Appraising a Log Home

[Doug Wegener]

Pretty good advice regarding log homes from all. Quality is the main thing. Many times listings will specify which company made it, and you can track down quality that way. The assessors office also will rate the quality of the different log homes; that may not be the best information but at least its something.

You will also find there is less turnover of log homes. People tend to buy them as their dream homes and hold onto them longer. You may have to go quite a distance to find truly comparable log homes. I have seen appraisals with comps located in excess of 50 miles away.

As some have noted, maintenance of the logs can also be a factor.

 

[Wendy]

Let's see, what are possible log home problems?
Damp crawl space - check
Bee Holes - check
Rot due to no overhang - check
Leaking windows - check

click for bigger picture:





All of the above are the same log house. I took this on for the challenge......

 

[Richard Carlsen]

Log homes are all you say and then some: some good; some bad.

Having appraised many true log homes, seeing the cost, the upkeep, the inability to add or change the design, the general all around problems that owners have with them and finally the problems in selling log homes, I would never consider owning a log home.

They are a fantasy to the max. Build a good frame built house with 6" sidewalls and put log facing on it if you want the look of a log home.

My professional advice is to stay away from full log homes.

 

[Ray Miller]

M/S puts out a thirty page "Log Home Appraisal Training Guide" its a start.

I was doing a couple of log homes a week. But it droped down to one a month now. The value of the log homes have also reach a peak and values are starting to drop in the area I cover. It looks to be over built with them now.

The log home market is one of the submarkets I am watching close. They were up around $150 to $175 sq.ft. Now they seem to be at $100 to $135.

I just priced a new 2150 GBA for my wife, two bedroom/walk in closets, three bathroom, greatroom, kitchen (Viking commercial) dining combined on main level, fire place in Great Room and bedroom, Lau room, loft with full bath, finished walk out lower level with office, family room, libary with book cases, Guest room bath, fireplace, mec room, H20 heat, CA, with kitchen and bathrooms tile floor heated. 9 in. logs, cedar roof, copper flashing, real stone for the fire places. Storm Room and Gun Safe, Full lenght useable porch. She came in at $134 sq.ft.

The new home will be going in at the ranch, so it will fit. If that is what she ends up building. I have very little say in the house, since the ranch is my project.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

Our experience locally is as they say above "it depends". This much is true. Here secondary market financing is problematic and it affects their salability because most have to be financed outside the traditional secondary market. I generally reject a log home because I cannot make any money appraising one. The owners always attempt the cheapo market and always get rejected or I spend days hunting that "magic" 4, 5th or 6th comp that makes the deal fly...screw it, I have better things to do.

Inspecting the property you need to keep in mind what "checks" are in log construction. A lot of logs were logged after the Mt. St. Helens eruption and sent for the log home biz. Those trees were twisted by the volcanic winds breaking them up inside, and those checks don't appear until after construction is done. So there are a number of homes all over the nation that tried to fall apart. Likewise, there are a number of kit homes that end up being little better than a Jim Walters special because they came in and the homeowner attempted to complete the construction and botched it. So create yourself some sort of check list and rank qualitatively the construction.. Foundation, floor, walls, exterior appearance, roofing, roof structure, appliances, HVAC, and just overall appearance..does it pass the smell test.
From that you need to make a judgment about the quality level and try to find comps to match. I agree that log homes have high effective R ratings, but the actual rating is lower because of the R factor is measured. Mass (i.e.- the log) is an important part of the overall energy efficiency of a wall structure, so that is a plus but one you can hardly measure or quantify for adjustments.

 

[Lisa Freeman]

I have received a request to appraise a log home in my county.-CA I have found two sales of log cabins homes within the last 10 months. The 3 rd comp was 4 years old. Of course, all of the comparables are in different counties. A I have read the previous threads regarding condition and quality. I am looking for any additional information or wisdom this board can provide me: Is there anything else I should pay particular attention too when appraising log homes. Has anyone else from No. Ca appraised a log home?

 

[DH Wilson]

Theres a web site by a mortgage company that does only log homes i that im too tired to google they also have pretty decent articles on appraisal problems with log homes it was a pretty good read i thought that i had book marked it but i cant find it right now. use the google.

 

[Mike Garrett RAA]

Good topic for a two hour CE class...Get on that, Ross!

Big difference between a log cabin and a log home.

 

[Ray Miller]

Good topic for a two hour CE class...Get on that, Ross!

Big difference between a log cabin and a log home.

Yep, sure is needed in our area. I would like to see a class on the subject.

log siding, 1/8 log, 1/4 log, 1/2 log, 3/4 log, full log, square log, round log, different log joints, green logs, dry logs. Interior log, box car, drywall. Different type of wood logs, pines, spruce, hard wood, soft wood logs. then add in the Fire place, fake and real stones and the different types of stone. Then brick fire places, real fire places and those gas fired and electric fire places and market reaction. The care of a log home and how to tell age and condition of logs. Just some things I see in review.

Then the different types of log homes, and how the logs are laid. Cord wood log homes, vertical log homes, horizonal log homes. Then the different shapes. then factory cut log homes or hand hewed log homes. then the different types of flashing and the different types of roofs.

The list is endless almost.

 

[jay trotta]

Log Homes; help a fellow build one when I was younger - it still stands today, so do most Post & Beam Antique dwellings. It depends on many things, but basically, it really comes down to who & how it was put together. If the builder constructs it correctly, it will be around for some time; efficiency also is controlled by how it is constructed, short cuts offer lower efficiency factors and finally the basement, if it is not set up properly from the git go, it will always provide problems.

*Wendy, I noted a little mote in that crawl area, along with some water lines - does that indicate a high water table ??

cheers