Do log cabins add value?

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Welshbeef

Original Poster:

49,633 posts

197 months

Friday 4th September 2015
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TA14 said:
I guess that STG's is the market view and a £20K log cabin may add say £3K to the value. In your scenario it would depend on the size of the garden but looking at the size of most gardens these days I'd prefer the extra lawn so it would actually subtract value for me and if that were the only house where I wanted to buy I'd use it as a garden shed/summerhouse/playhouse for the kids and wouldn't value it highly.
True on garden size.
Ours is I think 400foot from the back of the house to the fence. Currently is an area of the garden hardly used apart from when I cut the lawn + the existing shed which is guess is 10-15 years old but in fine health (painted every 3 years new felt no leaks or damage).

The wife thinks it's utterly unnecessary and would rather the biggest garden possible. I like the idea of it useful as a home office snug games room etc and possibly somewhere the kids when they are older could have sleep overs & have their own space/parties (would rather our kids and their mates to drink at our house than on the street so close enough to keep an eye on but their own space which they can do as they please - within reason).

Nick Grant

5,409 posts

234 months

Friday 4th September 2015
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sidekickdmr said:
Im going to buck the trend a bit here and say that yes it would add value.

If there were 2 identicle houses on the same street, one had a cabin and one didnt.

If the cabin would cost say £20,000 to build, and the property with the cabin was £10,000 more, I would buy the one with the cabin

If it was £20,000 or more more, I would buy the one without and build one myself, to my spec and all brand new.


So yes it would add value, but its not going to be an investment, you will never make the money back, let alone profit.
I would agree with this. People can always use/want more space.

StuTheGrouch

5,713 posts

161 months

Friday 4th September 2015
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sidekickdmr said:
Im going to buck the trend a bit here and say that yes it would add value.

If there were 2 identicle houses on the same street, one had a cabin and one didnt.

If the cabin would cost say £20,000 to build, and the property with the cabin was £10,000 more, I would buy the one with the cabin

If it was £20,000 or more more, I would buy the one without and build one myself, to my spec and all brand new.


So yes it would add value, but its not going to be an investment, you will never make the money back, let alone profit.
This is what I'm suggesting too. But again, only if I wanted a log cabin (I like these sorts of things, so I'm the sort of buyer that would be attracted to such a property)

StuTheGrouch

5,713 posts

161 months

Friday 4th September 2015
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Welshbeef said:
True on garden size.
Ours is I think 400foot from the back of the house to the fence. Currently is an area of the garden hardly used apart from when I cut the lawn + the existing shed which is guess is 10-15 years old but in fine health (painted every 3 years new felt no leaks or damage).

The wife thinks it's utterly unnecessary and would rather the biggest garden possible. I like the idea of it useful as a home office snug games room etc and possibly somewhere the kids when they are older could have sleep overs & have their own space/parties (would rather our kids and their mates to drink at our house than on the street so close enough to keep an eye on but their own space which they can do as they please - within reason).
I completely agree with your reasoning for one, as I would love to have this in my garden. But don't do it to add value to your house as I suspect you will be greatly disappointed.

TA14

12,722 posts

257 months

Friday 4th September 2015
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Welshbeef said:
We have a garage and the Log Cabin would be right at the end of the garden the entire width of the plot - a section for traditional shed stuff the rest full on log cabin (games room cinema American pool additional seating area office etc )
TA14 said:
I guess that STG's is the market view and a £20K log cabin may add say £3K to the value. In your scenario it would depend on the size of the garden but looking at the size of most gardens these days I'd prefer the extra lawn so it would actually subtract value for me and if that were the only house where I wanted to buy I'd use it as a garden shed/summerhouse/playhouse for the kids and wouldn't value it highly.
True on garden size.
Ours is I think 400foot from the back of the house to the fence. Currently is an area of the garden hardly used apart from when I cut the lawn + the existing shed which is guess is 10-15 years old but in fine health (painted every 3 years new felt no leaks or damage).

The wife thinks it's utterly unnecessary and would rather the biggest garden possible. I like the idea of it useful as a home office snug games room etc and possibly somewhere the kids when they are older could have sleep overs & have their own space/parties (would rather our kids and their mates to drink at our house than on the street so close enough to keep an eye on but their own space which they can do as they please - within reason).
So your rear garden is about 135m long and 10m wide. In your case I don't think that anyone would be worried about the loss of a bit of garden but with the cabin door 130m from the house it's not too convenient and I'm not so sure that I'd even pay the £3K extra that I mentioned before.

Would you use binoculars to keep an eye on your kids?

BoRED S2upid

19,641 posts

239 months

Friday 4th September 2015
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Your not going to make money doing this you may cover the cost of the cabin and find your house sells a bit quicker than next door.

Welshbeef

Original Poster:

49,633 posts

197 months

Friday 4th September 2015
quotequote all
TA14 said:
So your rear garden is about 135m long and 10m wide. In your case I don't think that anyone would be worried about the loss of a bit of garden but with the cabin door 130m from the house it's not too convenient and I'm not so sure that I'd even pay the £3K extra that I mentioned before.

Would you use binoculars to keep an eye on your kids?
It's 11+m at the bottom of the garden but wider at the front of the property (cannot remember by how much but it narrows gradually over the plot length.

[might set up hidden camera to check every now and then but that's 15 years down the line].


ladderino

727 posts

138 months

Friday 4th September 2015
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Would imagine that this is going to fall into one of three camps -
1. People that like the idea and perceive value add
2. People that don't care either way
3. People that don't like it and see it as a detraction

When we were house hunting we saw a house that had a converted cabin at the end of the garden which they'd turned into a small flat for their teenage son - it had a kitchen/diner, bedroom and lounge area. We couldn't figure out what the hell we'd use it for, and would have much preferred either the garden space or a shed.

House price was within a similar range to yours, so we also wondered how much we'd be paying for something we didn't want.

shtu

3,407 posts

145 months

Friday 4th September 2015
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I think I'm with the same view as most - it might add some value, but certainly not 2x the cost of just buying and installing one myself.

If you want one do it, but it's not going to add value in the same way as adding extra rooms onto the house itself can.

paulrockliffe

15,639 posts

226 months

Friday 4th September 2015
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Welshbeef said:
The wife thinks it's utterly unnecessary and would rather the biggest garden possible. I like the idea of it useful as a home office snug games room etc and possibly somewhere the kids when they are older could have sleep overs & have their own space/parties (would rather our kids and their mates to drink at our house than on the street so close enough to keep an eye on but their own space which they can do as they please - within reason).
So it's a Man-Maths question then!

These are easy; the answer is yes. "Yes Dear, it'll add £20k to the value, these things sell like hot-cakes. So really it's not costing us anything and it'll be really useful for us. It'll keep my mates out from under your feet and give me somewhere to make all those things you want a Real Man to make for you. Once I've built it I'll remodel the garden for you so you won't miss the extra bit at the end."

Then take the bking in 10 years time when you sell. Or she'll have forgotten all about it - win-win.

If you get really stuck, you can try to jsutify it by saying it'll let you save £20k by letting you make furniture and the like, but I think this approach is probably a much longer shot.

TA14

12,722 posts

257 months

Friday 4th September 2015
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paulrockliffe said:
If you get really stuck, you can try to jsutify it by saying it'll let you save £20k by letting you make furniture and the like, but I think this approach is probably a much longer shot.
hehe

MoelyCrio

2,457 posts

181 months

Friday 4th September 2015
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I'm spening similar money having a garden office built and had considered whether it would add value. I think it would, but only in some circumstances. For me..

1) Uses up a portion of the garden that was previously wasted/overgrown
2) House is rural, so next buyer like me will be thinking about home working.
3) Lots of glass designed to have nice views of the Clywdian Range (bit of wow factor when selling).

If it was the same size but shoe-horned into a suburban garden, it might actually detract from the value.

alock

4,224 posts

210 months

Friday 4th September 2015
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Welshbeef said:
Let's say the house price without is £650-700k
A little bit more expensive but here's a good example.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prope...

Big house and big garden and yet no mention of the cabin in any of the description. You wouldn't even know it exists unless you looked at picture 13. I don't imaging it's had any effect on the price.

Pickled

2,051 posts

142 months

Friday 4th September 2015
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I've just about finished my 6m x 5m mancave/garden office/studio, I built mine as I am not disciplined enough working in the house (get distracted to easily) I certainly didn't build it with any consideration of adding value.

We have a 150m x 15m walled garden, its hidden right at the end behind some existing trees, so from the house its barely visible, but in a smaller garden it would probably look overbearing. Like so many things they are of a personal taste, my father-in-law thinks mine looks like an oversized packing crate (modern design with redwood cladding) and not how a traditional 'shed' should look - despite that fact it wasn't built as a shed in the first place...

Edited by Pickled on Friday 4th September 17:34

Welshbeef

Original Poster:

49,633 posts

197 months

Friday 4th September 2015
quotequote all
alock said:
Welshbeef said:
Let's say the house price without is £650-700k
A little bit more expensive but here's a good example.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prope...

Big house and big garden and yet no mention of the cabin in any of the description. You wouldn't even know it exists unless you looked at picture 13. I don't imaging it's had any effect on the price.
Really like that nice plot and house

anonymous-user

53 months

Friday 4th September 2015
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ladderino said:
When we were house hunting we saw a house that had a converted cabin at the end of the garden which they'd turned into a small flat for their teenage son - it had a kitchen/diner, bedroom and lounge area. We couldn't figure out what the hell we'd use it for, and would have much preferred either the garden space or a shed.

House price was within a similar range to yours, so we also wondered how much we'd be paying for something we didn't want.
That's what I was thinking too - I wouldn't pay any extra for one because it confers no advantage to me. At best it would be just, "A thing at the end of the garden" and at worst I'd have to spend time dismantling it.

Overall I'd be surprised if it make any appreciable difference to the "Value" of the house.

sealtt

3,091 posts

157 months

Friday 4th September 2015
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If you want it, build it, if you don't want it, definitely do not build it.

Considering it an investment would be a terrible idea. It might not depreciate fully to 0 come sale time, but I bet it won't be far off.

Murph7355

37,646 posts

255 months

Friday 4th September 2015
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Welshbeef said:
Let's say the house price without is £650-700k
Keep going and eventually everyone will agree with the idea so you can tell your Mrs she was wrong biggrin

Cover it in gold leaf, fill it full of strippers and supply a lifetime's supply of free booze and you might break even (though at that point most partners wouldn't allow the purchase of it anyway).

As others have said, buy it because you'll get sound utility out of it (and your reasoning is understandable), not because it will add any value as it won't. At the price point noted I wouldn't pay an extra £1 just because you had a big shed at the bottom of the garden. And if I were seriously interested in the house and you made a big deal of it I'd tell you to take it with you and make good the lawn as part of the sale smile

paulrockliffe

15,639 posts

226 months

Friday 4th September 2015
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The answer is 'maybe' surely?

Lots of people wouldn't pay extra for it, but you only need to sell it to the one person that values it for it to push the sale price up.

If market conditions are right and there's lots of buyers around, you might get a buyer at the higher price when it goes on the market. If things are slower you might only get a nibble when you drop the price to the same as the equivalent cabin-less house.

If it's in good nick I'd think at the least you would make the house easier to sell even if you don't get more money for it.

It's a gamble and I'd only be building it if you're going to get value out of your own use of it and can write off the capital.

A man does need his own space.

B17NNS

18,506 posts

246 months

Friday 4th September 2015
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Nope.