Will anyone finance a bus conversion I own outright?

[afm_man]

I can't tell for sure, but if the building is steel framed, the ceiling looks to be false.  If that is the case, it will not require a lot of work (new door, poosible header, and ceiling).  Looks like a good deal to me.

Best of luck.

[belfert]

The seller told the agent that "it is just under 12' floor to truss".  That indicates to me that the roof is wooden truss construction.  I'm still probably going to schedule a showing to take a closer look.

[luvrbus]

Looks like a 12 ft metal sided building to me roof trusses are probably metal doesn't look tall enough on the sides for standard wood trusses, lot of snow in that area with the pitch of the roof slope wonder what the side walls are framed with

[Brassman]

Seems like a great buy, but I'm still stuck in the past. Maybe you could cut/build a tall bay in the center of the outbuilding relatively easy. Worth a look at the rafters.

[Tikvah]

I've never worked with a steel frame building.  Most barns like that around here are what we call pole barns.  There are 6"x6" posts every 8' give or take.  With a large "header" from one post to the next.  All the roof trusses simply sit on those headers.  They are either toe-nailed or have a metal bracket on each truss.  To raise the roof, simply build a 2"x6" stud wall, about 24" tall, lift the roof and set the stud wall on top of the headers.  Lower the roof back down on your stud wall and re-attach.  A little angle cross bracing would be a nice bonus.  Around here a lot of people would add some semi-clear fiberglass panels around the top, instead of trying to match the steel siding.  That way you can get some natural light into the barn.

We have as much or more snow here in northern Michigan as Minneapolis, so I don't see the extra height being any kind of snow load issue.

A number of years ago I lifted a very large garage, but I lifted the walls.  That one was stud built on top of blocks.  I simply raised the building, added a few coarse of blocks, then set the building back down.  Pretty easy project really.  Put a junction in for the main incoming power, changed the entrance door and replaced the roll up garage doors.  Did the whole thing in one weekend, with my wife and two little kids.   


Dave

[bevans6]

FWIW I have two buildings that look close to identical from the outside that are stick framed walls with wood truss roofs.  One is 60' wide, full span trusses.  The walls are 2 by 6 stud walls with 16" centers.  Steel siding and roof skin on the outside.  One is 12' clearance, the other is closer to 16'.  12' is a common height, simply because studs come that long from the sawmill...

Brian

Edit: the middle building with the three doors is around 60 feet wide by 45 deep, except for a 20 foot wide section that is 60 feet deep.  It's got 12' walls and full span manufactured trusses.  It's in Nova Scotia and we get a lot of snow, but it just slides off....  The building on the right is about 45 feet by 50 feet, and has a higher ceiling.  I can get my bus in the middle building, barely, but I am going to use the right hand building as the bus  barn.  My car shop, machine shop, wood working shop and pottery studio are going in the middle building.

Brian

[luvrbus]

It probably is a wood frame with the flat ceiling metal buildings are measured at the side walls mine is 16ft on the sides 18ft in the center,  lot's of lost space in the building with a load bearing wall down the center here in the county I live in 32 ft is the most you can span with a hip wood trusse and roof pitch is almost flat or can be flat no snow here lol

good luck

[robertglines1]

Idea: My prevost goes in 12ft door with clearance.  No roof warts!  might be less expensive to change Ac type than raise roof.  Doesn't answer Finance question. That would be a collateral Question on a personal loan that depends on your situation.   Bob

[Oonrahnjay]

      OK, this might not answer your exact question, but I've found that banks are pretty good about lending money to cover trading houses, moving expenses, etc. *if* you have good credit, good income, and a fairly sellable and valuable item of collateral -- at least, they were in the older "good times".   If you could show them that you were able to pay off the loan reasonably soon (as, when your earlier house sold), that kind of loan (or as it used to be) was easy to get.
      Typically, if you have an "unusual" item (I've mostly known people who put airplanes up for collateral on a short term loan), the bank wants to discount the value of the collateral and discount it more if the item is "more unusual" and therefore more difficult, time-consuming, and expensive to sell if they had to foreclose on it.  Thus, I would expect that a bus would work but you probably wouldn't get much of a loan for it (i.e. its percentage of "real value" that they'd allow as collateral on a loan would be pretty low).
      I live in a small town that I grew up in.  I've been banking at the same bank for 15 years.  It's a local bank that my mother owned a few shares of stock in.  I had a home loan that I paid off with them and I've financed a couple of cars (I paid fairly large down payments on these cars to keep interest low) and paid them off.  I've had savings and checking accounts there.  I'm going to guess that I could get fairly good service on a short-term loan there.  But, of course, that kind of banking is going the way of the rotary dial phone.
      But I'm thinking that your question depends more on a person's personal circumstances and history than it does on "what happens or has happened to other people".

[luvrbus]

I deal with Chase they will not lend on any vehicle that is over 8 years old if I buy a older bus they lend it on a personal note

good luck

[belfert]

I thought of one idea for making one bay of the building usable for my bus.  The one door is dug down in front for a loading dock.  I wonder if I could dig out the floor in that bay and lower it down?  I would have to do it all the way across so I could work on the exterior of the bus.   Water could be an issue, but draintile and a sump pump could solve that just like any basement.

[Oonrahnjay]

(snip) I wonder if I could dig out the floor in that bay and lower it down? 

     Might be practical in some situations but seems to me that everything that's not nailed down would be down in that lower floor area in no time.  I think I'd be real careful on this one.

[Kevin Warnock]

If you really just need only 6 inches more clearance, maybe you could jackhammer out two strips of the floor for the tires to ride in. I bet you could to that yourself in a day. You could pour some concrete in the void after you dig out some dirt, or you could just put some gravel in there since it won't get wet and the speed will be low.

Yes, you won't be able to get under the bus this way, but it's so cheap to do it would get you started with this new house. Then, six months or a year from now you could raise the barn roof or really lower the floor properly.

I also like the idea of removing some items from the bus roof like air conditioners, if that will work.

Good luck. I like the house and that building is HUGE. Looks costly to heat or cool though due to the size.

Kevin Warnock
http://KevinWarnock.com - my blog

[Lonnie time to go]

I thought of one idea for making one bay of the building usable for my bus.  The one door is dug down in front for a loading dock.  I wonder if I could dig out the floor in that bay and lower it down?  I would have to do it all the way across so I could work on the exterior of the bus.   Water could be an issue, but draintile and a sump pump could solve that just like any basement.

fwiw never leave a bus or anything in a hole that needs a sump pump.   Lose  power or several other problems I can't think of and bam everything will get a little wet.  Something to think about.

Lonnie

[RJ]

Brian -

Work with your real estate agent, not the seller's.  Better potential for a win-win conclusion.

Have your agent put together a contract with the seller's agent that includes the following:  You're committing to purchase the property @ $XXX,XXX, contingent upon your own house selling.  Both sales can be lumped together in a single escrow, everybody wins. 

Work with a local bank/credit union, not one of the majors.  The majors are so screwed up right now, the left hand doesn't even know the right hand exists, let alone the toes.  The local guys are much more willing to support local transactions, and often will make decisions favorable to all involved if the plan is presented correctly.

This is a great time to buy, and it's really a buyer's market, especially with the interest rates being what they are.

Negotiate a deal and go for it!

FWIW & HTH. . .