Options

[finn]

I've outgrown my 32' C 54' stick built shop and have decided to move forward while I'm still young and healthy enough to enjoy my retirement.

I have two options on hand. A 100' by 600' piece of property is available about an eight of a mile from the house at a very reasonable price ($7000 but willing to negotiate). I would have to install a culvert at the road, clear a building site (dozer work), bring in some fill to raise a pad for a pole barn, purchase a pole barn kit rated for our snow loads (300+ inches/yr), contract the construction, and have a floor poured. Electricity is available at the road.

The second option is to purchase a 75' X 47', 10 or so year old building about a half mile up the road in the other direction. The dimensions include an unheated, dirt floor 59 X 15' section, an office, bathroom, 200 amp electrical service, oil fired boiler with 4 pix loops in the heated floors, plumbed for air, 16' ceilings and 2 14' overhead doors, on an acre and a half of high, well drained land with well and septic. Cost is negotiated to $80k, and taxes are about $1200/yr.

The issue is that the second option is very attractive, but is really overkill, as my current shop would be adequate if I used option one to build a storage building. I sort of like being able to close up shop at 11 pm and be able to walk 200 feet to the house.

On the other hand, option two is very tempting, and much less work and probably not much more money than option two.

The contractor who put up building two told me that it would take $120 to$140k to duplicate it today.

What say ye?

 

[spotco2]

It depends on what you're going to use it for.

How big were you thinking of building on the property in option 1? Were you going to put in all that fancy stuff like power, heat and plumbing?

 

[chrismenke]

I'd always spend more for close. See about a billion threads about how much it sucked to get a shop but not use it due to distance/inconvenience. 1/8 mile away is the deciding factor for me...

 

[HoosierMark]

Your first sentence says a lot. Keep this in mind with your decision. If you want to downsize later, which will be an easier resale? I like the second one as it is a fully known product. On the first one, can you put a septic in now or later if you need to fill the area? Also, could you rent part of the second one out and only use a portion of the space? Consider both as a partial investment instead of only as a play area for you. Which would make the best investment in the long run?

 

[finn]

I have till midnight to make a counter (final) offer on the existing building. I'm leaning strongly that way since it is pretty much in move in condition while the new construction would take a year, since construction halts around Dec 1 due to winter here.

The issue is that I really wasn't looking for the amenities; just a simple 40 x 60 storage building when the finished, albeit overkill shop became available.

Distance is one of my concerns. A simple storage building frees space in my existing shop, bet the fancy building with amenities is even better for project work if I can live with the short drive. A plus is that the drive is in the direction of the nearest town.