I have a country site. Give me the pro/con of Tilson please, if you've used them.

It is going to be as expensive as a full blown custom with a custom builder. They own the plans so when you figure that out you have to start completely over.

FYI...

Prior thread about Tilson.

There hasn't been a new post in several years, so maybe others can post more recent experiences here.

where are you building?

That Tilson thread is weird. A lot of 1 or 2 post rookies on it that only posted on that thread. Just odd.

I don't have any pros or cons but a friend recently had one finished by Tilson. He said after it taking twice as long as promised and the change orders and things he had to go behind and fix he paid the same as what a local "custom" builder had bid

If you want a custom home, use a custom builder.

We looked at several "custom" builders in the BV that really just wanted to build you something they already had plans for and allow you to pick finishes and fixtures.


We ended up with an outfit out of Round Top that started with a blank sheet.

Very happy with the outcome.

I think pros are they can save you some money in the build process if they still have the set up where they don't make you use full blown build loan. We visited with them and I feel they really are budget conscious and we've had friends build with them and said they worked with them to keep them on budget. They've been around forever so less risk of folding up shop like some smaller builders. But their sales people felt pretty limited in knowledge. They did try to help us "customize" their plans but in the end they were soooo far off from what we wanted we ended up moving on to someone more custom.

I think with lots of builds it depends on who is supervising. I would ask them how far away their superintendent lives. How often are they on site. How familiar are they with the subs in your area?

cavscout96 said:

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If you want a custom home, use a custom builder.

We looked at several "custom" builders in the BV that really just wanted to build you something they already had plans for and allow you to pick finishes and fixtures.


We ended up with an outfit out of Round Top that started with a blank sheet.

Very happy with the outcome.

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I'm kind of in the middle of this.....

If you really know what you want, sure. But I'd wager most people don't and some of these spec builders' existing plans will more than meet their needs. Huge caveat of which spec builder, but the same caveat applies to custom builders.

I have family right now that are a good example of someone who probably shouldn't have done truly custom. They are already regretting so many of their decisions layout wise, like size of bedrooms, number of bedrooms, etc.

Fact is these builders own and build a lot of their plans for a reason, they work.

quick follow -up

"they work" for many/most people that live the "normal" lifestyle.

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If you have requirements that don't fit the paradigm, you need to make sure your own needs are met.

EX: we host large family gatherings several times a year. Our kitchen is 3x the size of most "normal " kitchens and has storage for LOTs of serving and dinnerware.

EX: Because of the previous example, we also have a very big pantry with shelving designed to accommodate lots of dry goods and staples

cavscout96 said:

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htxag09 said:

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cavscout96 said:

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If you want a custom home, use a custom builder.

We looked at several "custom" builders in the BV that really just wanted to build you something they already had plans for and allow you to pick finishes and fixtures.


We ended up with an outfit out of Round Top that started with a blank sheet.

Very happy with the outcome.

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I'm kind of in the middle of this.....

If you really know what you want, sure. But I'd wager most people don't and some of these spec builders' existing plans will more than meet their needs. Huge caveat of which spec builder, but the same caveat applies to custom builders.

I have family right now that are a good example of someone who probably shouldn't have done truly custom. They are already regretting so many of their decisions layout wise, like size of bedrooms, number of bedrooms, etc.

Fact is these builders own and build a lot of their plans for a reason, they work.

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full disclosure.... we'd been planning and researching exactly what we wanted, and why, for over a decade already.

lifestyle dictates layout in a good design. We'd also lived in nine different homes in 21 years so we had a very good idea of what worked, what didn't; what we wanted, and what we absolutely did NOT want.

I'll concede that if you aren't somewhere in that neighborhood, an architect and true custom builder may be more than you need, and some of the local "nice-but-not-really-custom" builders would probably be fine.

Just know what YOU want and understand whether the builder can/will deliver.

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Agree completely. I just don't believe that the vast majority of people out there are as knowledgeable as you are in what they want, but also with a good experience of what works and doesn't work for them.

A lot of people also have footprint constraints. If you are in the city, or even suburbia, expanding into a huge entertainers kitchen and pantry will eat up valuable space in other areas.