Just Exactly What Is a Production home?
If you were to ask me that question, I would say they are simply homes with repeatable floor plans and elevations within the same subdivision. Sometimes those floor plans are repeated on the same street of the subdivision, but you should never see the same front elevation on the same street. A well planned, high end, production home development should have the look and feel of a custom home neighborhood.
Today's Production homes are not your Father's Oldsmobile!
Don't confuse the term "production home" with "tract home". Those couldn't be further away on the spectrum. The term "tract home" has been around for as long as I can remember. Unfortunately, the term has grown to mean "cheap", but it really just means inexpensive. Tract homes are built in large numbers and don't offer the upgrades people look for in a custom home. But they do offer an inexpensive, affordable, entry level home.
Today's high end production homes are not your father's Oldsmobile! Many of these are real luxury homes! You can find everything in a quality production home that you would find in a true custom home ... hand-scraped hardwoods, travertine floors, granite countertops, rich moldings, stainless steel appliances, plantation shutters, arches, art niches, beautiful accent lighting packages, huge master suites, big theatre rooms and game-rooms with surround sound, and on and on. You might not see the intricate elevations, angles, roof lines or extensive stone work on the outside of a production home, but inside, some we have handled can hold their own against just about any custom homes at any price.
Why are production homes usually found on bald, flat, Treeless lots?
You will find that most new production homes in Fairview, Lucas, and Parker are found on flat, treeless, subdivisions. The reason is, that's about all that's been available for sale in the larger, close-in tracts south of SH 121. What was once bare crop land is still fairly affordable for developers to buy, knowing they can re-sell the lots to production home builders. If the land is exceptional, with hills, trees, and creeks, the developers can pay more for the raw land. But this means they have to target the custom home builders. Custom home builders will pay more for the lots than the production home builders because they know (hope) their clients will bear those additional costs.
Why Do you get more for your money in a production home?
If you could find a heavily wooded, one acre lot in Fairview, Lucas, or Parker, it would cost around $240,000, minimum. The price is passed right on to the home buyer. Now consider the alternative. Buying (or building) a nice production home on a bare lot and bringing in mature trees (don't bother with stick trees unless you are a real optimist :-) is going to save you a LOT of money. If those trees are nurtured, within 5 years, you will have nice framing around your home. You saved about $160,000 on the lot, which means you can put all of that right into your home. Beautiful, wooded lots are nice to look at, but remember, you live in the home, not the lot. If you have to sacrifice on the home to live on the lot, it really doesn't make a lot of sense.
The savings to you by buying a production home doesn't stop with the lot. The builder's costs (materials, labor, and knowledge of their own building plans) will also save you a lot of money. This is no secret. Custom home builders are the first to tell you they just cannot compete with the production home builders on pricing, nor do the smart ones try.
It all comes down to your priorities!
If your priorities run towards fiscal conservation and getting "more bang for the buck", the production home is the way to go. If having a unique floor plan, roof line, facade, and elevation designed and built especially for you is your priority, (and if you are willing to pay for it all), the smaller, custom home builder is the way to go.
As far as the lot differences, until a new subdivision with trees, hills, and maybe a creek comes onto the market in Fairview, Lucas, or Parker, both the production and custom builder's lots are going to look much the same ... flat and treeless. That's just about all that's left right now. This is how most subdivisions started out in the Dallas area, so give them 5 to 10 years, and they will mature nicely.
Tom Grisak Estate Homes Realtors, Inc - Texas License # 0329533
Your Realtors for Allentexas, Fairviewtexas, Lucastexas, McKinneytexas, Murphytexas, Parkertexas, Prospertexas