Custom home

A custom home is a one-of-a-kind home that is designed for a specific client and for a particular location. The custom home builder may use plans created by an architect or by a professional home designer. Custom homes afford consumers the opportunity to control layout, lot size, and accessibility.

In most cases, custom home builders construct on land the home buyer already owns. Some developers sell fully serviced lots specifically for the construction of custom homes. This makes it easy to build a custom home since the lot is construction-ready and builders can focus purely on the design of the home.

Custom home builders generally:

• Build on land already owned. Some custom builders also build on land they own which is known as a spec home – short for speculative.

• Build unique houses. A custom home is a site-specific home built from a unique set of plans for the wishes of a specific client. For this the services of an architect are used. Some custom builders may offer design/build services.

• Build single-family homes.

• Are generally small-volume builders.

• Tend to build high-end homes.

Production home builders generally:

• Build on land they own.

• Tend to use stock plans, but usually offer a variety of plan choices, upgrades and options.

• Build all types of housing — single-family, condos, town houses, and rental properties.

• Are large-volume builders.

• Generally build for all price points.

References

1. http://architecture.about.com/cs/buildyourhouse/g/custombuilder.htm Custom Home Builders

2. National Association of Home Builders NAHB.com, 2010.