It’s one thing to get involved in a housing trend because you are interested in creating a unique and affordable home. But it’s a completely different beast if you are hoping to flip your barndominium for profit within the next few years.
Just as with other aspects of the barndominium construction project, barndominium resale value isn’t as transparent as it might be for other traditional homes. You can guarantee an increased return on any investment you put into your barndominium, but it might not be as high as with other residential properties.
Read on to learn how to best determine your barndominium resale value – and how you can intelligently put your barndominium on the market today.
Barndominium Home Comparisons
Part of how you can start determining how much you should sell your barndominium for is by comparing your home to other houses on the market in your area. But you need to make sure you’re looking in the right places and for the right information.
You might think that looking at a barndominium and a traditional home of the same size will give you the answer you need. As a general rule, the value of a traditional timber build will increase by 4% every year after it is built. However, barndominiums usually cost one-third of the construction price of a traditional home. You get much more square footage at a lower cost, and you don’t have to worry about load-bearing walls in your barndominium home.
While the benefits of a barndominium far outweigh a traditional home, this cost disparity can also be reflected in a barndominium’s resale value. For this reason, you need to look at other post-frame metal building designs to truly understand the potential resale value of your barndominium.
Ultimately, you want to enter your barndominium resale process thinking like a realtor. Looking for comparable properties to your barndominium in real estate lingo is referred to as looking for “comps,” and realtors will also go through this process to better determine the value of your barndominium home. Realtors will consider both square footage and the overall design of the home when looking for comps to help determine the resale value of your barndominium.
Barndominium Resale Factors
Even if you plan to live in your barndominium for the rest of your life, it’s worth it to consider resale factors at the beginning of your barndominium home project. These will better guarantee anyone can sell your barndominium at a profit in the future.
Here are the four main barndominium details that most play a role in resale value:
Barndominum Location
Outside of comparable properties, the location of your barndominium is one of the biggest elements that can impact your barndominium’s resale value. New homeowners are most attracted to an area with guaranteed career opportunities, entertainment and community events outside of the home, and easy access to schools near the location of a new barndominium home.
However, barndominiums are most popular in Texas and the American Midwest for a reason. Barndominiums most easily lend themselves to a rural lifestyle, where you can commit to living off the grid and enjoy the natural landscape around your home.
You can work around this issue by planning to build your barndominium near-direct access to major interstate roads or highways. Or if you are willing to build your barndominium in an area where there are a lot of comparable properties, realtors and appraisers will be able to determine a much more accurate value of your home when you put it on the market for resale.
Your Barndominium Floor Plan
Barndominiums already fit into a unique taxing bracket because they often function first as a garage or working space and second as a residential property. The blueprint of your barndominium will also play a role in the resale value of your barndominium, which will vary from state to state.
Some states will only tax the living space in your barndominium, while others will require you to pay taxes per square footage on your barndominium property. Living space in a home is defined as the areas that are climate-controlled in your home. This includes the parts of your floor plan set aside for living, eating, sleeping, or cooking. Non-living spaces in your home include closets, garages, and other utility spaces. So often, the largest areas of your barndominium floor plan are not included in the overall value of your home.
Just like the location of your barndominium, the size of the lot where you choose to build your barndominium can also play a role in your home’s overall value. The average size for a barndominium is 2,400 square feet, and most barndominium homeowners will aim to build a barndominium on a lot that is four times the size of their barndominium home. This gives you room for mobility and privacy, along with your larger home layout.
Generally, a barndominium will cost about $60 per square foot to build, which means you should plan to pay around $150,000 for the overall construction of your barndominium home.
Barndo History
The older your barndominium is, the more you’ll have to account for when you choose to put your barndominium on the market. Especially if you’ve already had to complete extensive repairs on your barndominium, you might scare away potential buyers who see your barndominium as a project home vs move-in ready.
Even though a professional appraiser or realtor will determine the value of a home based on if it’s up to all legal codes in its area, the overall physical upkeep of your barndominium will matter more to new homeowners. For this reason, it’s especially important to only put your barndominium up for resale once you have completed all cosmetic updates to your home. This includes flooring, countertops, and any painting or wallpapering around your barndominium.
Repairs and maintenance behind the scenes are important, but not as important as the first impression someone has when they walk into your barndominium home.
Any Barndo Add-Ons
Another way to guarantee a higher barndominium resale value is to invest in add-ons to your barndominium home. These can be projects you take on over the time you live in your barndominium. Or if you include them with the initial floor plans for your barndominium, their cost can be folded into your home mortgage.
A barndominium in Texas or California with year-round sun is more likely to sell at a higher price if you add outdoor entertainment areas. This can include a screened-in porch, a covered outdoor seating area, or a pool. Additions like these can also help potential homeowners better understand how you’ve divided up the zoned areas of your home.
High-end finishes to your barndominium home will require less maintenance from you over time and increase the final selling value of your home. These can include high-end floors like stone or hardwood, heated flooring in bathroom areas, or statement lighting throughout your barndominium.
It’s also easy to overlook built-in storage in your barndominium home. Just because a barndominum is naturally large doesn’t mean it can be easily organized. Instead, give potential buyers a vision of how they can hide clutter and arrange their belongings within your barndominium by including closets, shelves, cabinetry, and built-in drawers throughout your barndominum floor plan.
Barndominium Selling Tips
When you are finally ready to sell your barndominium, remember first impressions are everything. You want the new owners of your barndominium to be able to imagine themselves living in your space as soon they walk in. That’s why it is usually worth your money to hire a professional stager and photographer to help capture your barndominium at its best.
And because barndominiums are already an alternative form of housing, it doesn’t hurt to consider alternative forms of marketing to sell your home. Post your home sale on barndominium social media pages to attract people who are already fans of barndominiums and might be quick to buy.
Just as you usually leave behind appliances when you move, it’s also worth it to think about what items that are specific to a barndominium lifestyle you could include in the sale of your barndominium home. This might include a recreational vehicle or some power tools to help them start their new life as a shouse resident.
Finally, even if you plan to sell your barndominium by yourself, it’s still worth it to consult with a local real estate agent and appraiser. There are details about your barndominium home they will notice that you, as the everyday homeowner, will not.
Conclusion
Now that you’ve read through our guide to barndominium resale value, the only thing left to do is to get started on your new post-frame home design! Feel free to check out our barndominium FAQs, including how to get a USDA loan for your barndominium.
If you want to learn more before you commit to building your post-frame home, check out our eBook Building Your Dream Barndominium. It’s affordable, informative, and will give you every resource you need to move forward confidently with your post-frame home build.