Determine the Type of Builder

• Custom Home: A truly custom home is one that is designed from scratch to be built on a specific site and purchased by a specific buyer. Price doesn’t determine whether a home is “custom.” That adjective applies whenever the home has an original and unique design.
• Semi-Custom Home: A semi-custom home starts with an existing home design, which then is modified  - sometimes substantially – to fit the site where the home will be built and the individual home buyer’s needs.
• Production Home or Model Home: A model is built according to a standardized plan. Buyers don’t have many opportunities to change or customize a production or tract home within a subdivision.
• Spec Home: A home built “on speculation” by a builder who hasn’t identified a specific buyer but hopes to sell it during construction or shortly after it’s completed. If a buyer decides to purchase the home during construction, he or she probably will be able to request some degree of customization. A spec home can be a custom home, a semi-custom home or a production home.