Before You Build: The Truth About Barndominium Costs, Land Prep, and Construction

Welcome To J Bass Construction0:00

Welcome to the J Bass Construction Podcast, where outdated spaces meet their modern makeover destiny. Hosted by Jeff Bass, general contractor, home renovation expert, and guy who firmly believes your avocado green bathroom has got to go. Based in the DFW Metro, J Bass Construction is here to help you level up your living space because, hey, you updated your wardrobe. Now it's time to update your home. Expect more. Live better. Let's remodel.

The Big Promise And The Catch0:39

Barn Dominiums promise freedom, space, and personality. But the real story behind Building One is full of surprises most homeowners will never hear until it's too late. Welcome back, everyone. I'm Sophia Yvette, co-host and producer, back in the studio with General Contractor and Home Renovation Expert Jeff Bass. Jeff, it's great to be back with you today. Now we are so excited to have this conversation. It's great to have you here today. So today's question is building a barnuminium. Here's what nobody tells you before you start.

Yes, so uh Sophia, this is a great topic. Very, very um very trendy right now, barnuminiums. You know, everyone looks at the beautiful barnuminiums on Pinterest and YouTube, and what they don't show you is um, you know, expensive mistakes that happen before the slab is even bored. So today I'm gonna walk you through what I wish every client knew before they bought plans or hired a building. Well, the first question would be to answer, you know, what what is a barnuminium, right? It's not just a metal building. Um, there are different construction methods, and you know, they're just extremely popular right now. A barnuminium is

uh most simply put, is a metal shell building built out for a residence on the inside of it. So starting on the outside, um barns could be uh post frame, they could be red iron, steel frame, they could be cold steel, and a barnuminium is a hybrid of that. So when you think of, you know, when you see the the community get together and they build a barn on TV, you know, and they raise the wood wall and all that, that's that's a post frame. So that's a wood barn. Um when you see more in a commercial environment where it's the big sick metal beams,

really big and heavy, that is a red iron steel frame. And then most barn dominiums are what's called a cold steel frame, a cold form steel frame, CFS. And those are uh they're more economical, they're quicker to put together. You can buy a kit from, you know, from someone who sells mardominiums. And then so that creates your outside frame. Then remember, barn dominiums, these metal frames aren't set up to be for residential living. Now we have to take that and modify that space. So then we still have to frame out the inside with wood framing and the drywall and everything you would find inside of

your typical residential home. Um, so the question might be, you know, why would you build a barnuminium? And there's a couple different reasons. One is there's a lot of design freedom in them. You know, in a traditional stick-built home with load-bearing walls, um, you know, you're limited on what you can do after you've designed it, um, and what you can do with the uh with the space inside it. With a barnuminium, the support structure is on the exterior, so it provides you a lot of freedom of what you can do inside of it. Um, and then a lot of people will use them also for,

because again, it's such a large open area. If you have a large hobby or a large workspace, you have a huge open area for that. Um, and of course, they're also, you know, low maintenance and they're durable. So there's a lot of reasons why people might choose a barn dominium over a traditional stick home. So that's what a barn dominium is. And now how do you, what's the first step? You know, the the first step is uh starting with the land, not the floor plan. You know, and I'll tell you honestly, uh the majority of people that come to me with their barn dominium ideas

come with a plan, not the land. So they've already spent money on a plan. Some of them even, you know, have bought the bought the CFS kits and everything, and then they start looking for land. That's kind of putting the cart before the horse. You want to look for your you want to start with your land, not your floor plan, because there's a lot of things to consider with the land too, right? Um, you know, what are the utility setup? Is it is it city? Is it county? Is it a hybrid? Is it well water? Is it city water? What are the easements like? Where's

the floodplain? What are the soil conditions? Do we have access for trucks to get there? Um, you know, what's the grading? What's the grading situation going to be like? I mean, the the prettiest floor plan in the world doesn't matter if it won't work on your property. And then that kind of leads us into the hidden cost. You know, buying that kit up front, buying that plan, that's the shell. Everyone wants to focus on that. Nobody wants to talk about the driveway, the well system, the site prep, the electrical service, dirt work, tree clearing, permits, those items can easily add up to tens of thousands

of dollars. Um, and you know, and when on the budget, that needs to be considered. So that that kind of gets us started here.

Hidden Costs Beyond The Kit5:11

Now, what hidden costs do most people fail to budget for when planning a barnuminium? You started talking about budget. So let's dig a little deeper.

Yeah. And those those are the items I mentioned. You know, what what's gonna have to happen with the land? And, you know, people will look at the look at the price of the kit and they're like, oh, this is exponentially less expensive than a stick-built home. But when you add everything together, you know, we've got to get all the utilities there, got to get water in, water out, electricity in. If you've got gas, you've got to get physically to your property, you need a driveway. Um, we've got to do dirt work, level it out. These are all costs that people tend to not think about

when they're just looking at the shiny brochures at at the at the barn dominion shop or looking at them on you know, TikTok.

So, Jeff, how should homeowners choose a floor plan that actually fits their lifestyle instead of just trends?

Choose A Plan For Real Life6:31

Absolutely great, great question. And I love I love matching people to what they need, not what trends are going on right now. Um, because you know, in trends are gonna come and go, trends are gonna be gone in five to ten years, and you're still gonna be stuck with whatever it is that you spent that money on. And so I would prefer to match people to their lifestyle. And so now we understand the barnuminium is gonna cost some money, it's gonna cost more than we thought it was going to, and we're still deciding to do that. Now our next step is to do the floor

plan, choosing the right floor plan. Think about how you actually live. Um, you know, and how long are you going to be in there? I love having conversations with people about how long they're going to be in a house. If you're going to be in this house for the rest of your life, then we will do everything 100% for you and about you. And also we'll look at aging in place. That's a whole other issue. We've talked about aging in place before. So someone can go back and reference those if they're wanting to look at how do you design a home for the rest of

your life. Now, if you're planning on selling the house or using it for a different purpose, because a lot of these barn dominiums are done on large properties and they're already built as a second home, and maybe they want it to serve a different purpose in the future. So we need to plan for that. Uh, you know, are we gonna have a shop? What's the size of the shop gonna be? Uh, where's the orientation of the house? Where's the orientation of the porch? Let's look at do you want to see sunrise, sunset? Do you want to see neither of them? Do you have a strong

north wind coming in? We need to look at all of that. Um, also, future additions. Are we going to continue to grow this and, you know, make it larger? Maybe you want to build it just as a residence now, but you want to add it on that shop later. So we take all of that into consideration when picking the right floor plan.

Financing Loans Draws Appraisals8:22

Wow. Now, what about when it comes to financing and construction loans for barnuminiums? I know we're talking about the price here, so fill us in on that.

Yeah. So, you know, there's things you you need to think about. So, first of all, you have you're gonna have to have a construction loan. You know, well, do you own the land already, right? Do you own the land? Are you financing the land? Um, can you what kind of construction loan are we going to get? Are we going to access the value in their current home, such as through HELOC or second mortgage? Um, or are we gonna do a straight construction loan? Are we gonna have some bridge loans to help get us through that? Um, what are the draw schedules gonna look like? Because

the draw schedule that lines up your trades, your contractor in your trades with the money that's coming from the bank. And of course, if the money's not coming in, the contractor can't continue to build. So there's a lot, that's a that's a tricky situation. There's a lot, a lot of work that needs to be done on making sure draw schedules work appropriately. And then also appraisals. You know, what's the finished product going to be when we're done? What's the value going to be? Because that's going to affect how we can borrow money while we're building it as well. And also some people might decide to

to uh do what's called an owner build. They want to build it their self. Um, you know, putting together a CFS to cold form uh framing isn't the hardest thing in the world if you have the equipment to do it and you have the time to do it and you have the know-how to do it. So some people want to go that route. And then in that case, your financing with your with your uh your construction financing with your bank's gonna be different as well, because basically the bank's gonna have to have faith and trust in you that you're going to be doing that and

doing it properly. So um get your ducks in a row on your financing, and I would, you know, I would actually actually make that the first step is looking at how you're going to pay for this. Because you got to buy the land too, unless you already have.

Final Takeaways And Next Steps10:15

So, Jeff, before we wrap up, what final thoughts or key takeaways would you give someone considering this type of build?

Um, you know, I would say that a barnuminium can be a great investment. It can, but only if it's planned correctly from the beginning and for your future.

Well, Jeff, thank you for breaking down the real story behind barnuminiums. We'll see everyone back here next time.

Free Consultation And Closing10:46

That's a wrap for this episode of J Bass Construction Podcast. Ready to kick that 90s kitchen to the curb? For a free in-home consultation, call 469 831 5620 or visit JBass Construction.com. Expect more because your home deserves better. And honestly, so do you