Ah, the old buying vs. building conundrum: a perennial one, for anyone looking to land a new home one way or another. Here at Visser Living, we’ve been helping customers in Southwest Michigan achieve their dream home—through custom construction and sky’s-the-limit remodeling projects—for decades, and we’re here to help you navigate this tricky decision!

Buying or Building Homes in Southwest Michigan

Buying a prebuilt home in Southwest Michigan is certainly an option, but—as in so many parts of the country—the available supply (or lack thereof) can make it difficult, depending on where you’re hoping to settle. Desirable pre-existing homes in Kalamazoo and other favored communities can be harder to come by in a seller’s market, though it’s by no means impossible.

For many folks, buying an existing home is a fine way to go, but there are always drawbacks and limitations to buying an older or prefab house.

First and foremost, such a home is unlikely to completely fulfill the vision you have of a dream-level place to live. There’s likely going to be a design feature or size issue (at the very least) that will either require modifications down the line or some measure of acceptance on your part of a space that isn’t really quite what you desired in your mind’s eye.

Older houses—charming and distinctive as they absolutely can be—often demand extra care, attention, and upkeep, which isn’t what every homeowner is looking for in a place to live. (If you are, great! But it’s a lot of work.) And prefab and spec homes not uncommonly mean that you’ll be living in a sea of same-looking houses: perfectly OK for some buyers, but for others a poor choice, failing to express one’s individual style and character—and maybe not really delivering that true sense of home that we all aspire to in a domestic environment.

Building a Home in Michigan: The Benefits of a Custom Project

Custom-building your new home gives you an unparalleled opportunity to bring your dream vision to life. From floor plans to finishes, every detail can be tailored to your exact preferences — something that’s not always achievable with an existing property. For those with a clear idea of their ideal home, building from the ground up offers the freedom to create a truly one-of-a-kind living space, designed to meet your needs today and for years to come.

At the same time, buying an existing home is often the right choice for those looking to settle in quickly, enjoy established neighborhoods, or make smaller modifications to an already great fit. It’s all about finding the approach that aligns with your goals, whether it’s the ease of move-in-ready living or the creative process of building a space that’s uniquely yours.

To build homes in Michigan, we work closely with each and every client to ensure that the house they’re dreaming of comes into being right down to the smallest detail. When you work with us, you’re a partner on the project. After all, this is your home we’re talking about: It’s imperative, from our perspective anyway, that you be closely involved to help shape that becoming that will produce the exact structure and space you’ve dreamed up.

The Remodeling Alternative

We’ll briefly note here that remodeling is also very much part of our wheelhouse here at Visser Living. If custom-building a new home from scratch seems a bit too much, remember that the right sort of remodel can achieve many of the same benefits—often for a fraction of the price and the time.

Custom Homes in Kalamazoo: Contact Visser Living Today

As tried-and-true custom home builders and remodelers in Southwest Michigan, we like nothing more than tossing ideas around with prospective customers about what they’re looking for in a new (or upgraded) place to live. Reach out to the Visser Living team today to talk about building a home in Michigan!

How much does it cost to build a house in Michigan’s Kalamazoo region? There are so many factors involved that providing a clear-cut average, or even a useful range, isn’t easy. To go from tricky question to helpful advice, let’s break some of those factors down.

Cost of Building a House in Michigan

The current market and all of its global supply-chain complexities is, of course, the volatile foundation for discussing home building costs in Michigan or anywhere else. Right now, building prices have gone up: As the City of Portage, Michigan—one of the hubs of Kalamazoo County—noted in June 2024, the cost of building a new home has risen by better than 40 percent over the past 3.5 years.

But, of course, there are all kinds of other variables involved when it comes to the cost to build a home in Michigan, including:

• Where you want to build: More desirable neighborhoods, communities, or lots will (unsurprisingly) be pricier.
• The size of your lot and of your desired home: Acreage and square footage each have a huge impact.
• The quality of the materials: Higher-grade lumber, marble, granite countertops, brickwork, and other better-quality building supplies are going to naturally add more to your cost.

And it’s also likely not a surprise that adding special or upgraded features—from walk-in closets to wine cellars, from patios to saunas, from expanded garages to finished basements—will accordingly boost the overall cost.

There are also less-obvious factors at play, including the need to install new connections for utilities (compared with using existing lines, as is possible with a remodeling project) and the cost of labor, which can rise in concert with more complicated floorplans or luxury amenities if they require a more skilled workforce in order to pull off. Many home builders don’t offer their own excavation services (as Visser Living does), and that sort of sitework certainly has a big impact on the final “bill.”

Everything from the season in which you build to the geologic bedrock of your lot is also going to affect the ultimate total cost of your project. Didn’t we say it was a complicated question to answer?

You can land on the most accurate estimate possible by talking to prospective builders in detail about your ideas for a custom-built new home. Every project of this sort is going to be different—that’s part of the uniqueness of going for a custom dream home, rather than a prefab or standardized unit. And there are many ways to cut costs in a smart way while still ending up with a marvelous house designed according to your every specification.

The Cost/Benefit Analysis

Market forces and the vagaries of collective geographic desirability can be complicated, but in terms of many of the standard elements influencing the cost of building a home in Michigan, you’ve got a lot of wiggle-room.

It can certainly be tempting to cut down costs by going with lower-end materials. But higher-quality hardware—from lumber to shingles to pipes—can pay for itself in terms of durability and longevity: very much something to consider.

It’s also worth noting that, while a standard-model home may (in some cases) be cheaper than a custom-built alternative, it also often means a less-distinctive, less-“you” abode in a neighborhood brimming with lookalike houses. It’s hard to put a price on having your absolute dream home—with the floorplan, number of levels, architectural style, configuration, and other elements exactly suited to your wants, needs, and wishes, and maybe your future plans for an expanded household—built from the ground up.

Choose the Very Best Kalamazoo Home Builders to Make a Custom House a Dream Come True

Here at Visser Living, we pride ourselves on helping customers achieve the home of their dreams in Southwest Michigan: whether it’s a game-changing remodel or a complete brand-new custom build. We work hand-in-hand with all of our clients to make sure the scale of the project, the kinds of lumber, furnishings, and other materials, and other fundamentals of a home-building undertaking are matching your vision—and your budget.

Consulting with our team can give you a much firmer idea of how much it might cost to see that dream Kalamazoo-area home you’ve had in mind become a wonderful reality.

Reach out to the Visser Living team today: We can’t wait to chat about your future home!

At Visser Living, we pride ourselves not only on building custom homes in Southwest Michigan, but also helping homeowners complete the remodeling projects that transform and upgrade living spaces into something even better. Kalamazoo home improvement undertakings are very much in our purview!

If you’re unsatisfied with one or another element of your home — or are experiencing a change in lifestyle, work, or household makeup that would benefit from a change — remodeling is a fantastic alternative to looking for a new place to live altogether. And remodeling is increasingly popular: The number of Americans spending $25,000 or more on home remodeling has been increasing for years, and in 2023 hit 51% of the population.

That said, remodeling can also seem daunting. Even just scheming up a new look, layout, or functionality of your home can be surprisingly challenging, especially if you’ve lived there awhile; planning how to actually go about the renovations is all the more intimidating to many homeowners. But it doesn’t have to be!

A great way to ease into the remodeling mindset is by looking at spaces in your home that are going unused or have outgrown their original purpose.

Michigan Home Improvement: Reimagining & Repurposing Unused Spaces in Your Home

The roundup below includes some ideas and examples to spark inspiration and open up your mind to the just-about-limitless possibilities of home remodeling — and to the benefit of dipping your toes into those waters with a simple starter project.

• Spare Bedroom: Perhaps you’re going to be working remotely more often (or even full-time, as an increasing number of Americans are doing). How about that spare bedroom that generally stays empty and neglected. Why not turn that into a home office?
• Unfinished Basement: Maybe you’re expecting an addition to your family — a new baby or an aging parent moving in — or you’re hoping to entice friends and relatives to visit more often. It could be time to give that unfurnished basement a makeover and convert it into a bedroom or guestroom. Mostly little-visited basements are also classic remodeling options for turning into dens, lounges, and other entertaining spaces.
• Attic: A cramped little attic, seemingly useless for anything other than random storage, could be enhanced by building out a deck or balcony from it and turning the area into a pleasant little library or sitting room, complete with a view.
• Mudroom: Empty-nesters who no longer need all the space for boots, coats, and the like might convert their mudroom into an elegant sunroom or even an indoor greenhouse.
• Under Stairs Nook: The unused space under a stairway can quite easily be changed into a closet or creative cabinet setup.
• Outdoor Area: Turn that patch of weedy lawn on the shady side of the house into a patio, a paver-stone-surrounded firepit — heck, maybe even a full outdoor kitchen with a pizza oven.

These options are just the beginning! Do a walk-through of your own house and look for rooms and other spaces that, when you come down to brass tacks about it, are going unused or under-used, or which serve an obsolete purpose. You’ll probably be surprised how many such spaces lie within and around the walls of your home!

Unleash Your Creativity & Spark the Fire for Home Remodeling by Revamping Neglected or Obsolete Spaces

Remodeling can hugely enhance the livability and value of your home, and rethinking and repurposing unused spaces is a great example. Reach out to the Visser Living team today, and let’s talk about your Kalamazoo home improvement project!

Shopping around for new home builders in Michigan? Choosing a builder for a custom home is a momentous decision that should not be approached casually. The consequences of a poor choice — whether it be a shady, negligent, or simply unskilled construction company — are steep and costly.

Here at Visser Living, we’re proud to serve as the best custom home builders in Michigan’s southwest. We would certainly love to tackle your project, but also offer the following tips on what to ask any prospective builder before signing a contract!

1. How Long Have You Been in the Business?

Just because a company hasn’t been around very long isn’t a reason not to sign with it. However, there’s no question that longevity in the home-building business suggests a successful operation with plenty of customer satisfaction. This is not to say that a long-running company can’t slide in the standards department — all the more reason to do your homework!

2. Do You Have Any Specialties, or Are You Comfortable With a Wide Range of Designs, Styles, and Sizes?

Some builders may specialize in certain kinds or styles of homes, while others fall more on the jack-of-all-trades end of the spectrum. Depending on what you’re looking for in a dream home, a builder may or may not be a good fit simply based on their particular focus area, comfort zone, or skill set.

3. Can I See Your Business License & Proof of Liability Insurance?

Responsible builders should certainly be willing to share their business license, proof of workers’ compensation (important for protecting you from liability, as the National Association of Home Builders notes), and other relevant documentation.

4. What Kind of Building Materials Do You Use & Where Do You Source Them?

When you’re building a new home in Michigan, it’s a normal part of the process to winnow down options for building materials based on price. A good builder will always select the best quality materials — from grades of lumber to roofing shingles — which fit with your budget, so don’t be afraid to ask about what they specifically prefer to source and from where.

5. Can I See Some References & Testimonials?

Needless to say, a company that seems unwilling or unable to provide you with plenty of references generally ought to be viewed with suspicion. Seek out testimonials and, if possible, talk directly with some of the builder’s previous customers and ask them about things such as business practices, trustworthiness, and overall satisfaction.

6. How Will Communication Be Facilitated During the Building Process?

The beauty of a custom home is that it’s built exactly to your specifications and preferences. One important key to making that work is clear, open, and regular communication between you and your builder throughout the process, especially if plans change, new ideas emerge, unexpected roadblocks are encountered, and potential workarounds end up being required. Ask a prospective custom home builder in Michigan how frequently communication will be possible and via what preferred channels (Phone calls? Emails? etc.).

7. Do You Have Any Professional Associations or Certifications? How About Community Partners?

From memberships in local and regional home builder associations to special certifications and prizes, you can learn a lot about a company through its professional affiliations, partnerships, and awards.

8. Do You Do Your Own Excavating?

Many builders hire out for excavating work, while others — Visser Living among them — are their own excavation company as well. The latter situation can save you headaches, hassle, and, in some cases, money.

Choose Visser Living For New Home Builds in Michigan

At Visser Living, we bring decades of experience and an incredibly dedicated and skilled team to each and every job: from transformative remodeling projects to complete custom home construction.

You can trust us to work closely alongside you to see your dream home realized: You’re a partner in the process, and we endeavor to include you in every step of the journey — and to ensure all throughout that we’re matching, or even exceeding, your expectations.

Get in touch with us today, and let’s start talking about that brand-new custom home on your horizon!

 

Whether it’s to put the final finishing touches on a custom house built from scratch, or to morph a prefab or otherwise newly constructed home you’ve just bought into something that really reflects your personality and style, interior design has the awesome potential to completely transform a living space. Here at Visser Living, we’ve been in the homebuilding and remodeling business since 1950, and yet it still never ceases to amaze us how radically even just a few tweaks and upgrades can make a house’s interior dazzle—and beautifully tie together an entire home ambience.

As a leading builder of new construction homes in Michigan and a trusted remodeling expert as well, we thought we’d pull together some interior-design inspiration to help freshly moved-in homeowners think about how they might reimagine, or best finalize, their indoor spaces.

Five Interior Design Tips for New Construction Homes in Michigan

Here are a few ideas to get your interior-design inspirational juices flowing as you anticipate moving into a brand-new home—or dream about doing so someday in the future!

1. Harness the Power of Lighting

You’d be surprised how revolutionary lighting can be in terms of shaping an interior space. Or maybe you wouldn’t: Quite possibly you can already imagine the power of a well-designed and oriented light setup, and are eager to play around with your brand-new indoor workspace.

From smart lights to LED-lit countertops, from a grand old-fashioned chandelier in the bedroom to under-cabinet illumination, interior lighting is its own galaxy to explore, no question.

2. Take Out Walls

Walls, to state the obvious, are instrumental in shaping the movement and feel of your home’s interior. They can be structural and load-bearing, sure, but often they’re more of an aesthetic, compartmentalization feature, squaring and sequestering off rooms and sections.

All well and good, but when it comes to the communal living space sector of a home, from the all-important kitchen to dining and living rooms, you might want to knock out a (non-essential) wall entirely and adopt a more open-plan scheme. A cloistered or cramped-feeling interior can thereby suddenly evolve into an airy, light-filled, seamlessly flowing sort of floor plan that’s often vastly more inviting and pleasant.

3. Revamp Your Doors

It’s easy to underestimate the aesthetic value of doorways into and within a home, yet the sheer experience of passing through them seems to fire up all sorts of subconscious and symbolic stimuli. It therefore follows that you can really make an impact, interior-design wise, by selecting the right sorts of doors, those everyday portals that funnel us through, in, and out of our domestic space.

Imagine the impact of replacing a standard doorway with elegant French doors that flood the room with natural light, instantly brightening the space and enhancing the connection between indoor and outdoor areas. Or, consider adding a rustic touch with doors crafted from reclaimed wood, rich in texture and history, that bring a unique charm and warmth to your home. Even sliding barn doors or sleek, minimalist panel doors can add functionality and style, allowing you to personalize each room’s entryway while setting the tone for what lies beyond.

4. Unleash Your Imagination With Creative Cabinetry

When it comes down to it, the kitchen is the ultimate centerpiece of many a home: a place not only to pull together meals, but to gather and relax and connect during some pleasantly drawn-out cooking process. We end up spending a whole lot of time in the kitchen, and this puts everything from countertops to cabinetry at the forefront of your home’s overall vibe.

Consider mixing cabinet colors or finishes for a fresh, custom look—perhaps pairing deep navy lower cabinets with soft white uppers, or adding textured wood-grain cabinets alongside smooth, painted ones. Not only does this create visual interest, but it can also help define different zones in your kitchen, making it feel more dynamic and inviting. Or, take your cabinetry even further by incorporating glass-front doors to showcase your favorite dishes and add depth to the space.

Get in Touch With Visser Living to Bring Your Vision to Life

Bring your new Michigan home to life with expert design insights from Visser Living. Our team has been helping homeowners elevate their spaces since 1950, and we know the right choices can make all the difference in creating a home that’s stylish, inviting, and unmistakably yours. Whether it’s stunning lighting solutions or custom cabinetry that serves as the heart of your kitchen, we’re here to guide you through every detail that makes your space feel like home.

Reimagine your interiors with Visser Living to achieve the perfect balance of function and flair.

Here at Visser Living, we’ve been helping clients in Michigan build dazzling custom homes (along with helping with remodels, lot excavations, and other services) since 1950. In that time, we’ve learned a thing or two about how magical it is to design your very own dream house and see it manifested into reality.

The right Michigan home builders can make this much-aspired-to goal — the chance to create a place to live exactly fitted to your needs, wants, and hopes — happen, and our ultra-experienced team is a prime example.

Considering a custom build? Take a few minutes to learn how you can collaborate with a high-quality builder to create a new home that truly expresses your personality and satisfies your lifestyle in every detail.

The Pleasures of a Custom Home

Don’t get us wrong: We love helping customers re-envision older properties or prefab homes to better match their preferences and requirements. We’re sought-after Kalamazoo home remodeling pros, and this renovation/redesign route is the best choice for many homeowners.

That said, there’s something extra-special about creating a brand-new home with a layout, style, and design that’s completely customized for your household and lifestyle. Such a home can be a wonderful expression of who you are, what you value, and how you live, and that’s a really fulfilling feeling — one you may not be familiar with if you’ve made do for too long with less-than-satisfactory domiciles displaying little of your own spirit and style.

Good Michigan architects, home designers, and builders can create that new custom home you see in your mind’s eye. It’s a process we at Visser Living are genuinely passionate about; it’s just about as exciting for us as for the homeowner, because every such project is unique, bespoke — downright one-of-a-kind!

Making Your Dream Home a Beautiful Reality With Michigan Residential Architects & Builders

When you work with top-rated West Michigan home builders like Visser Living, the journey towards your custom home takes the form of a perfectly synced partnership. If a construction firm or homebuilder you’re considering for a custom job shows resistance to your input or to the idea of creative collaboration and open communication, well, we’d suggest looking elsewhere. Building a custom home is an iterative process that takes a careful balance of industry knowhow and homeowner priorities. Your (frequent, ongoing) input is a huge part of the equation.

The best Michigan home designers and builders will work with you and welcome your participation in the process to whatever degree you wish. Some folks have a fairly vague sense of what they want their home to look like, and welcome architects and builders to fill in the details, propose ideas, and run with an agreed-upon blueprint while the customer gets on with life. Other clients want to be much more involved, and rely on the builder to produce pretty much exactly what they’ve dreamed up in terms of floorplan, furnishings, materials, and the like—while, of course, being open to suggestions on the part of the homebuilding specialists.

How Do I Set Design Priorities For My Custom Home?

Those building custom homes often have an eye toward future needs and possibilities. If you’re planning on starting or growing your family, you might consider, for example, a larger mudroom or entryway with plenty of space for footwear, coats, storage, and the like—or maybe turning a stairway into a multifunctional space with an integrated locker or closet. You may want to incorporate a home office for future remote-work or retirement possibilities, or build a large garage to accommodate an RV or a boat down the line.

Perhaps you want a sunroom strategically oriented to soak up winter rays and add some cheer to the cold season. Maybe you want the kitchen to be the heart, soul, and center of your home, with expansive countertops, a butcher-block island, and some bar-style seating. It could be an entirely open-plan sort of interior design you’re after.

Of course, it’s not all about the house itself: Your family could be keen on some beautiful and highly usable hardscaping in your yard, incorporating a deck, an outdoor kitchen, a gazebo, a pondscape, a rock garden.

At Visser Living, we can help with all of the above. You can build on your own lot — we’ll even excavate it for you! — or choose to create a custom home in one of our family-friendly, advantageously situated West Michigan communities: WestPort Trails, WestPort Village, Northport Crossing, and Belle Meade. Wherever you wish to build, we’ll work with you from Day One on the plan, and we’ll consider you a partner throughout the design, construction, landscaping, and finishing processes.

For some direct inspiration in terms of dreaming up your custom home, have a look at our Visser Living gallery of completed projects!

Start Planning Your Dream Custom Home With Leading West Michigan Home Builders at Visser Living

Curious how we can help you build a custom home that’ll showcase your personality while meeting every functional need for the long haul? Get in touch with the Visser Living team today!

Whether it’s something as simple (but surprisingly effective) as a new coat of paint or a big-time expansion of your square footage via a major addition, remodeling can make an existing home—even a historic one—seem downright new. And it’s a popular route to take: In 2023, 51% of U.S. homeowners spent $25,000 or more on home-renovation projects.

Indeed, as Kermit Baker noted in a 2021 article for the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University (JCHS), “spending on home improvements and repairs has grown to equal the size of the new residential construction market in recent years.”

At Visser Living, we offer both custom home building and top-quality remodels for customers throughout Southwest Michigan. Is a Kalamazoo home remodeling project right for you?

Why Remodel Your Home?

At the most fundamental level, remodeling boosts the value of your home. That’s true from a bare financial perspective, as when someone putting a house on the market pursues upgrades, enhancements, and/or additions to heighten both its attractiveness to prospective buyers and its asking price.

A large proportion of remodeling projects accompany the sale of a house for this reason. But a lot of remodeling takes place shortly on the heels of buying a house, too.

Bring Your Vision Into to Reality

Homeowners often remodel as they seek to alter the property they’re living in — whether it’s new to them or they’re long-time owners — to better match their wants and needs.

Those wants and needs, of course, can change over time, so remodeling is also the go-to tool for people intending to stay in their current homes for the long haul to modify them to fit new or future requirements and dreams. Whether it’s for a baby on the horizon or an aging parent or other relative moving in, you may wish to morph an existing room into a bedroom, or add an entire new wing. Maybe you’re planning to do more remote work, and wish to furnish a basement or convert a guestroom to create a home office. All of these changes can improve functionality and potentially add value to the home.

Go Green to Save Some Green

Perhaps you want to upgrade the energy efficiency of your home, or replace outdated fixtures, heating/cooling systems, or other components with more modern setups. Needed repairs—a leaky roof, a crumbling foundation, peeling exterior paint—are often the impetus for a more ambitious remodel. All of these sorts of goals suggest the benefits of remodeling when it comes to extracting more value, utility, energy efficiency, and enjoyment from your home.

Revitalize an Older Property For Years to Come

Remodeling is also essential as a practical means of extending the lifespan and usefulness of older properties. As Baker notes in the previously referenced JCHS article:

“[…] home improvement projects are the primary mechanism for adapting homes to changing household preferences and needs. As our population growth continues to slow and the average age of our stock of homes increases, the importance of the remodeling industry in meeting our national housing needs has become even more apparent.”

Common Remodeling Projects: Top Areas to Look For Value

We’ve hinted at some common remodeling scenarios already. In terms of specific areas of the home, kitchens, bathrooms, basements, roofs, heating/cooling systems, and outdoor areas (such as decks, patios, and landscaping) are high-ranking targets of remodeling.

A USA Today HOMEFRONT analysis that looked at such recent reports as the JCHS’s 2024 Q1 Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity, the 2022 National Association of Realtors Remodeling Impact Report, and the 2024 U.S. Houzz & Home Study suggests kitchens, guest bathrooms, primary bathrooms, and living rooms lead among the most renovated rooms.

And when it comes to home exteriors, the U.S. Houzz & Home Study showed roofing, windows and skylights, exterior paint, and gutters/downspouts were the most popular remodeling projects.

Speaking of outdoor spaces, remodeling in the form of adding decks, patios, gardens, gazebos, firepits, and attractive hardscaping is a way to enjoy the fresh-air side of your home more extensively—a great choice here in Southwest Michigan, where, if you ask us, our long summer days and lovely fall weather ought to be taken full advantage of!

Turn to Visser Living for Southwest Michigan Home Remodeling

Here at Visser Living, we’re not only leading Kalamazoo home builders: We’ve also undertaken countless home remodeling projects throughout Southwest Michigan for more than six decades.

Whether it’s increasing your home’s property value ahead of a sale, adapting it to changing household needs, or tackling overdue repairs and upgrades, look no further than our ultra-experienced team for the finest quality home remodeling in Michigan! Get in touch with us today, and let’s start dreaming and planning together.

The lively midsized city of Kalamazoo and its Southwest Michigan surrounds are a truly fantastic place to call home. Kalamazoo landed on U.S. News & World Report’s 2024-2025 list of the 150 Best Places to Live in the U.S., while Money ranked it among the 50 Best Places to Live in the U.S. in 2024. Proudly home to Western Michigan University, “KZoo” or “The Zoo” also nabbed the top slot in PureWow’s 2021 roundup of the coolest cities in the U.S. with the lowest cost of living.

Perhaps you don’t need any more convincing: You may well already be looking to move to the Kalamazoo region, or to find a new home here that better suits your needs. In that case, building a custom home—one that exactly matches your hopes, needs, and preferences—can be an excellent way to go.

Why Custom Build a Home in Michigan?

It’s a common scenario for new homeowners to end up spending years—and more than a little money—renovating an older home or spec house to achieve the layout and features they truly desire. After all, we often make major compromises when buying a house, not least if we’ve been on the hunt awhile.

You can circumvent the time and complication of transforming a newly bought property by having your dream house built precisely to your specifications, right off the bat. Custom home builders—good ones, that is—can create the house of your mind’s eye, with that stately greatroom, that in-home music studio or home office, or that wraparound deck and screened-in porch that allow you to extract maximum enjoyment from a Southwest Michigan summer.

Choosing the Best Custom Home Builders in Kalamazoo, Michigan

Unfortunately, as with so many services, not every custom home builder in Michigan hits the mark. Commissioning a custom home is one of the biggest and most momentous steps you’re likely to take: the chance to move into a house and yardscape that fulfill each and every design detail, large and small, you’ve yearned for. Not every company can make that happen.

Look Closely At Portfolios

When searching for a builder that’ll meet your standards and pull off a stellar job, it goes without saying that seeing examples of custom homes a particular company has constructed is a valuable early step. Good builders use high-quality materials and show versatility when it comes to design, size, and other fundamental home features.

Prioritize Responsive Partners

It’s also important to find a builder that will involve you throughout the process and establish open lines of communication to allow for your regular consultation and input. When it comes down to it, a custom home is a collaboration between you and the professional design and construction team that’ll make it a reality. Your vision may change as the project proceeds, and various site contingencies and other realities may require creative thinking and problem-solving. You don’t want to be left out of the loop.

Visser Living: Your Go-To Choice for Custom Home Builders in Kalamazoo, Michigan & Beyond

With decades of experience both building and remodeling homes across the region, the team here at Visser Living is proud to rank among the premier custom builders in Kalamazoo. We do indeed involve you every step of the way, not just during the initial consultations establishing a blueprint. From plumbing to flooring to countertops, we’re here to make sure that your custom Kalamazoo-area home is checking every box, and ready to adapt to your new ideas and inspirations as the design and building process goes along so that you end up with a property that harmonizes beautifully with your lifestyle.

Reach out to Visser Living today to start realizing your dream of a custom home in Michigan’s Kalamazoo region!

When Steve and Mary first came to us to help them find a condominium, we were excited to begin the search. They were looking to downsize and simplify their lives through what condo living provides. We brought them through many homes, but none of them felt quite right for them. They didn’t love the idea of sharing a wall with their neighbors, and they wanted a newer feel and upgraded look. Privacy was also very important to them.

While building instead of buying used was not their initial plan, they discovered it might be the best option for them.

• It fit with their timeline for when they wanted to sell their current home,
• they would be able to be involved throughout the whole process and make it their own,
• and they could choose their desired lot and location.

West Port Village was their first choice due to location and offering custom free-standing condos. We narrowed down the available lots in West Port Village by what would give them the most privacy and the best natural light. They chose a big lot, suitable for any plan West Port Village offered. The lot backed up to large pine trees, giving the privacy that was so important to them after coming from a 10-acre property.

Next up was floor plan selection. WPV offers multiple floor plan options with the flexibility to modify them to each homeowner’s needs and wants. Steve and Mary sat down with the builder to determine the best plan for them and their desired modifications.

They are so excited to have a place that checks every box on their list, and we are happy we could help them find that!

Learn more about West Port Village.

Most people want a home that speaks to their needs and tastes, one that is energy efficient or eco-friendly and that has the latest technology. They also want a home that is conveniently located to work and shopping, dining and entertainment. Building a home means you get to make a few choices about features like cabinets, counters, and fixtures. With customization, however, you choose everything for your work, family and lifestyle needs. If a pet suite for a furry family member or a dedicated craft room is what your heart desires, a custom home can be designed to accommodate your needs and dreams. The homeowner of this photo has a beautiful sunroom with cathedral ceiling dedicated to her passion for playing piano. When she asked Visser if we could accommodate a space for her grand piano we gladly replied, “of course!”

Let’s talk about your custom ideas, we would love to hear them.