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Spec Home Builder vs. Custom Home Builder, Which is Right For You?🏡Home Prices, Construction Time, Quality & Risk?

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When choosing a new construction home builder, what's the difference between a custom home builder vs a spec home builder? Let's talk home prices, timelines, construction quality, risk, and more.

So what is the difference between a custom home builder and a spec builder? Well, a custom home builder generally speaking is a small company that builds on your land.

They might provide you with design services, architectural services, not necessarily. Sometimes they build a home in your land, but you have to find an architect or a designer to have everything ready. The plans are ready, so they can build. 

Then sometimes the only thing they do is just build, they don't offer any other services. With that said, building a home with a custom home builder requires more time, more dedication on your part, and perhaps more costs associated with the building.

There is a lot of unknowns, and they may not advise you on what's best for you or not. You're hiring them to build a home.

It's your decision, what are you going to do in the house? What are you going to include? What features do you want in that house? And most of the time, those choices are equivalent to spending more money.

While on the other hand, spec home builders build with their own money. They buy the land and they build the home.

Why is it an advantage?

Number one, you can buy that home from a spec home builder as pre-construction when the builder just started building.

Or perhaps way until the builder finished the house with their money you're not getting involved at all. 

If you see the home and you like the home then you can buy that home. 

Spec does not mean lower quality.

There are spec home builders that have the same amount of quality of construction that a custom home has.

There is a lot of spec builders like Arjen Homes that their spec homes, and I say the spec because it's speculative. 

When I say it is speculative it doesn't have to be financed. They're not speculating with your home. 

The process that the builder as they are buying the land with their money and they're building the house with their money hoping that at the end after the house is completed, they will sell it to an end-user like you. So that's what it calls speculative.

The house is being built with the same quality as the custom home builder. But on your end, it eliminates the process of spending money upfront or spending perhaps more money than you should have spent with the custom home builder.

That's why it's important to take and know the difference between one and the other.

Most people prefer the spec home builder because when they go in the process early as pre-construction, they still have choices to make. 

Even though you didn't design the home from the beginning, you can choose the flooring, the cabinets, the countertops, and the colors of the paint. You can choose the finishes & features, and make it feel like a custom home without the time, effort or cost.

We build it with our money, but with your tastes. Then you pay for the house at the end.