Ok y'all. Looking for suggestions for building/buying housing for a piece of property. Manufactored home, pre-fab log cabin, tiny home, barndominium, etc.

Not looking for a second home per se, but not "lease camp" either. Large enough to stay in for extended periods, working remotely via the net, invite my buddy or daughter to visit for weekend, but not too big or expensive.

Links to suppliers, etc would be helpful. Pricing examples or estimates even better.

Just a starting point for discussion. Talk to me.

Morgan Cabins are my choice since they are metal siding, insulated and can be customized to your choice. Also can be moved off the land as easy as moved in. Taller so you can add lofts on both or either end. Lot of add-ons available also.
http://www.morgancabins.com/

You can get customized containers that are very well built & finished out to look just like a house. & they are fairly inexpensive & easy to move if ever needed.

There is a guy on here that specializes in them. They can custom make them however you want. http://www.xcalibercontainer.com/

As a contractor, I've done a few jobs finishing out existing metal buildings and for the money, it's hard to beat. What I like the most about them is the open space you can have in there without doing anything all the complicated structurally.

A pole barn is always going to be the cheapest most cost effect building that you can build. Cost will run from $10 t0 $30 a square foot for the shell and then about the same to finish it off depending on how nice you want it. Things like flooring can run from nothing if you just go with concrete, to $5-$10 a sq foot for something nice. Carpet is always the cheapest flooring, but also impossible to keep clean.

Metal kits are going to run more, but if you have somebody in the area that does them, it's worth comparing costs. The big difference between wood pole barns and metal kits will be in the open ceiling on the metal building compared to trusses on the wood pole barn.

There are always good deals out there on mobile homes, but they always seem to deteriorate quickly. I've worked on enough of them that nothing surprises me anymore. If there is a material or way to save ten cents, they are going to cut that corner and use the cheaper material.

I've looked at different kits and found them to be too expensive to be practical. I can stick frame a house and finish it off for half of what most kits go for.

What you need to do is start talking to people in your area. Go on FB and ask your friends who they know. Go to the building supply stores and see if the people working there know anybody. Here, McCoys is pretty good at dealing with contractors and I've found some good leads talking to the guys at the pro desk. Same thing with Mueller Metal Buildings. Their sales guys all know at least a few good contractors to talk to. I like to tell my clients to talk to at least 5 contractors before hiring one. A really bad contractor who stays in business does so because he is a good salesman. Too many people hire contractors because they like the guy and they had a fun meeting talking about their project. They never do any research or talk to anybody else. Then when it doesn't work out, they realize their mistake when it's too late.

Same here. When I retire in 8 years, I'm going to put one on the ranch as my second home.

just went from a travel trailer to a full mobile home at our lease. The mobile home can be covered or a high end sealant used on the roof which is where most problems occur. It is awesome so far - so much room and comfortable - similar to living in a house -

Heres alittle 2 bedroom one bath guest house we built for a customer. I say go metal its maintenance free.

In my opinion do you want the improvements to look like a barn or look like a house.
Just remember once you have a metal building shell installed you still have to stud and frame all your exterior & interior walls for interior finishes, sheetrock etc...


Make sure when talking to builders your comparing apples to apples. You will be surprised on cost when you compare. Real surprised.

Don't know where your located.

Sutherlands house package.