Barden Building Products Blog Archive

Every custom home tells a story — one of dreams, aspirations, and personalized touches that transform a house into a haven. As we close the chapter on 2025, it’s time to set our sights on what lies ahead in custom home design for 2026.

Building a new custom home starts with choosing the right approach. Panelized construction systems offer a clear, organized path compared with traditional stick building. Each stage is designed to keep your project on track and get you closer to move-in day.

If you're thinking about buying a house in Upstate New York, you’ve likely discovered just how challenging the process can be. 

The moment a decent listing goes live, it’s flooded with offers and often disappears within days. Prices are climbing. Choices are shrinking. And for many buyers — especially first-timers or growing families — the entire process can feel exhausting.

But here’s the good news: You’re not stuck. Instead of battling it out in a tough market, you can build the home you actually want, from the ground up.

The Upstate New York housing market is tighter than ever. Buyers from Buffalo to Syracuse are battling for a limited supply of homes — listings are scarce, prices are climbing, and properties vanish almost as soon as they’re listed. For families and first-time buyers, the struggle to secure a home that fits their needs and budgets is very real.

For those looking to go the prefab route to build a custom home in Western New York, there are two routes: modular home building or panelized construction. 

In most cases, those who become one of our independent dealers already have an established home building company.

Such is the case with Severyn Development. A Lancaster, N.Y.-based construction firm, Severyn had long been doing business in Western New York before becoming one of our Barden Independent Dealers. 

As in past years, 2023 was a busy year for the entire Barden Building Products family. 

Throughout this past year, we and our Barden Independent Dealers helped plenty of customers build a wide variety of homes that ticked all their wants and needs boxes. With our catalog of hundreds of fully customizable floor plans to choose from, it’s almost impossible to see the exact same home constructed twice.

Congratulations on deciding to build your own custom home! 

Now comes the fun part -- diving headfirst into all the elements to make your next home a reality such as coming up with a floor plan that meets all your needs to finding the perfect spot if you already haven’t.  

Before you take your first steps into custom home building, you may be wondering about one of the most common questions we get: When is the best time to start home construction?

The answer probably isn’t what you think. 

Let’s unpack that question.

Unfortunately, it seems as though “accessible home” has become a buzzword in the home building community with many misconceptions surrounding the true meaning of universal design and home accessibility.