Semi-Custom,Spec or Custom Home: What’s the best option for me?

Searching for a new home?

With this unprecedented shortage in the housing industry, it seems like everyone is on the ultimate search to find a new home right now. There are so many decisions to weigh when making a move. For one, should you purchase a resale home or new construction home? Leaning towards new construction? Great! Now,where do you start? We know that starting the journey to build your home can become very overwhelming and stressful. After picking a lot or neighborhood, which is a huge decision on it’s own, you then have to decide how you’d like to go about building your home so that it fits your family’s needs, lifestyle, budget, and time frame. This can make the home building journey seemingly daunting, but with First Choice  Home Builders it doesn’t have to be. If this sounds like you, a semi-custom home from First Choice Home Builders might just be your perfect fit.

What is a semi-custom home?

Semi-custom homes are the sort of “in-between” of a pre-designed home, or spec home, and custom home. We believe no two homes are built exactly alike so you’ll still attain that desired uniqueness, without having to start from scratch. This allows you to customize certain features without having to make every detailed decision throughout the home building process. Another benefit is a shorter building timeline, so you and your family can move into your beautifully built home sooner.

You can go about building your semi-custom home with First Choice one of two ways: a pre-sale or customizing a spec home already in the building process. Pre-sales or “to-be-built” homes offer a bit of a wider range of customization, while working with a spec home already in progress allows for more of a shorter building process and many decisions already made for you since many materials and selections have already been ordered or installed.

With a pre-sale, you have the option to choose a home site in any one of our neighborhoods across the CSRA. We have homes currently under construction in River Oaks (Evans), Highland Lakes (Evans, Ga), Anderson Farms (Grovetown, Ga), Bartram Trail (Evans Ga), Greenpoint (Harlem,Ga). You can find these under the “Communities” tab on our website. Then, you’ll move onto browsing our extensive list of floor plan options, where you’ll be able to make design selections and certain plan modifications as needed. From here, you’ll dive deeper into the customizing process, where you’ll choose the perfect interior and exterior details to create your dream home. We’ll be alongside you through every step of the process, offering our expert advice and recommendations to help make your journey a little bit easier.

In each of our communities, we have several popular floor plans at various stages in the building process and are making progress every day. Most of our spec homes are pre-designed with material ordered providing the opportunity to close quicker. However, some of our spec homes are available for you to choose certain design selections, depending on the stage of construction the home currently in. For example, you may have a little more options for selections on a spec whose foundation has just been laid; while a home further along in the building process. At this point, materials have been ordered months in advance, won’t allow for structural changes, but you may be able to make some selections like paint color, countertops, lighting, plumbing fixtures & flooring. As previously mentioned, customizing an in-progress spec home allows for a shorter building process and less decision making, allowing for your family to move in as soon as possible.

Can’t decide between building a semi-custom pre-sale or a spec home?

Here’s a few things to think about. Both are great options that offer a level of customization without having to make every decision throughout the process and allowing your home building journey to be an exciting part of your life, not all of it, for months. It really just depends on the level of customization you’re looking for, as well as the time frame you have. Our building process from ground up to finished home takes approximately 7-12 months depending, of course, on the specific qualities of the house, community, and customization involved. COVID-19 has also affected the procuring of manufactured materials such as windows, doors, fixtures and appliances. This is just another side effect COVID-19 has had on the building industry in the last year  and is worth considering when building your home. If your time frame looks a little closer to 3 to 4 months, you may choose to forego some customization in the earlier part of the process and customize more nominal details in a spec home that is nearly ready for move-in.

Here at First Choice Home Builders, we stand behind our dignified product, admirable customer service, and stress-free building process. We want to help you design and build a home personalized to you and your lifestyle, while helping you stay in budget and within your timeline. We understand how intimidating and trying the home building process may seem. That’s why our team makes sure to work relentlessly behind the scenes and by your side to help you ease through this process, while still receiving an end product that will exceed all of your expectations. This is why we believe in our semi-custom homes, and believe you will too. Don’t believe us? Experience First Choice for yourself! Get started on your home building journey by visiting firstchoicehomebuilders.com or reaching out to our neighborhood sales agents and we’ll help you get started. Let us show you why we should be your First Choice in new home construction in Evans, Martinez, Grovetown, and Martinez areas of  Columbia County, Ga.