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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Building with a production builder such as NVHomes, Toll, etc is very different vs. hiring your architect and a firm to complete the project.  IMO, it is only worth it if you do full custom as you are in the driver's seat in terms of material selection, design, and of course the quality of the people constructing the place.   As others have stated, it will cost more but if you have the budget , patience, and plan to stay at the place for some time,  well worth the effort.  [/quote]

+1.  What OP describes is like building in a development with a stock builder.  That’s not really custom. [/quote]

Well, frankly, if I could build with Toll or NV, I would! Unfortunately they don’t build on individual lots, and there are no new home developments near my preferred location. I am looking for a similar experience with a semi-custom builder. I am willing to invest a bit more time on floorplan and finishes than I did with Toll, but again, I don’t want to be on the site every day micromanaging the workers.[/quote]

One of the large builders is starting to do this, but there are many, many smaller builders that do "build on your own lot" that end up with a hybrid approach.  It ends up being semi-custom - you have to pick from their floor plans but can customize (mostly finishes) within that.

I built a custom home about 5 years ago - bought lot, selected builder, architect, design, finishes, etc.  I'd say it was a 20% cost premium to a house we could have purchased from a builder.  One nice thing you can do with custom is to stop the builder from doing all the little things they do to jack up their profit - cheaper AC units, windows, insulation, etc.  The challenge is that for most builders, even custom, is that if it's not visible, they go for the cheapest thing they can get.  A pretty Nest thermostat on the cheapest HVAC equipment, as an example.  You have to do your own research and watch them or things like that will slip in everywhere.[/quote]

Second this...The primary reason we custom built our home from scratch was not necessarily to build something unique or personal but to simply build a superior quality home and flush out all of the garbage low quality materials that most all of the the production or semi-production builders use.   Most of these materials are hidden and the builders are savvy enough to get away with it.     Unlike most homeowners, our focus was to upgrade the "guts" of the home to include major components such as hvac, plumbing, electrical, insulation, roofing, exterior cladding, gutters, concrete, grading, driveway, etc, etc.    As one of the PPs stated, full custom allows one to control quality of materials.         [/quote]

I was the PP above.

I spec'd every detail I could - type of insulation, windows, exterior and interior doors, HVAC equipment, back up generator, floor finish.  It was a tremendous amount of research.  And if they were doing something out of spec during the build, I would have the builder pull it out and redo it.  For example, someone had jumped the gun and put in dry wall before the backup generator was installed.  They were getting ready to install the generator like it was a retrofit.  I made them destroy the drywall job to install the generator properly.  It was in the plans, and there was no excuse for doing it half assed.  That said, you need to be on site frequently and you need to be vocal when your plans are not being built.  Typical builder will adjust to the mistakes that are made along the way and end up with a build that is "mostly" your design - if you allow that to happen, you don't get your design.  [/quote]

OP you need to have some faith in the quality of your builder.  I didn't need to research the insulation because my builder only builds a good home.  Same thing with the windows and HVAC.  I just trust they aren't junk, especially because I interviewed a few of his previous clients and they had no complaints.  He tells us what finishes are preselected with a budget.  A lot of it is traditional - not my style so we went to the company website and picked out the modern style.  It makes things much less complicated.  [/quote]

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