Timber Framers Guild Forums General General Forum Questions Can I afford a timber frame home?

Good evening.

I'm looking at my options for purchasing a house around marh or april of next year. One of my ideas is to build a timber frame home. The major drawback is my tight budget. I am wondering if it is possible to build a timber frame home to the following specs for about $150k, not including land. Although I have not chosen a design for the home, It will probably be based on prarie architecture.

The specs are
aproximately 2000 sq ft
2 bedroom
2.5 baths
Great room (living room/dining room).
TV room
2 car garage
Large kitchen
Full basement
Library (optional, or a 3rd bedroom to be used as a library)

Any advise or comments will be greatly appreciated.

Dan

Dan:
One source of information is the timber frame business council at www.timberframe.org. You can contact them and ask them to send you a copy of "Building a Timber Frame Home - A Client's Guide" booklet. This booklet will help you understand what the process is all about.

Also, there was an article in the "Timber Framing" magazine recently about designing a timber frame home that listed 10 steps or areas you should look at in planning a timber frame home. The issue was number 62. You can get/buy a copy of that issue, by going to the online store threw the guild’s home page search box, click on publications, and click on back issues, and read that article, by Will Beemer titled “Timber Framing for Beginners” part 2) Ten Factors in Timber Frame Design”, you'll have a better idea of the planning process in building your timber frame home. Good luck with your research and project. Jim