Oct 16, 2014
This is part five of our series of articles comparing custom homes to personalized production homes. This article will focus on home builder touch points with the homebuyer offered by custom home builders vs. personalized production home builders.
If you are considering the purchase of a new home, you may be trying to decide whether to buy a custom home or a personalized production home. There are very distinct differences between a custom home and a production home; therefore, you should spend some time learning the specific details of each before you make any decisions.
Some of the questions you will need to have answered are:
Cost: What is the square foot cost for each type of home?
Time to Build: How long does it take to build each type of home?
Pros/Cons: What are the advantages and disadvantages of each type of home?
Options and Selections: What options and selections will you get to choose?
Warranty: What level of new home warranty should you expect with each type of home?
Touch Points: How much personalized service will you get from each type of builder?
Learning everything you can about the different types of new home selections available will allow you to make a more educated decision about which option is best for you and your family. Please read our series of articles on this topic for more information and answers to all the above questions.
When building a custom home, you generally acquire your own land, design your own floor plan (or have it designed) and submit it to the builder. Additionally, you will be directly involved in the planning and development of every aspect of your new home.
Custom home builders are able to offer you more personalized service because they only build a limited number of homes each year and therefore have the extra time to spend with each individual customer. You can expect more home builder touch points when building a custom home.
Being involved in the building and decision making processes can be exciting but it also requires a fair amount of time and effort on the part of the homebuyer, so if you decide to have a custom home built, be prepared to spend many evenings and weekends with the builder working out issues and making decisions and choices for your new home.
Once the home is complete the builder will walk through the home with you and explain how to use all the systems in the home as well as create a punch list to deal with any unfinished items or issues that need to be corrected before move-in.
When having a personalized production home built, it’s customary for the home and land to be offered as a package deal. You will have the ability to choose from a variety of home floor plans and new home options; therefore, with a personalized production home, you will still have the opportunity to personalize your home as well as select structural upgrade options.
Production home builders often build hundreds of homes per year and therefore cannot offer as many home builder touch points as a custom home builder. However, good production builders have well-trained project managers and customer service representatives who will meet with home buyers and their agents at specific times during the new home building process. Each team member will help the customer make their new home selections, review the progress of the home and make sure all options and selections are correct.
While you won’t have as much input into your new home with a production home builder, you also won’t have to spend as much time and energy making decisions and selections for your new home. You will generally have a comprehensive selections meeting before the home is started to make selections and choose options for your new home. You will also get to see the home being built and should get at least two or three detailed walks through the home with the project manager during the construction of the home. Once the home is complete you will have a final walk through the home with the project manager who will show you how to use the systems in the home and make sure all selections are correct and the home is move-in ready. The project manager will create a punch list to take care of any issues that need to be addressed before you move into your new home.
The decision about whether to buy a custom home or a personalized production home is a very personal one and one only you can make. You should take as much time as you need to study all your options, and then will you be able to make the decision that is right for you and your family.
If you find yourself torn about which direction to take, you may want to visit some personalized production home builder locations to get a feel for what they have to offer including home builder touch points during construction. If after that you don’t find anything that suits your needs, you can always contact a custom home builder to compare the costs and options they have available.
The post Custom Home Vs Personalized Production Home Builder Touch Points appeared first on McKee Homes Blog.
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