Pre-Designed Home vs. Custom Design: Which is the Better Fit for Your Project?

Dec 11

If you’re like most people who choose to build, you have a vision of how your dream home will look. And when it comes to bringing it to life, you have two main options: choose a pre-designed home or create a custom design.

The best option will depend on a range of factors, including your time frame, budget, site and design specifications.

So to help you decide which is a better fit for your project, in this article we discuss the pros and cons of pre-designed and custom-designed homes.

Pre-Designed Homes

If you’re looking for a simple and efficient way to build, a pre-designed home can be a great option. With plenty of homes of various sizes and styles available within the standard range, you can choose the one that best fits your lifestyle and needs. From there, you’ll add the colours and finishes of your choice to give the design your own personal flavour, as well as any upgrades you wish to include to add an extra touch of comfort and luxury.

Our display homes are a good example of this, as the floor plans are straight from our standard range, but with the addition of some well-chosen upgrades, they really stand out as something special. This is shown in our Bayswater Hampton 14 display home, where the pendant lighting, walk-in shower and freestanding bath all add a dash of style and luxury to the everyday.

Pros of a Pre-Designed Home:

Faster build times (construction can be completed in as little as 12–16 weeks).
Will generally cost less than a custom-designed home.
Can often see the design up close in a display home to get a feel for it.

Cons of a Pre-Designed Home:

Less creative scope to build a totally unique home.
There may be some areas of the floor plan that are under-utilised.
Your design may not make the most of your site’s features.

Custom Designed Homes

If you have a clear vision of your ideal home and your budget allows, a custom designed home could be the way to go. Our design team can work with you to develop your design from scratch, plus, any of our pre-designed homes can also be customised to suit.

Many of our completed projects have been adapted from our standard floor plans, and this can be as simple as removing a wall to open up the living space (as seen in our Somerville project), flipping the plan to suit your site (as seen in the 4-bedroom Rye project) or completely reworking parts of the plan, as our clients did with the Hampton 14 design to create their stunning Buxton home. And as for a custom-designed home, our Frankston and Patonga Beach projects are both beautiful examples of what is achievable.

Pros of a Custom Design:

Complete design flexibility – almost anything is possible.
Can include sustainable and passive energy elements.
Your home will be uniquely yours in every way.

Cons of a Custom Design:

Will generally take longer to design which adds to the project time frame.
There will be more decisions to make during the design phase.
In most cases a custom designed home will cost more to build.

Your Home, Your Choice

Every project is unique, and when it comes to choosing your design it’s important to weigh up the pros and cons against your situation.

Is saving time and money a priority? You should probably explore the pre-designed range first to see if you can find one that suits. Or do you have specific design features that you wish to include that are not commonly found in a standard design? A custom design may be a better fit.

Either way, it’s important to discuss your ideas and expectations with your builder upfront, as they have the experience and knowledge to guide you towards the right choice.

Over to You

Do you have a question about our pre-designed range or custom design options? We’d love to hear from you! Simply post a comment below or contact our team on 03 5145 7110.