The choice is always yours. Regardless of which route you take, you will be inundated with opinions and options. The difference with a custom build is that you get the components you want. If you spend that much money, you might as well have a say on the components.
My last custom-built was in 2023, and to a lesser degree than your second-chance deal, I named it in honor of my aging Karelian Bear Dog, Thor, https://www.longrangehunting.com/threads/my-338-thor.327058/#post-2776837. He turned 15 last October. You can either work closely with a gunsmith and discuss your build or acquire all components yourself and have a gunsmith build it for you. I chose the latter as mine.
