Buying a turnkey property removes a lot of the headaches homebuyers face when they pursue a custom home design, either by renovating or building from scratch. Opting for “move-in-ready” provides a high level of predictability in terms of move-in date and costs, while also allowing buyers to avoid the stress that can accompany the home design process.
But choosing a turnkey property also has its downsides. As California-based residential real estate developer Christopher Duffy reveals, buying a home “off the rack” means accepting higher costs and less control over the final product.
“Cost is one of the primary reasons someone might choose custom over turnkey,” Duffy says. “With custom design, homeowners get to select where they spend their budget. If they really want a specific design for their primary bathroom, they can cut back on kitchen features to stay within their price range. You don’t have that level of control when you buy a turnkey property.”
Duffy is the Founder and CEO of Hummingbird Development, which serves clients in Northern California with projects that balance functional design, construction quality, and investor returns. Hummingbird’s approach emphasizes disciplined underwriting while delivering cost-efficient construction and strategic value-add improvements. Duffy’s expertise is focused specifically on residential construction, real estate investment, California real estate, and remodeling costs and trends.
Homebuyers who want the ability to both control costs and get the features they envision generally have two paths to get there: either buy an existing property and renovate it, or hire a custom home builder to handle the design and construction. While both can ultimately result in a dream home, they have some distinctions that homebuyers should make sure to explore on the front end.
Complexity is one of the key factors in play when deciding between a design-and-build project or a remodel. While a kitchen renovation can seem to require a dizzying number of decisions about materials and finishes, building from the ground up is much more involved.
“Building is an exponentially more complex process than renovating,” Duffy warns. “First, there are the basic infrastructure costs that don’t exist in renovating, such as running a new sewer line, connecting the utilities, and grading the landscape. Those steps aren’t part of the renovating process, but they are absolutely essential and much more costly than the average homeowner may think.”
The time factor is also something homebuyers weighing their options should consider. Timelines are exponentially longer for new builds and may not align with the homebuyer’s needs.
“Simple renovations can be done in a matter of weeks,” Duffy offers. “Even extensive full home remodels can be done in a few months, but a new ground-up build is almost always at least two years.”
Financing is another issue that can be challenging for those who want to build rather than remodel. The average homeowner can typically get a mortgage for a house and then a small home equity line of credit to renovate the house with little difficulty. Land being developed and built, however, has a very narrow market for financing.
“When you choose to build, a traditional mortgage is usually out of the question,” Duffy explains. “Lenders are looking more at the ability of the homeowner to finish the project than they are just the straight financing involved with mortgages on existing homes. Whereas a standard mortgage typically involves 20% down or less financed over 30 years, raw land typically requires 40 to 50% down or higher financed over a shorter period of time. And the loan for the actual construction is issued on the back end only after permits are secured.”
While new construction financing can clearly be challenging, those who can secure it gain some key benefits. For one, they can build exactly what they want. Even when remodeling a turnkey house, homeowners may be kept from achieving their dream home by floor plans or home sites that aren’t ideal.
New construction can also provide a much higher return on investment. Home builders regularly accept the challenges associated with new construction financing because of the financial benefits that lie on the other side.
“If you can stomach the difficulties associated with building projects, navigate them, and get the financing they require, you can often see returns as high as 100%,” Duffy says. “In other words, a project involving $1 million in construction and land costs can often be resold at $2 million or more. So the economics of a new build are great.”
For those intent on a particular vision, a new build offers a range of possibilities that few renovation projects can match, but it also requires overcoming a significantly greater number of hurdles. Consequently, experts point to remodels as the solution for those seeking to add value with shorter timelines and less costs.
“I love new builds,” Duffy says. “They’re fun, complex, exciting, and they contribute to the community more than any other type of building project. But unless you have a great deal of time and budget available, I would defer to renovations. Buy a small to mid-sized house, make it a little bit bigger, and remodel the interior. That is by far the biggest bang for your buck and your time commitment.”
Original byline: Dan Jordan, The Los Angeles Tribune, April 2, 2026
