me achieve my dream home.
Thanks for posting this article. Timberstone Homes Builds custom homes in Lafayette and the surrounding area. We build in several communities conveniently located near shopping, dining, and top-rated schools and often offer desirable amenities such as parks, ponds, tree line lots and lawn maintenance.
I read your content which is very informative. The content about custom home builders work is very important.
Good work. I really liked your idea. Custom builders are really cool for small projects!
Jack, You’re right that many custom home builders will take on smaller remodeling projects. I know this was true when we added a 4-story addition to our 100 year old Victorian but it definitely wasn’t a small project.
Great work. I really appreciate your article. Learned a lot of new stuff
Really good article. Custom builders are good for mid budget projects. Thanks for sharing the informations.
Thanks for pointing out . It is a much needed post for me. I was thinking of building a house but couldnt figure it out from where to start. Great post.
It’s cool that you mention that working with a custom home builder allows your to choose all of the features that you want your house to possess. I would like my next house to be perfect for me, so I’m considering hiring a custom home builder. I’m going to look in my area for a good custom home builder to hire.
It’s awesome that you mention that working with a custom home builder allows you to choose all of the features you want your house to have. I want my next house to be my dream home, so I’m considering hiring a custom builder to make it for me. I’m going to search in my area for a good custom home builder to hire.
It’s good to know from this article that we’ll be able to learn a lot more about the process of building a house if we were to work with a custom home builder. We want to invest in real estate years later, but for now, we want to focus on our own house first. I’ll try to ask my friends around for recommendations and see if there’s any good company within our area.
It’s great that you point out that working with a custom home builder allows you to choose the features that you want the house to have. I want my next house to be perfect, so I’m thinking about hiring a custom home builder. I’m going to search for a good custom home builder in the area to use.
It’s good that you point out that working with a custom home builder can help you achieve your dream home. I want my next house to be perfect for me, so I’m considering hiring a custom home builder. I’m going to look for a good custom home builder in my area to hire.
My friend told me that he would like to build the house of his dreams and he already owns bare land to do so. I found it interesting when you said that custom builders find an architect to draw up your custom home plans. Thanks for sharing this article, I will definitely tell him to contact a professional company so that he can get the right design.
I’m looking to get into a house. Now of the two options you have here, I’d prefer to go with a custom home. The main reason why is that it is custom. I’d want to have certain things that you couldn’t get in a production home.
It’s great how you explained that our contract needs to include allowances for any appliances we pick out during construction. I was talking with my husband this morning, and we both like the idea of having a custom home built because we want to settle down in this area. Thanks for sharing this article and teaching me what a custom home building contract needs to include.
Building a home is indeed scary, especially for first timers! I remember my first house when I wasn’t keeping tabs of every detail and got surprised by the bills, it was suspenseful! I think you have cited the most important factors to look at when deciding which builders to choose. Great stuff and looking forward to read more informative related topics from you.
Now that I’m building my second house, I should be able to prioritize where the focus needs to be in new construction … square feet & things buries in the walls!
Just a post that I actually needed, so glad I was able to read this.