The class is very informative. I know that I was very surprised with how much I learned in two days. In the class they will cover which type of timber is best and give you some ideas for harvesting the timber from your property; considering it is extremely dangerous to the weekend warrior and professional alike. I put off taking the class for a year and now I feel like I'm a year behind on my goal. The class is a must for anyone considering a log home (kit or not).

Thanks,

Travis Rawlings
Riverside, CA
Class of Oct 7-8, 2006

Thanks for the replies. I'm pretty sure I'll be taking the class and wish I could convince my dad to come with me. I can't make it to the December class so I'm anxious to find out when the next one is going to be.

The main concern I have right now is financing. We are a fairly young couple (i'm 29 and she's 24) and both have great careers. Naturally, we have some debt to pay off from being young and dumb (mainly me). We own about a 1000 sq/ft house right now and we don't have the excess cash right now to start doing anything major. I would like to spend the next year or two getting our finances in better form and start clearing the land and preparing during that time. My wife is ready for it to have been done yesterday and I am going to have to convince her that it's going to take time.

About the financing....I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to finance some of the materials but not sure how I'm going to do that. I think that I'll get laughed at by a bank if I walk in and tell them my plans and ask for a large chunk of money. Any thoughts or suggestions?

I will most likely have many more questions but the big thing that scares me right now is the money thing.....

Yeah, we are in the same spot. I'm 26 and my wife is 29; and we both have careers (I had to drag her to the class) but she is glad she went. But take warning life is short and tomorrow is not promised. I had four colleges die yesterday and one is near death with 90% burns to his body. I'm sure that they weren't planning for that when they woke up in the morning. So the point is don't let life get in the way of living. For the loan there are plenty of companies which specialize in construction loans, if you need a name of a company send me an email and I can get it for you.

Travis R.
Riverside, CA
Class of Oct 7-8, 2006

Hello all!

I found this thread using the Search function, and decided to bump this instead of starting a new thread.

So, I just got off the phone with someone from a company that specializes in playing the part of the "site supervisor" for people who are going to be builder-owners (being their own General Contractor). They charge a fee based on a percentage of the amount of the project etc. Well, she was well into her schpiel, giving me the hard sell until I mention building a Log Home. I could hear the cartoon bongo sounds of her backpedaling (you know, that noise a cartoon character's feet made made while they spun in the air, just before they PAZZZING!!! sped away like a bullet?)

She pretty much wished me good luck at that point, and said that NO ONE is going to give me a construction loan for a log home. And not because the construction is or isn't sound. But basically because the bank won't REALLY know what it will be worth. (Banks stay in business, of course, by ensuring that they always have a sure thing -- kinda like "the house" in a Las Vegas Casino.)

Now, I know, there's lots of folks here who don't like mortgages (who does), and might want to tell us just to do it without a loan. That all sounds very nice. But we the property we are going to buy will likely suck up much of the equity we have built up in our current home, and we will want to borrow more to build this thing. (I don't mind having a mortgage. I have one now, and I sleep well at night, hehe. I certainly won't mind having one after I'm done building my dream log home either.)

So, can anyone recommend a lender who is known to finance owner-builders doing LHBA Log Homes? This lady also meantioned Appraisers being an issue. She said that most of them won't stick their necks out for any non-traditional building styles either.

It was a rep from buildmax, and I managed to get her to mention indymac (I have looked at indymac on indymac's website too). I forget the name of the rep, because she said she was going to send me her info anyway, in case I changed my mind and decided to go stickbuilt or something. (She tried to show me some website with half-log siding ... ugh. She did NOT get it...)

Anyway... no, we haven't initiated anything, and most certainly won't until WELL after we take the class in October. (We will be looking at property while we are out in WA too... we want to build in the Skykomish valley, just upstream from Skip's ranch!) I will indeed send you an email, if you don't mind filling me in with your agent's info. I really didn't like the way the person I talked to used the word "Can't". I'm simply not a big fan of that word. I find that much more often the word "won't" applies better, or "can't be bothered" is more often the case!

Well, I got a construction loan and have friends that have gotten one since I have. Never heard of a "site supervisor". And we used our local banks and got a great rate. Our lenders were in Snohomish County. Theres always a way. Put together a solid package before you go in to your banker!