Thinking About Building a Log Home?
Written by Tom Heatherington
There has not been a better time in years to build your log home!
If you permit the media to drive your decision making, you already know this is the worst possible time to make a lifestyle change. The housing market is in the tank, stock charts look as if they were printed from an oscilloscope, and upcoming elections (are intended to) make us feel anxious. If you include war news, terror reports, natural disasters and the Hollywood writer’s strike you must know this is absolutely the worst time to make serious lifestyle changes.
As the editor of the Log Cabin Directory, I have a unique perspective on the log home and timber frame business. In my daily routine I speak with people on both sides of the log home sales process. I answer phone calls and emails from prospective log home buyers, and I speak with builders, dealers and manufacturers on a regular basis.
It is no secret that the home building industry in general and the real estate market in particular are experiencing a downturn, which actually has been anticipated for a number of years. Although this slump has impacted the log and timber home segments of the market, it is not as severe as that being experienced by the conventional home building market. When such cyclic events occur buyers will often postpone their plans, which usually prompts manufacturers and builders to focus more on improving customer service and sharpening their pencils to attract new customers.
Economic cycles are part of life and there is not much new in this current phase. These cycles are always gut-wrenching, as we are experiencing them, but somehow we always get through them and business eventually goes back to normal. Think back to as recently as the dot-com meltdown of 2000-2001 when the stock market was blowing-off billions of dollars in profits. Companies were going bankrupt, banks were overextended and we watched TV like frightened deer in the headlights while the talking heads convinced us how bad things were. Imagine what your reaction would have been back then if someone told you that you’d be smart to build a custom log home, because it would probably double in value over then next 5-10 years.
This is why I believe that there is no better time to build a log home than now, because if you are a buyer, these current market conditions are exactly what you have been waiting for – whether you realize it or not. With the housing industry soft overall, you can expect to receive more attention and better service from builders than at anytime in recent years. Manufacturers have been reminded that you have a choice, and are focused on making you want to do business with them. This is a buyers market and as history has proven over and over again, that dream home of yours will cost you more to build later than it will today.
Any savvy investor will tell you that the time to buy is when a stock is out of favor. The apprehension from log home buyers in today’s market creates a huge opportunity for those willing to ignore the media’s fear-mongering and proceed with their dreams. Most people considering a log home have the funds or the credit worthiness to complete the process. The only thing lacking is the courage to ignore the crowd’s ill-advised mindset.
Now if you are planning to build a log home on spec and try to flip it for a quick profit, this may not be the most ideal time to play real estate roulette. However, if building a log or timber frame home to live in and enjoy has been part of your plan, there hasn’t been a better time in years to make it happen.
I am no Pollyanna. On the contrary, I have three daughters so I have been hard-wired to worry about everything. Additionally, I share the same concerns about the economy and my family’s future as you do yours, but every now and then someone has to slap me and tell me to focus on the things I can control. If a log home is part of your dream, take a lesson from history and don’t let Drudge or the ‘alphabet news channels’ talk you out of realizing your dream.
About the author: Tom Heatherington is the founder and editor of the “Log Cabin Directory”, one of the largest log home information sources online. He is the author of “The Complete Small Business Internet Guide” and numerous articles on log home living.