Land development, building and selling log homes

[horstuff]

Hi. I am brand new at this log home thing, but I would love to get into the business of building and selling them. I am a contractor in Washington state. Does anybody have any tips on where to start or what to look out for? I am thinking along the lines of buying 5 or so acres, putting in well, septic, power, then building a smallish log home and selling it, then moving on and doing it again and again. Hopefully somebody out there has some info that will help me get started. Thanks very much in advance.

[MikeS]

Horstuff

Your decision is going to be based on your market and your personal finances. Talk to a good realtor about your ideas, in order to get a local market opinion.

We have built several log homes now, lived in them to qualify for capital gains, and then sold and moved on. We recently moved one block, from one log home to the new one. We find it to be very profitable.

You definitely want to produce a quality home, with a good layout. Find out from your realtor contacts what features sell. How many bedrooms, basement or not, how many baths, importance of view and property features, price range that sells. Remember, you probably will be in an upper bracket that is slower to sell, which is not a problem.