Building a Custom Home in Madison, Wisconsin: Pros & Cons

Whether you’re looking to move to Madison, Wisconsin, or already live here, there’s always more to learn about this great city! With its natural beauty, loads of outdoor activities, and resilient economy, Madison is on the top of many lists for moving or staying here. If you’re looking to plant roots in this marvelous city, you might be considering building a custom home. Read on to learn more about Madison and the pros and cons of building your custom home in this one-of-a-kind city.

Living in Madison, Wisconsin

Madison topped Livability’s Top 100 Best Places to live in America in 2021 for loads of reasons! It’s an ideal place to live, for recent college graduates and families to retirees. Madison often ranks among the top greenest cities in the country, boasting over 200 miles of biking trails! Lakeside hiking and biking are easy to come by along the five different lakes in Madison, as well as kayaking and canoeing. In the winter, enjoy Madison’s beauty while snowshoeing, snow tubing, sledding, and skiing. Madison gives you the small-town feel of a capital city package. Just like any city, there are restaurants, bars, shopping, and museums, but with Madison’s special kind of charm.

With all of this and so many more wonderful characteristics, Madison is of course a great place to live. But should you buy a home on the market or have a home custom-built? 

Pros to Building a Custom Home

Unfortunately, your perfect home doesn’t exist on the market. No matter what, you will likely have to compromise on some aspect of your must-have list in a purchased home. You’ll also likely have to compromise on allowing some don’t-wants on your list in a purchased home, which will require updates and a remodeling job. Remodeling can get pretty costly once you begin opening walls and seeing what’s inside. Scope creep is inevitable in remodeling jobs, making buying a house on the market a bit of a gamble, no matter how much homework you’ve done. 

With a custom-built home, you are in complete control of what is, and what isn’t, in your home. Every aspect of your must-have list can be included and to your specifications. And unlike a remodeling job, your price is predictable. Even when unexpected changes arise, your custom builder has included an allowance in your design agreement that is meant for these changes.

The housing market in Madison is somewhat competitive. Going up against other buyers on the same house, again and again, can get exhausting and discouraging. Your hard work researching available homes, going to open houses, following a realtor from house to house, then finally putting up a bid, to possibly be outbid in the end. This process can be miserable, to say the least.

Building a custom home has the unfair reputation of being a stressful experience, when in reality, if you put your custom project in the hands of an experienced and organized builder, the custom-build process can be rather smooth. Hire a builder with a clear and concise process that keeps you informed and at the center of the decision-making. 

Building a new custom home in Madison means you’ll have more control over the sustainability of your home. Choose green appliances, water-efficient plumbing fixtures, green building materials, and environmentally conscious finishes. A new home has a more airtight envelope than an older home, making it much more energy-efficient. Choose radiant heated floors, triple panel windows, and facing the home to the south, and the energy usage and costs continue to plummet, making your home more environmentally friendly. 

Cons to Building a Custom Home

One disadvantage of building a custom home is that it can be more expensive if you don’t work with a custom home builder that is focused on avoiding scope creep by getting the price right the first time. When hopeful homeowners accept a lower-than-average bid from a contractor, what they may not be aware of is why the bid was so low. Typically, a notably low bid is due to a quote based on low-quality materials. In the long run, low-quality materials will mean more frequent maintenance and replacement costs. In the short run, replacing these products for higher quality products means that the once-low bid will be significantly higher. 

Another downside of building a custom home is that you will likely need to already own land. Understanding the limitations or advantages of different plots of land can be a steep learning curve and will require homework. You’ll need to know how big of a plot you require for the house you’d like to build. Also, different characteristics of the land are very important. For example, the composition of the soil could keep you from installing a septic tank. Some local ordinances and zoning laws concerning what can be put on that land could keep you from having certain structures or even a driveway. 

You could trust a real estate agent with the task of buying land and will likely be in good hands. Or, with the right custom home builder, you could get assistance through them and go through every aspect of the custom home building process with one trusted source. Your custom builder will understand your custom home goals and will be best suited to help you with other decisions that are affected by those goals. 

Another con to building a new custom home in place of an older home is the possibility of losing some of those charming vintage elements that could be salvaged in a renovation project. There is an irreplaceable appeal of original vintage characteristics that newly constructed homes tend to lack. Of course, reclaimed elements, like wood-framed windows, are often an option when designing a new custom home.

Ready to Build Your Dream Home in the Madison Area? 

Your custom home is possibly the most valuable investment you will make. Conklin Construction Co. is a custom home builder that understands this and is committed to making the building process as effortless for you as possible. Your dream home is our goal and we’ll work with you throughout the entire process to deliver this to you. We take pride in our craft and our service. Contact Conklin Construction Co. to schedule a consultation to discuss your new custom home.