If you are like many home buyers today, you might be a little confused over the terms used to describe a "non-tradionally built" home. So let's start right there with the term "traditional" home. When you see a home described in this way, it simply means that the home was built the "traditional" way that homes have historically been built. A home BUILDERS buyer works with a general contractor to design their new home, the contractor gets the permits, hires subcontractors, orders the materials, the materials are shipped to the home site where the construction BEGINS. (We've simplified it a bit here for this article, but those are the basic steps).