Smart Moves To Best Manage Your New Horse Barn Spend
By Nikki Alvin-Smith
The capital idea to purchase a new horse barn is a major construction project that deserves some keen attention to detail. While deciding on the roof/siding materials and colors, number and size of stalls and exactly what style of barn suits you best, it’s easy to become carried away with the huge variety of options available.
Working with a local contractor to build a pole style barn can be a good idea. But it can also lead to some inadvertent hugely costly mistakes on the part of the barn buyer. The all-important ultimate price point can quickly escalate over the course of the build. This may be due to the builder experiencing a rise in labor costs, material supplies or the barn buyer simply changing up the design details after construction has begun.
The trouble with working on a quotation basis (or worse an estimate or time and labor contract basis) for a new barn build is that unforeseen expenses can occur, and those costs can be a small or large percentage of the total cost of the structure. If a small percentage the construction firm may keenly dismiss these apparent “cost overruns” as to be expected as part of the normal process of undertaking such a major construction project.
While that may or may not be true, the net result may be a budget overrun into the thousands of dollars. And for the average horse owner, that is a lot of money.
Consider the process of buying anything else that requires a capital spend. If the home you wished to purchase and had put down a deposit to buy suddenly shot up in price or a car you’d found to finance at a set price came with a final sign-up with ‘just a few thousand’ extra dollars (or more) added to the total, you’d likely be upset and challenge the amount and reasoning behind it. Consumer laws are there to protect buyers from malpractice but at the same time a seemingly ‘justifiable’ reason can be hard to counter without an expensive litigation of the matter.
When the horse barn purchaser has entered into a financial agreement to receive all or part of the sum to be paid for the structure from a lending institution, finding extra funds to cover the difference between the amount borrowed and the increase in the total amount due can be a struggle. For the horse owner that is utilizing savings to pay cash for the new horse barn, the margin that has been allowed for an error in pricing is likely small.
Threats of liens against the entire property for larger amounts of money that are claimed by the builder as due for the barn construction can be more than a nuisance to resolve and cause a myriad of problems for the property owner.
Other scenarios that can occur both before and during the building process are equally daunting to face. The builder may not show up on time as agreed, and not complete the build to the timeframe planned. These issues are often blamed on a lack of construction crew availability, material supply chain issues, weather delays on jobs elsewhere or simply overbooking the building season, and these delays can lead to months of frustration for the property owner keen to get the job done.
Such set-backs can result in extra expenses for the horse owner who was planning to lose a horse boarding payment by bringing horse home to live in the backyard. It can also cause dire losses for a business owner who is relocating an existing clientele and equestrian operation if they have already sold their existing space.
Then there is the case of the ‘unknown quality’ in the craftsmanship of a horse barn build. As the work progresses perhaps material substitutions, mistakes in design and layout, vague details provided on contract regarding hardware quality and provision or simply terrible construction techniques can all lead to a work stoppage when the buyer rightfully complains to the builder.
It is quite a mire of possible snafus to navigate. The best way to avoid becoming bogged down in these difficult circumstances is to employ a company that works with integrity. A Google review published recently for the leading modular horse barn building company, Horizon Structures by a client stated:
“They were up front and transparent with pricing and we never had any extra add-ons that they forgot to mention.”
Isn’t that how every building project should be completed? A start to finish happy purchasing experience for the buyer with a net result in the ultimate build of exactly what they paid for and expected to receive.
Of course there is an onus on the barn buyer to do their homework too. If financing is required then it should be secured in advance of signing on the contract’s dotted line for buying the structure. If the final price is to stay the same then the chosen design should be a ‘nailed down’ building plan that the horse property owner sticks to from beginning to end without changes made as ‘work order changes’ once the construction process has begun.
The ’to the penny’ quote that includes the barn’s construction in a factory setting such as a modular structure, and it’s delivery and set up on site, is a great way to steadfastly stick to a budget while also having confidence in the quality of the final build. Given, of course, you choose the right construction partner to collaborate with on the project who hopefully has a wide array of barn styles and sizes from which you can choose to find just what fits your needs and budget regardless of where you live in the country.
Smart buyers know the idiom, ‘Buy The Best You Can Afford’ as a valid way to make purchasing decisions for capital purchases that are expected to offer durability, value and require a capital outlay. A savvy approach to a capital purchase is to make customizations and upgrades that make good sense at the outset, as adding them later will likely cost more.
There is a process of self-examination that is of great benefit before making any purchase, that is particularly useful to follow before making a big spend.
Ask yourself whether this purchase is going to improve your lifestyle and make a difference value wise to you on a day-to-day basis with the user experience and will it also add to your property or asset value. What is your motivation for the spend? Is it to add that value or is it something you want to do to impress others?
Other questions to consider are can you really afford it? If the purchase is business related this may require you to look into tax benefits such as amortization and depreciation, Section 179, and loan interest deductibility. Diligent research into best finance options is also a good idea. Sometimes ‘now’ is just not the right time to go forward with a building project. But that doesn’t mean you can’t start setting aside a monthly amount toward it and start researching the details of what it will accurately cost. Realizing of course, that until you sign on the dotted line, the price may change if an extensive time delay occurs between price being provided and you making the purchase.
Large financial outlays should always be preceded by doing lots of homework, and that includes reviewing prices that compare like to like. For example, comparing pricing for the same size barn built of similar specifications where there is a difference in the grade of lumber to be used or a substitution for an off-brand versus brand metal siding.
Selection of the best option for smart horse barn buying is less of a challenge in today’s marketplace than it was previously. Modern building techniques and materials that can be employed in a factory setting offer quality control; supply chain efficiency; construction timeline and delivery timetable accuracy; multiple facet customizations; known designs and craftsmanship; and the all-important ‘to the penny’ pricing.
Even timber frame barn builds, that incorporate the strongest type of joinery known to carpenters still to this day, that of mortise and tenon, can be purchased online. These high-end structures exhibit an unparalleled aesthetic charm and showcase the beauty of wood. The timber frame barn offers the sturdiest of barn builds, and arrives as factory crafted accurate components, all set to construct by the company’s professional carpentry team in a matter of a few weeks or even days.
When it comes time to ‘drop the hammer’ on your new horse barn, following the most straightforward route to ownership of the structure is often the best way forward. Unimpaired by locally sourced builders that offer unknown quantities in finished workmanship and pricing, the entire horse barn buying encounter can be a blue ribbon experience the horse property owner can (and deserves to) sit back and enjoy.
