Built for $20,000 Sold for $350,000 .. I'm a critic and here is why.

[fabincabin]

I like to be dealt with on the level and although people seem to do wonderful things after taking these classes, I do want to express what I believe are disingenuous claims about building and selling costs.

If you browse the wonderful student houses and read the captions.. you will find a number of claims such as "built for $20,000 and sold for $300,000 and Built for $60,000 and sold for $500,000. Now thinking people may notice that these claims seemingly omit crucial information which results in a misleading conclusion.

What is the crucial information that's missing? The Cost of the land. If were are to believe that a student built his cabin for $60,000 and sold it for $500,000.. then the suggestion is that the owner/builder made $440,000 in profit but doggone it, what did he pay for the land the cabin sits on? $50,000? $100,000? $300,000?. We have no idea and that's the point. The two women who built their cabin claimed it cost them about $20,000 and sold for over $300,000 but LHBA does not tell you what part of that $300,000 was the land. When it comes to the cost to build the cabin LHBA is very specific by including only the cost of the cabin but when they tell you how much it sold for, all of a sudden the price is no longer specif but now includes everything.

As far as I'm concerned this is disingenuous. They are omitting crucial information. If you make such outrageous claims and hope your customers don't notice, well I'm insulted which stinks for me because I really want to take the class but it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I know if I were writing these captions I could never makes such claims while leaving out crucial information. I would feel like I'm misleading people.

Just to be perfectly clear on the subject, I'm not disputing the costs to build or the price these homes may have sold for. I'm prepared to accept the figures as true but if anyone here can look me in the eye and tell me that omitting the land cost in the final equation is anything else but disingenuous, well I'd like to hear your rational.

[blane]

I don't know the full story on these homes but I can tell you that Ellsworth and Steve are ethical people who genuinely want to see people succeed in a simpler way of life without debt. There may be more to the stories than are shared but I do not believe they are not being disingenuous.

If someone asks me how much did it cost to "build" my house the answer would be about 80,000 dollars. If they asked me what my total investment is the answer would be about 130,000 dollars. Still pretty good return I think if were to sell it for 300,000 if that would be possible in this market. Those homes sold in a different market. I bought a home in 2000 for 75000 dollars and put about 20,000 into updates and sold the house in 2005 for 208,000 dollars. If someone asked how much did I pay for the house the answer would be 75000 dollars and how much did you sell it for the answer would be 208,000 dollars. Thats how I see it and I don't think that is being dishonest, if folks asked for more details I would certainly give them.

[rreidnauer]

I have to admit, there are a few things that I don't care for the way they're worded, but as you found, it's not hard to sort out the details. However, the information and classes in general is genuine and of value. Without a doubt, there are parts that "won't apply" because of geography or changing of the times, but as a whole, an excellent package of information.

Signed: someone who doesn't make a dime from whether you take the class or not.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy using TapaTalk 2

[fabincabin]

If someone asked how much did I pay for the house the answer would be 75000 dollars and how much did you sell it for the answer would be 208,000 dollars. Thats how I see it and I don't think that is being dishonest, if folks asked for more details I would certainly give them.

Not the same thing. The cost you paid for the house included the land. If you somehow figured out that the house was worth $25,000 and the land was worth $50,000 and said you paid $25,000 for your house and sold it for $208,000, you would be doing the same thing as LHBA. Would you feel good about that? I wouldn't. At the very least LHBA should make clear the distinction between the cost to build and the final sale price which includes the land.

[AkChas]

Fabin'

Good catch! And understandable that you might be skeptical of the claims. I know which property you refer to, but I don't know the details of their situation. But you raise a valid 'point'. (Perhaps they inherited the property? Maybe the value of the land when acquired was relatively non-significant to the overall selling price? Maybe it was an oversight or a bit of an imbelishment? Perhaps the $20,000 INCLUDED the lot the home is on?). Either way, it seems you DO grasp the intended message of how one can build a fine and lasting home and turn a handsome profit (if they chose to). Even if the land was worth $100,000 (which would be astronomical for someone building on a budget), they'd STILL be turning a huge return on their investment. Right?

My guess is that MOST members that build their own, aren't even considering to sell what they've studied, planned and worked so hard to accomplish (though some do). I bet ya that one of the LHBA "officers" or even other Members may be able to better address your query.
But if you REALLY want to take the class -- You should Take The Class! There's one opening up real soon (Memorial Day weekend).

In the mean-time, I hope that your skepticism gets allayed here soon.

[fabincabin]

Thanks for you opinion.

[fabincabin]

Thanks for the reply AKChas. I'm considering all the responses.

[edkemper]

Just want to add, what you are suspecting would be a huge conspiracy. Being that we, the members, do not make a penny off you unless you buy one of our homes, it's hard to believe we all got together to mislead you. Generally speaking, we are a simple lot. Questions are asked like what it cost to build our home. We answer honestly I believe. There is no financial gain for us to intentionally mislead you.

What you bring up is something to think about. But the bottom line is, if we build cheap and sell it, we are likely going to be making far more profit than someone building either a standard stick home or a kit.

I hope you stick around.

[blane]

Again, I would say land prices are not what they used to be either. Land runs around 12k per acre where I am, but I can remember when you could get it for less than a thousand per acre, which at that price would be insignificant as AkChas said. Another thing that just came to me though is all the work I have put into this place, I don't think I could put a price tag on.
So it is wise to count the whole cost before jumping in. Would I do it again? In a heart beat! After about two years of rest

[rckclmbr428]

I'm not certain of the situation you mentioned, in a perfect scenario these homes can be built for very cheap, assuming you do not value your time. (which to me is worth more then anything) Most who build end up with far more then 20k into them, and it takes them much longer then 2 weeks. But like I said, there is some perfect scenarios where you could buy a piece of land for 5k that had all the trees you would need to build and mill with, and that cost could be absorbed into the 20k figure. it just not the normal that I have experienced. But I build log homes for a living, mainly with people that would rather have a home sooner rather then later.