Why Spec Homes Feel so Grey

The concept of building a spec home makes sense, but there is an invisible trade-off happening that no one is talking about. These homes are being built to favor the economies of scale that come from limiting design options. By the time you get to selecting your floors, you are often choosing between what the builder has specified, which is usually some shade of grey or greyer. In this article we will define what a spec home is, see the advantages and disadvantages of building one, and potential alternatives.

What is a spec home?

A spec home is a new, move-in ready house built by a professional builder or developer, on the speculation that it will sell quickly and profitably. “Spec home” is short for “speculative home,” highlighting the builder’s expectation that the house is going to sell after it is built, rather than a custom home, which is designed for a specific buyer and their needs.

If you grew up in a suburb any time after the year 1963, odds are you were raised in a spec home. However, the spec homes many grew up in are very different from the spec homes being built today.

For example, the infamous “Vancouver Special” was designed as an adaptive spec home that maximized the square footage of the lot and used the advantages of the building code at the time to offer an additional basement suite that could be used as a rental unit. This was designed with the final user in mind and has grown to be a staple across Vancouver.

The pros and cons of spec homes

The biggest advantage of a spec home is that it is move-in ready. You find a design you like and you get that design with very little delay. This is often sold as the “new” or “modern” way of building a home, because it is faster and more efficient than going through a full custom home process.

On paper, that sounds great. The problem many people run into is that they assume a small cosmetic change will be accommodated based on their design taste. You think you will be able to personalize a spec home. That is not how it usually works.

There is very little personalization with a spec home. It is cheaper because the design uses repeatable components. Instead of having the final user in mind, it has the final execution in mind. Spec homes are often referred to as “for profit” homes, because the design decisions made along the way are driven by the developer’s need to maximize their return, with little to no adaptability based on who the final user is.

If you zoom out, the trade-offs look something like this:

Spec home pros

• Faster timeline from interest to move-in
• Lower cost per square foot compared to many custom homes
• Predictable plans, finishes, and construction process

Spec home cons

• Limited design options and upgrades
• Homes that are built for margins, not real lives
• Spaces that often age poorly and need renovation sooner
  

A better alternative: combining spec and custom

The alternative is not to abolish spec homes and pretend everyone can afford a fully custom architect-designed house. The alternative is a better combination of spec and custom thinking.

1. Better designs. Spec home designs are often gaudy or generic and do not accommodate the needs of today’s final user. It is the job of designers to understand how these homes will actually be lived in, so that the final product is aligned with the desires of the future dwellers. Beginning with the designers and focusing on solution-based design allows us to understand the potential audience for these homes and design to accommodate that. A spec home can still be standardized while being thoughtful about light, layout, storage, and how families move through their day.

2. Plan with the best. Right now, more than 85 percent of homes in North America are spec homes, and most of those are designed by builders, not designers. This positions builders to react to demand by designing the homes themselves, while architects and designers sit on the sidelines waiting for the call to design an extension or renovation for a home that never really fit the user’s needs in the first place. If we focus more on the planning stage and actually listen to the final user, builders can focus on their craft, and designers can spend more time with the people who will live in these homes. The result is a spec home that feels closer to a custom home, without blowing up the budget.

3. Build to last. The most desirable home is the home that is built for generations to come. Building well and limiting rework is possible by focusing on planning and answering the big questions before the build begins. Spec homes can be built to last generations, or they can be built as fast as possible. Understanding the quality of the design and the quality of the build could be the difference between a house lasting 10 years or 100 years.

If spec homes are here to stay, the real question is not “spec home versus custom home.” It is whether we are willing to bring better design, better planning, and longer-term thinking into the spec home model, so families are not stuck choosing between grey and greyer for the next 30 years.