A custom home in Heber for a “production home” price

I just had someone ask a couple of questions that I thought would make a good blog post.  The questions are:  “What’s the difference between a smaller, custom home builder and the bigger production builders (Ivory, Edge, etc.)?  And can you build a house for the same price?”

Now, this post is not to rip apart production home builders.  We all build houses and we all have different things that we’re good at.  That said, production home builders are just that, production home builders.  They have specific plans for each community that you have to choose from.  They may give you a few options that you’re allowed to make, but for the most part they’re the same plan.  When you go to pick your finishes, again, you are given options to pick from.  Can you go outside the box and pick something totally different?  Yes, but it generally costs a lot more money and can sometimes be quite difficult to make actually happen.

Do production builders build custom homes?  Some of them, yes.  But beware.  Because they generally aren’t a custom home builder, they don’t have good processes for building custom homes.  They specialize in doing the same thing over and over again.  Like anyone with a specialty, they have a hard time doing something different.  We know people who found their own lot and had a “production home builder” build them a custom home.  It did not go well.  It took a lot longer than they were told and cost a lot more than they planned on.  Neither the builder nor the customer were happy.

Can we, at Jorgenson Builders, build you a house for the same price as a production builder?  Yes.  Now, can we build one of their production plans for the same price they can?  Probably not.  But can we build you a custom home for that same price?  Generally, yes.  And you’ll get a custom home, not a production home.  You can pick your lot, your plan, and your finishes.  Now, obviously you can’t choose anything you want.  You still have to stay in your budget.  But as long as its in your budget, you can do it.  At Jorgenson Builders we work hard to negotiate with our subcontractors to get the best price.  We participate in various organizations that allow us to get lower prices through our membership.  Cost and staying within a budget is important to us.  At the same time though, we refuse to lower our quality for a better price.  We have a certain standard of quality that we always do, whether its a starter home or a million dollar home.  So if you want to cut corners and do everything possible to meet your budget then we’re probably not the right fit for you.  But if you are looking to build a nice custom home and stay in your budget, Jorgenson Builders is the right builder for you.