Buying a new home is a major investment—potentially one of the biggest in your life—not to mention the fact that you are choosing where you want your family to reside and spend countless hours for the foreseeable future. As such, nothing about the project should be taken lightly.

One of the first choices you will face in the process of acquiring a residence in the Portland area is deciding if you should design and construct a new custom home or settle on a prebuilt home. Neither option is inherently wrong, and there are several factors to take into consideration, including your budget, schedule, and how much time and energy you can contribute to the project.

Pros and Cons of Custom Homes

Building a custom home gives you the latitude to completely personalize every aspect of the structure, from the number and types of rooms to the architecture and design elements. Here are some of the pros of custom home-building:

• You get to enjoy a high level of personalization to ensure your new home leaves nothing to be desired.
• You are involved in the design process and you can introduce changes to the plan throughout the process, even once construction is underway.
• You can prioritize energy efficiency and select the best quality of materials to increase the value of your home.

While custom home-building is an acutely rewarding experience that lets you create the house of your dreams, it’s not without drawbacks. Here are a few custom home-building cons to be aware of:

• Custom homes are more expensive and time-consuming to construct. Plus, it’s easy to fall victim to scope creep and have your project go over budget.
• Sometimes the pressure of having to make so many detailed decisions can be overwhelming and exhausting.
• There is more room for error, especially during construction, since you are building a one-of-a-kind, never-constructed-before house.

Pros and Cons of Prebuilt Homes

Constructing a prebuilt or production house shouldn’t be confused with buying an older existing home. Rather, it refers to choosing the plan for your stock or production home from a set portfolio. Generally, home builders have a handful of home designs they have constructed multiple times in the past for other families in established neighborhoods. Here are the pros of buying a prebuilt house:

• Prebuilt homes are more cost-effective than custom builds and there’s little risk of going over budget.
• Prebuilt homes require less time to construct, because your builder is deeply familiar with each floorplan they offer to clients.
• You don’t have to try coordinating between various professionals, including the architect, home builder, and interior designer.

On the flip side, prebuilt homes aren’t perfect. There are a couple cons to consider, such as:

• There is little to no flexibility throughout the process.
• A prebuilt home won’t satisfy everything you desire in terms of size, style, comfort, convenience, and prestige.
• Your home may look more commonplace or generic.

Making Your New Home in Portland

There are advantages and disadvantages to both of these common home-buying methods, and a pro for one is not necessarily a con for the other. It all comes down to your preference and personal circumstances. Whether you’re in the market for a prebuilt home or a luxury custom home in the Portland metro area, Renaissance Homes can help. You have a choice of either selecting a home in one of our established neighborhoods or working with us to develop your lot and create the ideal custom house for your family.