Barn Pros - feedback, anyone?

[Stuka]

I'm interested in Barn Pros products, they seem to have a good variety. The text says these packages include everything except the nails, roofing, and slab.

I'm especially interested in the models that have the studio or apartment in the hay loft area. Such as this: Barn With Living Quarters | Barn With Apartment | Barn Pros

Anyone heard anything about these kits, pros and cons?

thanks! :thumbsup:

 

[BeezFun]

Very attractive, haven't heard of them but prices seem very high. For the smallest structure on the page you point to, base price is $50K and that's without concrete, roofing, windows, stalls, nails, utilities, drywall, fixtures. Design also requires being bolted to a slab, which means the slab has to be engineered and not just an after the fact pour. I'd guess by the time you're done that's $100K for a 1000 sq ft barn/apt, which is $100 per sf construction cost. Have you looked at Menards? They have some pretty decent plans for buildings like that.

 

[murphy1244]

Pole barns in my area are around 12.00 a square foot.

 

[Stuka]

Thanks for the feedback, guys. I will check Menards.

 

[Stuka]

Well, Menards appears to be a regional business. They're in Minnesota and I'm in Texas.

This site sells just the plans and they suggest $8 - 10 sf. Do you think they are including the cost of the slab?

 

[ENG18LT]

You may want to check out Hansen buildings, a couple friends have used them with good results. I am pretty sure they deliver nation wide.

 

[BeezFun]

Well, Menards appears to be a regional business. They're in Minnesota and I'm in Texas.

Didn't realize they only go south to Kansas city. You must have some equivalent big box that sells barn and house kits.

This site sells just the plans and they suggest $8 - 10 sf. Do you think they are including the cost of the slab?

The page says price of shell materials for the barn is $8-10 sf, so no, it doesn't include concrete because the concrete isn't part of the shell.

 

[BeezFun]

You may want to check out Hansen buildings, a couple friends have used them with good results. I am pretty sure they deliver nation wide.

Ditto on that, I'm working on a quote with them right now. Seem really good.

 

[Obed]

Stuka, what are your intentions? Is this going to be your permanent dwelling? Apartment for a rural property on which you will visit or live in just part of the year? A temporary place to live until you build a house? When we had a rural property 90 minutes from us, we wanted a place to store the tractor, etc. and an apartment where we could visit. There are lots of garage plans available with upstairs living spaces that would have suited our needs fine if we hadn't decided to sell that property.

The buildings you referred us to looked very attractive. However, if the cost ends up being $100/SF, I'm afraid you could never get your money back out of it. Buyers just wouldn't be willing to pay the same dollar/SF for a barn as for a house. If you want an apartment in a barn, you should do it as cheaply as possible so you would lose as little as possible if you had to sell. In our area, out-buildings (barns, sheds, workshops, etc.) don't add as much value in dollars to the property as they cost to build.

If you went with the garage with upstairs apartment, you would get more of your money back if you sold than if you built a barn with an apartment. You could market the property as having a house, something that would be tougher to do with only a barn.

Now if you have lots of cash, and the price doesn't impact your world, then go for it if that's what you want.

Obed

 

[Stuka]

Stuka, what are your intentions? Is this going to be your permanent dwelling? Apartment for a rural property on which you will visit or live in just part of the year? A temporary place to live until you build a house? When we had a rural property 90 minutes from us, we wanted a place to store the tractor, etc. and an apartment where we could visit. There are lots of garage plans available with upstairs living spaces that would have suited our needs fine if we hadn't decided to sell that property.

The buildings you referred us to looked very attractive. However, if the cost ends up being $100/SF, I'm afraid you could never get your money back out of it. Buyers just wouldn't be willing to pay the same dollar/SF for a barn as for a house. If you want an apartment in a barn, you should do it as cheaply as possible so you would lose as little as possible if you had to sell. In our area, out-buildings (barns, sheds, workshops, etc.) don't add as much value in dollars to the property as they cost to build.

If you went with the garage with upstairs apartment, you would get more of your money back if you sold than if you built a barn with an apartment. You could market the property as having a house, something that would be tougher to do with only a barn.

Now if you have lots of cash, and the price doesn't impact your world, then go for it if that's what you want.

Obed

Obed, thanks for the feedback! (I have been following your thread for a year!)

Thankfully, these people here have pointed out the $/sf is pretty high for the BarnPros route. I have ordered a brochure, to see exactly what their kits consist of. They do look nice, but like most people, I want to get a good value for my investment.

I probably will plan this out over the next two years before I act. My intentions are to make this my retirement dwelling. I like the gambrell "barn"/garage with upstairs apartment, because it looks like an affordable way to have a decent garage/workshop space with living quarters. Ideally, the apartment space would be around 800 sq ft, with the same on the downstairs garage.

If you went with the garage with upstairs apartment, you would get more of your money back if you sold than if you built a barn with an apartment.

I'm a little fuzzy on what you mean here. Garage with upstairs apartment vs. barn with upstairs apartment; what is the main difference? The style of the dwelling? To me, the barn is the same as a house, except a different style roof, and fewer windows, but the windows could be part of a barn, right?

Thanks, look forward to your comments.