Key Takeaways:
- Production homes are generally best for buyers who prioritize speed, predictable pricing, and fewer decisions, while custom homes are better for those who want control over the home’s layout, features, finishes, and location.
- Production homes typically cost less initially and take less time to build because builders use standardized plans, materials, and construction processes. However, lot premiums and upgrades can significantly increase the advertised base price.
- Custom homes often require more planning and a longer construction timeline, typically around 7 to 12 months, but allow homeowners to design for their lifestyle, accessibility needs, energy-efficiency goals, and long-term plans.
- A semi-custom home offers a middle ground: buyers start with an existing floor plan but can modify rooms, finishes, exterior features, and other design elements without creating the entire home from scratch.
- Construction quality and resale value depend more on the builder, location, materials, functionality, and workmanship than on whether a home is production-built or custom-built.
Table of Contents
If you’re planning to build a new home in Delaware, one of the first decisions you’ll need to make is whether a production home or custom home is the better fit for your family, budget, and long-term goals. Production homes are built according to established floor plans, often as part of a larger residential development. They can offer a relatively predictable price, faster construction timeline, and a limited selection of upgrades.
On the other hand, custom homes are designed around the homeowner. You have significantly more control over the floor plan, materials, finishes, features, and location. A custom home can take longer to build and requires more planning, but it also gives you more opportunity to create a home that fits your lifestyle instead of adapting your lifestyle to an existing floor plan.
The answer as to what type of new home is best depends on what matters most to you as a homeowner. At Carl Deputy & Son Builders, we construct new custom and semi-custom houses throughout Kent County, Sussex County, and the Eastern Shore of Maryland. No matter what type of new house you choose, we will help you build a house that meets your needs and budget. Reach out today to talk to a Delaware custom home builder about your dreams for a new home.
Have questions about building a home or making home renovations? Sometimes talking directly to an expert is easier than reading a post. Speak with a builder at Carl Deputy & Son Builders > (302) 284-3041
What Is a Production Home?
A production home is constructed using a standardized building process and one of a builder’s established floor plans. Production builders typically purchase or develop larger parcels of land and divide them into individual homesites. They then construct multiple homes using a relatively small selection of floor plans.
While buyers may have some choices, such as flooring, cabinets, countertops, appliances, paint, or exterior finishes, the home’s basic layout is generally predetermined. For example, a production builder may offer five different floor plans in a community. A buyer could select a three-bedroom or four-bedroom design and then choose from several available upgrade packages.
With this approach, the process is relatively straightforward, but it does mean that you may have to compromise. If you want to add a first-floor office, move a bedroom, redesign the kitchen, or change the location of the laundry room, that may not be possible.
Production homes can make sense for buyers who want:
- A relatively predictable building process
- A selection of established floor plans
- A faster path to a new home
- A house in a planned community
- Fewer design decisions
- Standardized features and finishes
- A potentially lower initial construction price
However, there are drawbacks to production homes. This includes a limited ability to:
- Increase or decrease room sizes
- Move walls
- Change the floor plan
- Add specialty rooms
- Choose different exterior materials
- Select a unique lot
- Design around unusual property characteristics
- Select unusual architectural features
For some homeowners, these limitations are well worth the benefits of a production home. For others, it can be frustrating when the available floor plans don’t match their needs or lifestyle. They may also want a more unique home or one that isn’t located in a planned neighborhood.
What Is a Custom Home?
A custom home is designed and built around the homeowner’s needs, preferences, property, and budget. Instead of selecting a home from a limited array of plans, you can work with your builder and design professionals to determine what your home should look like and how it should function.
Custom construction can allow you to make choices about virtually every aspect of the house, including:
- Floor plan
- Number and size of bedrooms
- Bathroom configuration
- Kitchen layout
- Garage size
- Ceiling heights
- Windows and doors
- Exterior materials
- Flooring
- Cabinetry
- Countertops
- Lighting
- Plumbing fixtures
- Appliances
- Storage
- Outdoor living areas
- Home office space
- Accessibility features
- Energy-efficiency
- Landscaping
This flexibility in design and features is one of the biggest reasons homeowners choose custom construction. Instead of buying a house and changing it to fit your lifestyle, you can design the house around your lifestyle from the start.
For example, a family that frequently hosts relatives may want a guest suite. Someone who works from home may prioritize a dedicated office. A homeowner planning to stay in the property for decades may choose aging-in-place features like a first-floor primary suite, wider doorways, or fewer stairs. These types of decisions can be incorporated into your custom home design before construction begins, giving you a house that is tailored to your needs.
Which Is Better: A Production or Custom Home?
There isn’t one answer to the question of whether a production home or a custom house is better. The answer depends on the individual homeowner and their wants and needs.
| Feature | Production Home | Semi-Custom Home | Custom Home |
| Floor Plan | Predetermined | Modified existing plan | Designed for homeowner |
| Customization | Limited | Moderate to extensive | Extensive |
| Lot selection | Often limited | Varies | Greater flexibility |
| Construction timeline | Often faster | Moderate | Often longer |
| Design decisions | Fewer | Moderate | Many |
| Price predictability | Generally higher | Moderate | Depends on project |
| Speciality features | Limited | More options | Highly flexible |
| Accessibility panning | Limited | Available | Highly flexible |
| Energy-efficiency planning | Builder-dependent | More flexible | Highly flexible |
| Personalization | Limited | Moderate | Extensive |
| Best for | Convenience and speed | Balance | Maximum flexibility |
Production Homes vs. Custom Homes: Cost
When comparing production and custom homes, homeowners often want to know about cost. Generally, production homes have a lower initial price compared to fully custom homes, although that isn’t always the case.
Production builders benefit from repetition. They can purchase materials in larger quantities, use standardized plans, and build multiple homes using similar construction methods. This often results in lower prices.
Custom construction is more individualized. The builder may spend substantially more time on design, planning, engineering, selections, and coordination. In addition, a homeowner’s choices when it comes to features and finishes can lead to a higher cost.
However, comparing only the advertised purchase price for a production home versus a custom home can be misleading. Instead, you should look at the total cost of ownership and the total cost of getting what you want in a home.
A production home may have a base price that looks attractive, but the final price can increase when you add:
- Lot premiums
- Finished basements
- Additional bathrooms (if possible)
- Upgraded flooring
- Premium countertops
- Higher-end cabinets
- Appliance packages
- Lighting upgrades
- Decks or patios
- Landscaping
- Finished garages
With custom construction, you can have more control over where your money goes. This allows you to prioritize the features that matter most and avoid paying for upgrades that you don’t want. Depending on the size of the home, location, design, site conditions, and finishes, building a custom home may actually be a comparable price or even more affordable than a production home.
Production Homes vs. Custom Homes: Construction Timeline
A major difference between production and custom homes is the amount of time involved to build a house. Production homes can generally be built faster because the builder is repeating established designs and construction processes. Buyers can often even purchase a completed home or one that is already under construction.
Custom homes typically take longer because the process involves additional planning and decision-making. Before construction begins, you may need to complete:
- Lot selection
- Site evaluation
- Architectural planning
- Floor plan development
- Engineering
- Budgeting
- Material selections
- Permitting
- Financing
- Final construction planning
It may take 7 to 12 months to build a custom home, although the project timeline can vary depending on the project. If you have a firm deadline, such as selling your current house, starting a new job, or welcoming a new child, you should discuss the timeline with your builder before committing to a construction plan.
Production Homes vs. Custom Homes: Customization
For many homeowners, customization is ultimately what separates custom construction from production construction. With a production home, you’re generally choosing from predetermined options. With a custom home, you get to create your dream house from scratch:
- Floor Plan: With a custom home, you can design rooms around how you actually use your house. You might want a large open kitchen, a separate dining room, a first-floor office, a mudroom near the garage, a large pantry, a dedicated laundry room, a guest suite, a bonus room, a first-floor primary bedroom, a hobby room, or a home gym. With a custom home, you can design your home’s layout in a way that makes sense for you.
- Accessibility and Aging in Place: Custom construction can also make it easier to plan for the future. You can opt for features like walk-in showers, wider doorways, fewer steps, first-floor bedrooms, lever-style door handles, and reinforced bathroom walls for future grab bars. With a custom home, you don’t have to wait until accessibility becomes a necessity.
- Energy Efficiency: A new custom home also provides an opportunity to incorporate energy-efficient features from the beginning. Depending on the project, homeowners may consider high-performance windows, improved insulation, more efficient HVAC equipment, energy-efficient appliances, LED lighting, smart thermostats, improved air sealing, efficient water heating systems, or solar-ready construction. These features can increase upfront costs in some situations, but they may reduce operating costs and improve comfort over the life of the home.
Production Homes vs. Custom Homes: Lot Selection
Where you build can be almost as important as what you build. Production homes are commonly tied to specific developments. Your choices may be limited to the lots that the builder owns or has available for sale.
Custom construction can provide significantly more flexibility. You may already own a property, purchase a lot, or work with a builder to find suitable land.
Of course, buying land comes with its own considerations. Before purchasing a lot, you will need to investigate things like zoning, road access, utility availability, setbacks, drainage and flood zone status, soil conditions and grading. A lot that looks inexpensive can become pricey if it requires extensive clearing, grading, or utility work.
That is one reason why it can be beneficial to involve your builder before purchasing land. Our team can help clients evaluate potential homesites to help you make a more informed decision.
Production Homes vs. Custom Homes: Construction Standards
It is tempting to assume that a custom home is automatically better built than a production home. However, that isn’t necessarily true. Construction quality depends heavily on the builder, materials, supervision, subcontractors, building practices, and quality-control processes.
A well-built production home can be an excellent investment. A poorly managed custom project can create significant problems.
When you are evaluating builders for your new home, be sure to ask:
- How long have you been building homes?
- Who supervises construction?
- How are subcontractors selected?
- What materials are included?
- Do you provide a warranty?
- How are changes handled?
- Do you have references?
At Carl Deputy & Son Builders, we are proud to build quality homes using time-honored techniques and the finest materials. We also only work with trusted subcontractors. Whether you choose a custom or semi-custom home, you can rest assured that the end result will be a beautiful home that is built to last.
Production Homes vs. Custom Homes: Resale Value
A custom home does not automatically have a higher resale value simply because it is custom. Location, condition, design, construction quality, size, market demand, and functionality all influence what buyers are willing to pay.
However, thoughtful customization can improve a home’s appeal. Features that may be attractive to future buyers include things like functional floor plans, modern kitchens, flexible living spaces, energy-efficient systems, ample storage, and first-floor bedrooms.
If you are building a custom home with resale value in mind, the key is to distinguish between useful customization and highly personal customization. For example, a home office may appeal to many buyers, while a very specialized hobby room may not have a broad appeal. Spending a significant amount of money on an unusual feature does not guarantee that you’ll recover the entire cost when you sell.
Production Homes vs. Custom Homes: Financing
Financing can also look different for production and custom homes. With a production home, you’re often purchasing a finished home or entering into a purchase agreement with the builder. The financing process may be akin to a conventional home purchase, depending on the stage of construction.
Custom construction financing often looks a bit different. Depending on the project, you may need to account for land costs, a land loan, construction loan financing, construction loan interest, architectural fees, engineering, site preparation, permits, closing costs, and contingency funds.
If you are buying land and building a house, it is especially important to understand your financing options before purchasing the property. Your lender and builder should work together to establish realistic expectations for your overall project budget.
Should You Consider a Semi-Custom Home?
A semi-custom house can provide a middle ground between production and fully custom construction. With a semi-custom home, you begin with an existing floor plan from your builder. However, you have more flexibility to modify the plan.
For example, you might start with a builder’s established four-bedroom floor plan and then:
- Convert one bedroom into a home office
- Add a bathroom
- Expand the kitchen
- Change the primary bathroom
- Modify the exterior
- Add a screened porch
- Select different flooring and cabinetry
- Change fixtures and finishes
Semi-custom construction can provide many of the advantages of custom construction without requiring every aspect of the home to be designed from scratch. At Carl Deputy & Son Builders, we offer both fully custom and semi-custom homes. With more than a dozen floor plans for semi-custom homes, you have a lot of options…including the decision to go with a fully custom home.
Our Perspective As Delaware Custom Home Builders
We have built custom homes in Delaware for more than 40 years. You might think that means we believe that custom homes are for everyone. In reality, we don’t think that is true for everyone.
Custom homes can be absolutely wonderful. They allow you to create the true home of your dreams, whether you want a cozy ranch home, a sprawling country estate, a beach house with plenty of room, or something in between. They can also be surprisingly affordable, as our team can work with a range of budgets to develop a plan that works for you.
Yet custom homes can be more expensive, and they typically do take longer to build. In our experience, homeowners who want to get into a house immediately might be better off choosing a production home. It can also be beneficial for anyone who gets decision fatigue.
We have worked with many clients who find the custom home building design process to be exhausting and overwhelming. If you’re the kind of person who will freeze up when faced with hundreds of decisions to be made, then a custom home might not be the best option for you. Of course, our designers can also help you narrow down your selections based on their experience, which can make the process much easier and less stressful.
For clients who want a faster process with fewer decisions, we have found that a semi-custom home is a good choice. It allows you more customization than a production home, yet is a more streamlined process.
In our experience, there is no such thing as one right home for everyone. That is why we are happy to work with a variety of budgets, on various types of homes, and building on your lot or one of our own properties. The one thing that remains consistent throughout is our commitment to quality construction, premium materials, and outstanding customer service.
Build a Home That Fits Your Life
Choosing between a production home and a custom home ultimately comes down to your priorities. If your primary concerns are convenience, speed, and a relatively straightforward buying process, a production home may be a good fit. If you want a home designed around your lifestyle, have specific ideas about your floor plan, or want to choose where and how your house is built, a custom home may provide significantly more value.
At Carl Deputy & Son Builders, we work with homeowners to construct new homes that fit their needs, preferences, property, and budget. Whether you already have plans, want to customize an existing floor plan, or are starting with nothing more than an idea, our team can help you through the process. To learn more or to schedule a consultation with a member of our team, give us a call at 302-284-3041 or fill out our online contact form.
Frequently Asked Questions about Production vs. Custom Homes
How Can I Make Sure My Home Will Meet My Family’s Needs in the Future?
When building a new home, you should think beyond your immediate needs. Consider how bedrooms, bathrooms, storage, work areas, and common spaces could function if your household changes. Flexible rooms, additional storage, adaptable first-floor spaces, and layouts that can accommodate changing mobility needs can make a home functional for many years. For many homeowners, building a custom home offers the level of flexibility necessary to make sure that your home will meet your family’s needs into the future.
What Expenses Can Surprise People When Building a New Home?
Some project expenses aren’t obvious when homeowners first establish a budget. Depending on the property, you may need to account for surveying, engineering, permits, utility connections, site preparation, driveway construction, landscaping, drainage improvements, or changes required by local regulations. You may also need to budget for a higher down payment and higher interest for a land and/or construction loan. For the construction aspect, establishing a detailed budget with your builder before construction begins can help to reduce unexpected costs. You should also carefully read all financing documents to understand your interest rate and other expenses.
What Should I Know Before Meeting with a Home Builder?
Before your first meeting, it helps to have a general idea of your desired home size, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, preferred location, must-have features, and overall budget. You don’t need finalized plans. A good builder can help turn your ideas into a realistic project and identify decisions you should make early.
