new member with a quick question

[workman43113]

Hi everybody I'm new to this forum. My name is Braden and I'm a 23 year old guy from circleville, ohio. I became interested in the log home builders association as a tool to start my own business with but also I really wanted to learn how to make something of this magnitude with my hands. I feel that creating something like a log home must be a very empowering feeling. I plan on taking the class in March if I get my money situated properly. I hope the class doesn't fill up. My question I guess Is really for the people who have built and sold there own cabin. I have heard the testamonials from the site but it is reassuring to hear from real people on the forum. Was building and selling your own cabin profitable for you and how so and what type of profits can one expect. Also what are your feelings on the seminar good or bad? Thank you all very much for your time. Oh and by the way I'm going to take the class no matter what because I'm a hard head.

[Mark]

Hi Braden.

The class was great for instilling confidence that I could Get the logs and roof up. This forum came along when I was building and lots of the members were very helpfull. The instructors and Richard Rock, thier engineer-in-cahoots, are a great help to members in the building process. You just can't say enough good things about the support system.

There are lots of choices you have to make in the process that will determine if and how much profit you will make if you build on speculation of selling. The class will teach you lots of ways to save money and is worth the cost just for that one reason.

I made some mistakes, used contractor help and still made good wages even though I had to sell before the house was finished.

And remember these three most important things if you are buying a property to build a spec house on. wink:

1-Location
2-Location
3-Location

[Basil]

Well, I'm not done building yet, but I can see how it works and it is all possible. I'm finishing my roof now and only working on weekends, vacations, days off, etc. I laid my first log down on june 13 2005, and I have a full time job while I'm doing this. I'll have aobut $50-$70K in the house when I'm done, and will have about 3000 square feet. Houses in this area typically sell for at least $80 per square foot, so that gives you a rough estimate for the type of proffit I would expect if I sold.

It's important to keep in mind the class isn't just about learning how to build a log home. When I took the class Skip said that when he was done teaching it we would wonder why we had to travel half way across the country to be taught things that were so obvious. How to build is important but it is all common sense logical stuff. The class teaches you about how to acquire materials, where to scrounge for things, how to deal with loggers and truckers and the type of professions that you may never have had contact with before.

It's really about how to get what you want, where you want it, for as little $ as possible. With the end result being a log home.

I'm not building to resell, but my house is visible from the road. I get visitors almost every day, who just want to pull into my driveway and see a "real log home" (their words, not mine). They can tell it's different from the road (1500 yards away) and drive in to take a look. I have had people ask if I would sell it even before I have the roof done-so I know there is a market for it.

I was very skeptical of the website at first, it really is a little over the top with testimonials and statements that are "too good to be true." But since the forum started, I've really met people that got free logs, found free housing while they built, and built for a fraction of the price that I'm building for. I wish I had taken the class in my early twenties instead of my early thirties.

[workman43113]

Awesome Basil thanks alot. The website is a little hokie but I also saw the potential instead of being detoured by the almost to good to be true part of the website.

[JeffandSara]

Hi, Braden--

and welcome to the forum. :D

My husband and our kids and I are living in a log home we built after attending the seminar. We feel both that the seminar was worth every penny (Jeff actually paid to go twice.. once alone, and again with me) and that the log building technique you'll learn there is the strongest, cheapest, fastest, easiest, and least-problematic out there.

A lot is made of the building cheap aspect, and clearly we saved money on our house, but not like some other people. The lack of useable local timber, high local materials costs, etc., made our house costs higher... but high local house values make the finished product worth more, too. So, it seems that the "profit" potential is still there, even if the "overhead" of the project is necessarily higher for some regions than others.

We aren't currently planning to sell our house, but we feel certain we could easily if we chose to... and make a very healthy profit on the project. We also feel confident that should we choose to, we could build another house... probably even better, faster and cheaper than this one. We did consider building-to-sell repeatedly, but since Jeff has a good career, building full-time was not necessarily preferable (at this time, anyway). But it does seem quite realistic that if you have the desire, skills, and energy to build for profit, you could do so with this method very nicely.

DO try to get to the seminar sooner than later... once you've gone, you'll be looking at the whole process a little differently, including design and other planning issues. The seminar is a "total package" and the techniques are so simple, but completely opposite of what kit log homes and handcrafted log homes are based on. A lot of our preconceived ideas got turned around after that first weekend with Skip... but definitely for the BETTER!

Best wishes to you.
Sara :D