If you’re thinking about building a new home in Florida you probably have specific ideas for the layout and features you want in your new home.

But once you explore several Florida communities and meet the builders in each, you’ll quickly realize that many of those great ideas you have for your new home will probably go right out the window.

See, most Florida home builders you encounter will have a set number of floorplans that they build, and what you see is what you get. Many won’t customize their plans for you beyond moving a couple walls a few feet in either direction, and some won’t even do that!

It stinks, but there are a couple reasons for this:

Cost

Builders can save on costs if they build the same houses over and over. They know well in advance exactly what type of materials they’ll need and how much to order to complete the next several homes, so they can streamline the ordering process and buy in such bulk that it results in a cost savings for them.

Plus, with customization there’s always the risk that someone will make a mistake…because they’re used to building a particular home a certain way and didn’t read the plans closely enough…resulting in them having to go back and fix the problem and do it again.

These mistakes result in higher costs due to the expense of materials and labor it takes to fix the problem, as well as the time lost.

Time

Just as building the same homes over and over again produce cost savings for the builder, they also save on time. Naturally, when you do the same thing over and over again you become more efficient and time savings result.

Where it takes a builder like ICI Homes that is willing and able to customize for you an average of 6-months to build a home, many production builders can crank theirs out in 3 to 4 months.

Lack of Staff Training

Most home builders do not train their sales teams or builders out in the field how to collaborate with clients to give them exactly what they want.

Don’t be surprised if when you bring the subject of customization up with your sales associate you are met with a lot of resistance for this very reason.

Florida’s Custom Home Builder

So if you’re interested in saving time and maybe some cost (if the builder passes their savings along to you…but that’s a BIG “if”), then buying from a Florida production home builder might be the way to go.

On the other hand, if you have your heart set on your home being built and customized a certain way, then consider a builder like ICI Homes.

Watch this video to learn more about ICI’s new home customization process: