Learn More About New Construction Homes 

If you are in the market for a home but can’t find an existing home that reflects your needs, personal style, or location you may find that purchasing a newly built home is the way to go. Like everything, buying a new construction home has its tradeoffs and it isn’t as simple as looking at a floor plan or a model home and moving forward. There are a lot of details and phrases that go into these types of home purchases that need to be covered from the building and lending standpoint. As a buyer, your role in the construction and design process of a newly built home can differ as far as involvement, it can range from purchasing a plot of land and managing the entire project or buying a ready home in a neighborhood or development that has been planned and constructed by a builder.

New Construction Options

There are a few options and categories when it comes to new construction homes which include: Custom Homes, Semi-Custom Homes & Spec Homes. 

If you are in the market for a home that can’t be found on the market or in the area that you are looking in, have a certain architectural design that you want to bring to life or if you just want to build something specific to your lifestyle for maximum enjoyment, you may find that going the custom route is the best option. Custom homes are just as they sound, completely custom so if you find it in your budget to afford the time and money to custom build your home, it will allow for the most control in just about every aspect of the planning and construction process. Depending on how much you want to be involved, you could even purchase a lot yourself and work on all the exterior and interior details with your own architect, builders, and trades involved to create your dream home step-by-step.

If the Custom Home option is too overwhelming from the financial and time perspective, a Semi-Custom Home might be a great alternative. These homes won’t be like every other house on the block but you won’t have to start from scratch either. They are perfect if you want to have a say in certain features in your home but don’t want to have to make every single decision throughout the process. Semi-Custom homes offer the option of buying into a higher-end neighborhood owned by a developer and will give you some deciding power on what the finished home will look like, mostly from the design finishes standpoint but your choices may be more limited. When purchasing a Semi-Custom home the developer will usually provide you with a few predetermined models and floor plans to choose from with the option to negotiate any add-ons you may want, such as patio, deck, finished basement to name a few that can be built for you at an extra cost. 

If you don’t have the time and finances to buy and help design a Custom or Semi-Custom dwelling, Spec Homes or Production Homes are an option that will provide you with a newly built home in less time and on a budget leaving you with choosing among a few colors of paint, types of add-ons and design models. Homebuilders offer Spec Homes because not every homebuyer has five to six months to wait for their new dream home to be built and beneficial for those not interested in the construction process. Spec Homes are a convenient option and are common in most areas of the state amongst buyers deciding interested in the new construction home route. Oftentimes, buyers who have just sold their current home or are moving out of a condo or apartment are only given a month or two to find a new home making a Spec Home the perfect solution.

Determining if a New Construction Home is For You

When it comes to Custom Homes they take a little longer to build and are prone to delays due to missed deadlines or unexpected surprises that may show up during construction. It’s important to have patience when building a Custom Home and to understand your budgets well as it is easy to over budget very quickly. Due to Custom Homes being more costly considering they are built custom from the ground up you get the benefit of having the exact floor plan you dream up, complete control over every detail resulting in a totally unique home that fits your lifestyle.

With a Semi-Custom Home, you’ll either provide a lot of choices between different floor plans a builder already has constructed. From there you’ll choose finishes, depending on how close to completion the home is, such as cabinets, counters, fixtures as well as the interior and exterior colors of your home depending on what materials are available to select from or what designer packages the developer has put together for you. Although the choices are more limited and the time it takes to from acqusition to completion is still significant you can still make it your own and they are an affordable way to build a home that is still unique to you. 

A Spec Home or Production home provides the benefit of getting a completely new move in ready home in a superior time over the other options making it an execellent option for first-time homebuyers as well as those looking to upsize/downsize and/or simultaneously moving after a home sale or rental. It’s provides the advantage of being able to see what you are purchasing before moving forward as these types of homes are commonly put up for sale when it is almost completed or already finished. The lack of choices is the biggest disadvantage when buying a Spec Home since the majority of the house is built based on decisions being made for you mostly as far as architectural style and layout. Most commonly, the builder has selected the items he can get at a special rate for contractors, and even though they might be of good enough quality, they are most likely not on the highest end of quaility, which means you need to live with these things or choose to change them with additional out of pocket expenses.