Log Home Financing (Or Lack Thereof) Halts Our Log Home Construction Plans
For those who have been following along with our quest to obtain financing to build a log home...
We've pulled the plug. At least for a year.
We have spent the last 2 years in ongoing communication with banks (about a dozen, 4 of which we jumped through their hoops and met all of their contingencies). I can't even begin to tell you how time-consuming and overwhelming it has been to repeatedly gather paper, scan & fax documents, and talk finances day in and day out -- only to end up at the same place where you started 2 years later!
You Qualify, Your House Doesn't
The fact of the matter is... we qualify for the loans, but there just aren't enough log homes that have been sold recently around here for the banks to use as "comps" in order to determine a fair appraisal value for our proposed log home.
They're coming in way lower than we can build this log home for. And the banks won't budge.
So, we'll check back with the banks later -- when they decide to get back in the money-lending business again.
In the meantime, we'll be making minor improvements to our land, and saving enough to do the entry-level things ourselves... with cash. Luckily our GC is still working side-by-side with us and has vowed to see us through to the end. We are very fortunate in that regard.
But It's Our Dream Home!
We love this log home that we've designed and the specific piece of land that we bought far too much to change the floorplan or build it anywhere else.
It's a custom log home... our dream home. Unfortunately, now is simply not a good time to ask for money for anything "outside of the norm".
Strike One: It's made of logs, rather than two-by-fours.
Strike Two: It's custom, not your standard log cabin.
Strike Three: No one's selling log homes in this area from which to generate fair market value or "comps".
We're in this for the long-haul... it's just going to take longer than we thought to build it, that's all.
Life Goes On, And So Does This Site
This just means that now we have even more time to decide what we really want in terms of things like flooring, countertops, appliances, furnishings, and interior decor. Who knows what interesting products might be available to us once it comes time to build this house!
I thoroughly enjoy doing that type of research and perfecting our "dream home", so that's what keeps me going and what keeps me from getting too "down" about all these roadblocks we've faced over the past 2 years.
So, for awhile anyway, that will be the type of articles you'll be seeing here at The Fun Times Guide to Log Homes. We would also like to share some log home stories from others who are in various phases of the log home building process. (Contact me if you're interested.)
Well, thanks for stopping by. You'll see finished photos of our log home here... eventually!
Which Reminds Me...
About a year ago, I got in the "packing" mode and started boxing up things that we don't use everyday -- in order to get a jumpstart on our move into our log home. Ha! Some jumpstart.
I'm thinking it might be a nice way to start the New Year if I spend some time unpacking some of those things in order to make this house feel "lived" in again. Right now, it seems more like a temporary stopping place.
Fortunately, we like our current home -- a LOT. It's laid out so perfectly for our needs, and it's located in a part of town that we can get to anything we could possibly want in a matter of minutes. So, it will kinda be fun "moving back in" to this house again.
Now that you mention it, I'm actually looking forward to re-decorating a bit and hanging pictures back up on the walls. Long story short... you know how they say to remove all "personal" photos before you sell your home? You do that so the prospective buyers will have an easier time picturing themselves in the house -- rather than seeing framed photographs of you and your family everywhere. Well, I spent a couple days doing that awhile ago, and as a result, we've been pictureless for over a year now. Some fun pictures will certainly bring some life back into this house!
Enjoy your New Year everybody! Thanks again for stopping by...
Happy to hear some good news for a change... Thanks for sharing your story. I'm so glad that you found a small town bank that worked out so well. AWESOME!
We've decided to try one LAST time with a smaller bank that we've already been approved with. (This makes #5 or #6, I forget.) The only catch: they want us to sell our current house FIRST.
Initially, we said no way. Now, we want this log home so badly, we've agreed to sell IF and only IF they'll guarantee that the appraisal for the new home will be high enough for the amount of money we need to build the log home. All of the banks have gotten squirrely at the appraisal part -- always came in WAY too low.
So we'll see... (feeling somewhat good about it at the moment). We should know in about 2 weeks.
I feel you pain on this topic as well. I had the same problems recently with M&T Bank. We jumped through all of their hoops and end the end they did nothing but take money from us without providing the services that they had originally agreed too. My loan officer blamed the change in decision on upper management. Basically we were ready to close and even completed the final draw schedule. The only thing left to do was schedule a close date and they pulled the rug from under us. They could care less and told us that the “commitment” letter expired yet kept stringing us along and never informed us of any problem at all. We now are closing in the next few days with a great small town bank and they did not have a problem with the log home loan and approved us in less than 2 days. Thank God for small miracles and Berkshire Bank.