If you live in Adelaide and are thinking of building a new home for yourself, the only thing in your mind these days must be the selection between Custom Home Builder vs Volume Home Builder as you would never want to compromise with the quality in your dream project in as economical a way as possible. Choosing the right builder is always important if you want your home to be just perfectly built. Since choosing the right builder takes time, patience and a lot of efforts, we will be discussing everything about custom and volume home builders so that it is easier for you to select the right one.
Difference between a custom builder and volume builder
Custom Home Builder
Custom Home builders are usually smaller companies that build tailored homes exactly as per the needs and the requirements of the clients. The architect or the draftsman takes the requirements of the client and builds the home accordingly. They only suggest the layout of the house and if the client wants, he can bring his own drawing for his home and the architect will build the house as per the drawing.
One of the best things about custom builders is that since they make tailored homes which takes time, they take lesser projects per year which is the reason they are able to give all the time to the fewer clients they are working with. This gives the clients a sense of satisfaction because of the smooth communication and a more personalised attention. Also, homes that are built by custom builders have exceptional quality finish and the quality of materials used are of high standard as well.
Volume Home Builder
Volume builders, as the name suggests are the builders who make houses in large volumes every year. The plans, the drawings and the materials are selected by the builders with a very less or limited scope of personalisation available for the clients. Clients have to select the houses on the basis of location and space as all the houses made look the same as they are designed under the same plan. The only personalisation option which client has is the interior design of the house.
The advantage of taking a house from a volume home builder is that if you like the design of the house, it can be a very cheap option for you with no worries of selecting the materials, finalising the designs and thinking about the quality as everything here is taken care of by the builder. Another advantage is that volume builders take less time to build houses as compared to custom builders so you get the possession within no time.
Advantages of choosing a custom home builder
There are many advantages of choosing a custom home builder over volume builder which is the reason the former is more popular if you can afford it. Building your home is like a dream come true for most of the people and they want to inject everything into it. They want their own style and personality to reflect in their house hence they choose custom home builders and share their requirements with them. Each and every corner of the house is made with a nod of the client which is what the USP of custom builder is.
The client can manipulate the quality, quantity and style according to their budget and can discuss the whole plan sitting with the architect. By taking valuable inputs from the architect and giving their own at a few places, the client gets the house of their dreams and is satisfied to the core.
Personalised or pre-designed?
Personalised or pre-designed completely depends on the requirements of the client and factors such as time, budget, personal liking etc. People who do not have budget as a constraint and have sufficient time to take possession of their house usually go for the personalised designed homes while those who are short of budget and want early possession of house go for pre-designed homes.
Some Volume builders too offer personalised designs but that comes at a heavy price tag. Volume builders usually have few demo homes made for the clients through which the clients see and understand the look and feel of the house. Out of those designs, the client chooses the one they want and are told the price accordingly. Since the volume builders use the same quality of materials in their actual houses as demo houses, there is no monkey business involved in the process.
Design of your home
The design and layout of your home involves many things and you want everything to be perfect for the end result to be satisfactory. As discussed earlier, volume builders too offer personalised designs for your houses at a high cost but even after paying so much not all designs of your likings are available. For example, you just cannot bring a design you found on the internet while browsing and bring it to your volume builder asking him to make the same design and layout for you because that design might not be feasible with the layout and drawing of the house that has been finalised already way before you approached them.
In the case of custom builders, this is always possible as the plan, drawing, design and layout is in your hands and the architect makes the house based on what you give him and not how he wants. This will obviously take more time and consume money but at the end each and every corner of your house will be made as per your choice.
Which is cheaper, volume builder or custom builder?
It is a common belief that volume builders are cheaper as compared to custom builders which is also true to a certain extent but when you look at the final possession, both are almost the same many times. Since volume builders build hundreds of houses a year and use the same material in all of them, they are able to offer a better price to the clients as they save heavily on the material costs but there are many hidden costs that are involved which the client gets to know later.
Houses built by the volume builders do not contain the cost of the heating equipment, Air conditioners, power points, parking areas, monthly or yearly maintenance costs etc and once you take the possession, you understand that the base price you were told earlier was exclusive of all these costs. In the case of custom builders, everything is crystal clear and transparent and you can spend money on materials and designs according to your budget.
The volume builder will take care of the houses for maximum one year after handling the keys to you and after that, the cost of anything that damages has to be borne by you. Custom builders make a relationship with their clients which is for a long term and based on trust so even after years of possession, they are always available for the client.
Which is quicker to build, Volume builder or custom builder?
Usually, how quick or delayed a project is made depends on the builder and not the type of builder but custom builders are sometimes quicker in handing over the keys as compared to the volume builders as they take fewer projects in compared to volume builders. In some scenarios, volume builders are quicker in giving possession when they do not have to personalise anything and have to make the same houses in large numbers.
With custom builders, taking possession quickly is in the client’s hands as the more personalisation and detailing they want in their house, the more time it will take the builder to finish it. In case of volume builders, if you have requests of personalisation, that might take time even more than the custom ones.