WESTDALE ON THE LAKE
August 14, 2023
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WESTDALE ON THE LAKE “Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Design is knowing which
Everyone wishes to one day have a dream home of their own. You may have different ideas in your mind already of what exactly you would want in your ideal home. What is perfect for some, might be loathsome to others. For this reason, a lot of home buyers are opting to have their dream home custom built as opposed to buying an existing house. With this option, you get more of a say in how you want your home to be.
Among custom home builders in Toronto, though, you’ll find that there are two general categories: first are custom home builders, who will offer unlimited customization, and control over how the project will go, and the others are production builders, who will allow for semi-custom home building, in that you will have options to customize some aspects of the home, but not all, with limited options on what customizations are even offered. It would be dismissive to say that one option is better than the other in all instances, as factors such as completion time, budget, and degree of customization preferred, will all influence what the “better” choice for YOU is. There are benefits and drawbacks for both of these options, and it’s worth it to look at both before you make a decision about what will work best in your situation.
Production Builders
These guys get straight down to business. They are true pros at mass producing hundreds of homes in a short period of time. Part of what makes this possible for them, is that they have worked out everything in terms of architecture, costs, design, materials, and so on, in order to be the most efficient. They have carved out the deals with all appropriate parties, including landscaping companies, builder’s supply stores, interior designers, architects, contractors, general labourers, and beyond. Their model of work allows for semi-custom builds, and they are certainly up to the task.
Benefits:
Shorter Completion Time: Production builders have set kinds of homes, and customizations offered from a menu that you choose from, which allows them to pump out more homes in a shorter period of time.
Set Prices: Because all the prices for different customizations are already laid out, these guys will be able to give you a price estimate that will be almost exact to what the actual cost will be. They’ve got the experience in making the same kind of house over and over again so they know what it will cost. This factor will give you a clear picture of what you will pay and make it easier to get the finances in order for it.
They will work out the deals for you: Because they have likely used the same contractors multiple times for various projects, production builders will be able to negotiate prices with contractors by getting you a volume discount. They’re already buying supplies, and services for other projects that they’re working on, so they will likely be obliged to pass on the savings to you.
You will get a neighbourhood, not just a house: Generally, production workers will work on developing an entire neighbourhood at a time. They will be building the homes around your new home, and also developing amenities such as walking trails, or sports fields in the close proximity. This means that your new home will be accompanied with a nice little neighbourhood as well.
Drawbacks
Limited choice for floor plans: Production custom home builders in Toronto’s costs are kept low and predictable by only keeping set floor plans to choose from in order to work out deals with designers, and architects. This means that the layout of your house will be similar, or the same as a lot of the other houses in your neighbourhood, or houses that your builder has worked on. The ability to add in customizations in the floor plan, such as an extra bathroom, or bedroom on the main level, will be diminished. You will have to invest in renovations after the home is built if you want something to be different here.
Restrictions on customizations: Production builders need to negotiate and work out prices beforehand in order to produce these homes fast, and at a fixed price. This means that you won’t be allowed to add in all the customizations that you would like. Perhaps you won’t be able to change the size of a room, or the size of a window among other things. You need to be prepared for compromise if you choose production builders. Realize that you may not get to get the exact dream home that you wished.
Restrictions on the fixtures that you can choose: Among the other full customizations that you will lose out on by choosing this option, fixtures will be another. Pre-selected carpeting, flooring, counters and other fixtures will be set out for you to choose from. This is again key for production builders in order to keep the prices low, and predictable. For those who truly want a one-of-a-kind home, this can be frustrating.
Custom Home Builders
Custom home builders are your one stop shop pretty much for all your custom home building needs. They take you from an idea, a dream, to your actual, physical, dream home. You will have full control over the customizations that you want in your home. Everything will be exactly as you want. This will likely make a few aspects of the project less predictable.
Benefits
A truly one-of-a-kind house: Everything is created just as you like it. All of your idiosyncrasies, and personal touches complete this house that was built from the ground up, right in front of your eyes and just for you.
Choose your own architect: Unlike production developers, custom house builders will give you the flexibility of choosing your own architect if you have one in mind. You can also use any floor plan, or design, and have this predetermined before you even start working with your custom home builder.
Greater involvement in the entire process: Custom home builders love input from their clients. Their entire goal is to custom build the house to your liking. They are eager to please you in this regard and will love to collaborate with you to make things happen. You will also be able to visit the jobsite frequently to see how things are coming along and see as each milestone is completed. The entire experience can be magical and feel like your dream is coming true in front of your eyes.
Unlimited choices and potential: There will be no restriction on the part of the builder really for what you can and can’t have in your home. If you can think it, you can have it. This opens up the doors for creativity and uniqueness in design that would be unheard of in any other instance.
Drawbacks
Reduced cost predictability: Cost is determined based on each customization that is made along the way which means that it will be difficult to pinpoint exactly how much it will cost to complete the build. To determine the total cost, calculations will have to made for the cost of goods, and services used along with a percentage for the managing of the build. As you can see, this will be unique to the kind of house that you are building and the customizations that are put in.
Longer time for project completion: Think of clothing getting produced at a factory verses clothing that is getting custom tailored to fit a person from a piece of cloth to an outfit by a seamstress. With mass production, you get quick completion, due to less decisions needing to be made, and materials, and services being lined up beforehand to be used in an assembly belt lineup. With custom built homes, decisions will need to be made on a needs basis, and each client will have a different choice of what they would like. For these reasons, custom homes will take longer to build.
Excessive choices: If you are one who doesn’t like too many options, this can be a bit daunting. On the other hand, if you love choices, and are eager to select each, and every aspect of your home, you will love it.
No bulk discounts: Custom builders will not get to negotiate the cost of materials, and services provided by contractors the same way as production builders due to the lower volume of bulk purchasing. This can reflect in a slightly higher cost at the end for you.
There is no “right” of “wrong”
As you can see, there are pros and cons of both decisions here. What you will want to do is lay these out, and see what you are willing to compromise on, and what’s important to you. Your unique situation is what will dictate the best choice for you.
If custom home builders are the informed choice that you arrive at after careful consideration, consider Ocean Breeze Home to build you your dream home. We are artisans of home building, and take special care to work with you in creating beautiful homes. We specialize in custom home building, renovations, landscaping and interior design.
Choose our master builders at Ocean Breeze Homes who will use their expertise and care throughout the interior design process. Speak to our team of custom home builders at Ocean Breeze Homes today. We provide services in home renovations, landscaping, interior design and custom home building and are your one stop shop for luxury home building needs.
WESTDALE ON THE LAKE “Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Design is knowing which
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