Me and our family are kicking around the idea of replacing our 100 year old farm house with a barnominium out in east Texas. There really isn't a lot of info that I found on the web but I heard this may be way to keep your taxes somewhat lower than if you were construct a new home. Plus I love the idea of having a ton of storage for my big toys.

So what are other pros and cons? Good idea or bad idea?

Pro: inexpensive

Con: if anything catches fire in your barn (where you store gasoline, vehicles, flammable crap and power tools), it'll take you house down with it.

Last place I hunted, the barn had just gone up in flames when nobody was around.

My friend who's a builder in West Texas says most barndominiums have to be built with cash or very little financing because comparables are very hard to find for mortgage underwriting.

Neighbor who's an Ag built one 5 years ago. Large space for the Tractor and the Bobcat etc....Then 1 br 1 bath on the ground floor. Office space with a bath up stairs. Stair way in the barn not eating up ac space. Finished out some attic space there that is like 8 - 10 beds. All utilities in the barn space. (washer, dryer, water heater, ac etc.) Lives very well for them for weeks at a time sometimes. Now going to build primary house. Also makes very big roof for rain water collection that is much better than well water here in the hill country.

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My friend who's a builder in West Texas says most barndominiums have to be built with cash or very little financing because comparables are very hard to find for mortgage underwriting.

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Our bank told us the same thing. They would have to have the plans reviewed before they would even consider it for a partial loan.

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My friend who's a builder in West Texas says most barndominiums have to be built with cash or very little financing because comparables are very hard to find for mortgage underwriting.

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Our bank told us the same thing. They would have to have the plans reviewed before they would even consider it for a partial loan.

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My brother went through the same thing. Had a family friend who was going to build it basically at cost and the bank still wouldn't touch it.

How far in East Texas? Capital Farm Credit does barndo's.

Capital Farm Credit will finance if your in one of their chartered counties. Give the closest office a call.

It's in Van Zandt County fwiw. We will probably not have to finance it depending on how much of a finish out we do to the living area.

Not to derail, but where at in Van Zandt?

[This message has been edited by triad (edited 12/1/2013 7:56p).]

If you don't know Van Zandt - best not ask questions

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I heard this may be way to keep your taxes somewhat lower than if you were construct a new home

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I don't get this. If you build a fancy home worth X dollars, it will be taxed at X dollars, whether built in town or in the country. The only thing I can guess on the tax savings:

1) Property taxes. You build the house and disguise its true size and value because it's inside a barn. The tax appraiser can't look at it and give it a proper value because it's hidden.

If I'm a tax appraiser, I fix this by putting a ridiculously high appraisal on the place and thus force you to protest and show me the real value.

2) Federal income taxes. Someone thinks you can deduct it from your taxes because it's a barn. I guess you can as long as you don't get caught and don't mind letting your ethics lapse. The feds will let a farmer deduct the barn part, but unless you're leasing the house or letting your hand live there, you can't deduct the house.


Am I missing something?

Would be cool to have one for weekend home etc but pisses me off when people try to do it to avoid paying taxes

Know this old guy whose an ass that just build a huge ine for him and his wife. Has like 3 to bay doors plus a shop area. Ridiculousness.

I guess I should clarify what this is for. Basically it's a vacation home/getaway house for our family. We already lease out another farm house on the same property and they run cattle on our land. They would technically have access to barnominium and can use it to help run their operation (storage area). But I don't really want to get into an ethics battle just if people on here have experience with Barnominiums and if it's an option worth pursing

Btw Canyon:

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If I'm a tax appraiser, I fix this by putting a ridiculously high appraisal on the place and thus force you to protest and show me the real value.

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I am an appraiser on the commercial side, this would not be very wise for the tax appraiser

I'm not an appraiser. So I get to throw out ridiculous ideas and unlawful suggestions.

Barndominiums are hard to comp but there are comps out there. How much were y'all thinking of putting down % wise?

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If you don't know Van Zandt - best not ask questions

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Oh, I know Van Zandt County.

[This message has been edited by AgBrad08 (edited 12/2/2013 9:17p).]

Just got through building a barndo. We are really enjoying it though I'm still doing finish out work as I have time. I hired some things out and did a lot myself. I kept a good list of material cost and presented that to the CAD for taxing purposes. We finished ours out to the point that you can't tell you're in a barn once you walk through the door. You can get as fancy as you want.

One thing that I think people are off on perception though is that it's some magical way to build something a lot cheaper than traditional construction. The shell goes up faster which is cheaper than traditional but from that point forward everything costs the same as building a house. Cement slabs don't care if a house or a barndo goes on them....they still cost the same. Plumbing is the same as is interior finish. The barndo was really made famous by taking an old barn and utilizing the cost saving of already having a shell in place. With new construction you are paying for that shell.

At any rate, it's something I would do again as I enjoy the functionality and I'm glad we built it how we wanted from the start rather than trying to piece it together over time.

If you have any questions I'd be glad to share my experiences with you. I've got a pretty good catalog of pictures that I took during the building process and I learned a ton.

I'm also an appraiser and have rural sales all over the state with barndos. Capital Farm Credit will finance and their appraisers are pretty familiar with the concept. We did ours with cash but CFC did offer to finance it.

The guy down the road built a barndominium next to his house for his caretaker to live in. The living quarters has two bedrooms, full kitchen, bath and living room. The "barn" houses a 23 car garage, workshop, storage etc.
Of course, the guy down the road is Frank Beard.
I don't think financing was a problem with him.

I have a metal house going up right now. I did it for the functionality. I like having the "2nd floor" for storage. I'm spray foaming it and putting a rock wainscoat. Other than seeing the metal on the outside, you won't know you're in a barn. One tip/suggestion I saw on another that I'm incorporating is double 2x6ing all my door openings and using 6 in metal studs for the exterior. The lumber in the framed openings deadens the metal building sound when closing doors and using the metal studs prevents some wasted space as I'm not framing inside the typical purling.

Country, I'd like to see some pics and hear any dos and don'ts. I have my slab poured and the metal is supposed to start today.

What is the rough cost per square foot? I know it varies greatly based on the finish work and upgrades, but just looking for a rough idea.

If you really don't save much over a conventional house then why not just build a house with a large garage and have much easier resell?

bump

County, would love to see pics as well. Thinking about building one myself one day.

Let's see if this works. I have way too many pictures to try and do a post with links, etc to images. I created a pdf with a lot of pictures and some items of discussion. Here is the link. You should be able to download a pdf document from the link. I'll be around for any questions anyone may have.

Kimble County Barndo Build

[This message has been edited by country (edited 12/6/2013 6:40p).]

Country,
I know this is an old thread,but we are in the process of building our barndominium. I'm interested in any info like do's and dont's after living in it for a few years and maybe some more pics if you still have some.

Thanks

Has this farm been in your family for 100 years? If so it may qualify for the Texas family land heritage program. It's a pretty cool commemoration for your land. Unless the house is falling down and beyond repair you might reconsider replacing it. Maybe I'm a history / heritage nut but I'd love to have that history on my land

My cousin has one outside of Bryan toward Caldwell , but I don't know his Texags name. Ed you on here?!

obligatory Jon Voight:





[This message has been edited by vanzandt92 (edited 7/30/2014 10:36p).]

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My friend who's a builder in West Texas says most barndominiums have to be built with cash or very little financing because comparables are very hard to find for mortgage underwriting.

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This is the most ridiculous rumor I have ever heard.

Willis Custom Homes. They built Gabe Bock's brick house in town but they specialized in barndominiums before that.

I've got a buddy who builds them. I will pick his brain and try to remember to reply.

I learned something new this morning, I had never heard of a Barndominium until now. Took a quick look on Google, interesting concept. Might be something to look at in a few years when my wife and I are ready to downsize for tax purposes when we retire.

We have provided financing to credit worthy individuals for the construction and appraised many barndominiums. We would more than glad to take a look at the financing for these projects.

Sponsor Message: “We’re the answer for all your rural lending needs.” www.CapitalFarmCredit.com

Boom

This is one of my favorites from a few years ago.

http://s828.photobucket.com/user/melackey/library/completed%20ranch%20house/#/user/melackey/library/completed%20ranch%20house?sort=6&page=1&_suid=140681447029909360321705913115