Why ‘Customize’ Is a Dirty Word For Other Home Builders

Not at ICI Homes! We’re Florida’s Custom Home Builder and proud of it. But we say so upfront for a reason. You might be reading this because you got the “dirty-word” reaction from other Sunshine State builders — when you told them you’d like them to tweak one of their home plans, or to build a new custom home from scratch. You won’t get that reaction from us. We’ll explain how we do business shortly. For now, here’s why many of our building peers resist customizing their homes.

They Say It’s Expensive0-nookDSC_0728_9_tonemapped

The bottom line rules, right? Home builders must be profitable like any other business and there’s nothing wrong with that. To a point. Builders use repetition to trim costs. Building a certain number of floor plans over and over, in exactly the same configurations and finishes, allows materials to be ordered far in advance, often at a bulk discount.

Customizing is deviating from those familiar processes. Building something differently means workers can’t speed through construction. Someone might not read altered plans closely enough and voila — a big mistake that must be corrected, at a cost of extra labor and materials.

They Say It Takes More Time

Building the same floor plans over and over can be an efficient process and certainly deliver a well-built home. But, a potential customer’s request to customize a floor plan slows the speedy building process to a crawl. It means more labor and possible material costs, and can slow down construction of other homes thanks to the extra concentration on the custom home. Three-to-four months is the typical time span for a no-customize builder. We at ICI Homes gladly customize, so our homes typically require six months.

They Say Staff Aren’t Trained to Handle Custom Requests

If you ask a no-customize builder’s sales staff for input on shaking up one of their plans, you’ll likely meet resistance. Their mission is to sell their employer’s current and future inventory of no-customize homes rather than find design solutions to accommodate a potential customer. Builders who work quickly, in volume, choose to lose the business of someone who has a different vision.

We Say YES at ICI Homes!

We’ve been Florida’s Custom Home Builder for more than 30 years, and have built thousands of custom homes all over the state. It’s what we do. Most of our award-winning floor plans are completely customizable, at a cost that is right for you. We specialize in open living, kitchen and other gathering areas, with an array of surrounding rooms that can be shifted to suit a customer’s needs. Since we do this every day, none of our designers, builders or architects will faint if you say, “can we move this wall?”

Ready for your new custom Florida home? Build with ICI Homes. Learn more here.