How are barndominiums appraised

The barndominium style of home, first made famous in the Texas Hill Country, has become a popular trend for living sustainably and simply. This residential structure is a mix between a regular barn and a house. It takes the best of both worlds to create a unique, functional and affordable home. However, many homeowners are unfamiliar with how a barndominium would be appraised for things like mortgages or insurance.

The biggest concern when it comes to appraising these homes is whether the use of traditional construction standards will affect potential financing. The answer is yes — in most cases, barndominiums are considered to be "special purpose" structures, so they don't fit into traditional real estate appraisal methods and models.

When it comes to home appraisal, appraisers usually use either the square footage or the cost approach to determine market value. The square footage approach calculates based on total livable area while the cost approach uses construction costs as estimated by professional contractors or builders. Unfortunately, with barndominiums, neither of these approaches can accurately capture their true value since they don't tend to fit into those traditional models or calculations very well. In fact, some lenders may even require an additional special purpose value assessment in order for them to make financing decisions on a barndominium.

Fortunately there are some expert appraisers who specialize in non-traditional structures like barndominiums and may be able to offer invaluable advice for getting an accurate appraisal of your property's market value when seeking financing or obtaining insurance. These appraisers will take into account factors that don't apply to traditional homes such as energy efficiency features, modern insulation techniques and any tax credits associated with green building techniques that ended up being used during its construction process. This makes them adept at creating an accurate value assessment that can help you receive financing more easily than if you had tried going it alone without assistance from an expert appraiser specializing in non-traditional housing structures like your barndominium.