For more photos:

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/332984462895272

 

 

 

JerryG.Seven@Gmail.Com 

 

Appointment Required

House hunters interested in this house should read the full description in this listing (avail. upon request) before making an appointment. This is not a conventional home, and reading exactly what it needs will help you determine whether this house is for you. Buyers with a letter of Pre-Approval Financing, Pre-qualification, or Cash Buyers and those who read the Full Details will be given priority.

 

Straw Bale Fans who are not looking to buy but are curious or want to see the house to get ideas about building their own straw bale house, please understand I do not have time to show it to every interested person. However, upon request, I will arrange an open house for the curious and SB builders. Feel free to drive by and look at it from the road.

 

Introduction

 

The house is fully functional and livable. I am the builder & owner of this straw bale home and own this house outright (no mortgage). I have built three straw bale houses in this area and have worked on several other straw bale projects. This house was built as my home; this means I put in extra quality work and features in this house. The heavy construction is complete, about 80%; some finish/detail work remains. Since this house is functional and completely livable, you can move in immediately and live in it as you finish it. Nothing immediate is required, so you can complete the projects when it is convenient. It would take a full-time person about one month to complete the house. Equity-wise, you could hire out the work and still come out ahead.

 

While crime and rent prices escalate, buying a home in Custer County makes safe sense. Home prices in the country are lower, and the county jail recently closed due to too little crime.

 

House Completion is Estimated at $15K

 

The property does not have a water well. I have been hauling my water. But the house w/o a well was selling for a low 235K. Initially, I had offered the buyer the option to install the well for under $15K and receive an instant equity of $35K – increasing the  home's equity/value of $270. But I had no takers. That offer will stand until I begin drilling the well. The estimated cost for drilling a residential water well is $25 to $65 per foot or $3,750 to $15,300 on average for a complete system and installation. Here in the Wet Mountains, my neighbor hit water at 60', but it is abundant at 150'+. An potential artesian well is bringing up water on the road below creating a wet spot.

 

Some Electrical and Plumbing are needed: Essential electric outlets are active. Water and a composting toilet are operational. Some of the main materials required to finish the house have been purchased and are included with the house.

 

As an incentive to buy, it is set up so that the Sweat Equity of $15K would increase the home's equity by $40,000, or $310,000 in home value.*

 

The final expenses and earned equity would depend on your choices of esthetics.

 

 

*Price & Equity

 

How did I arrive at the $235,000 price of the house?

 

I took into consideration the asking prices for regional Straw Bale Homes on the market. The Straw Bale Home industry states SB homes' costs/values are up to 15% above the typical quote for a conventional house, giving you up to $54,000 Equity. However, at this time, I am not including the house's SB Equity in determining the home's value.

 

I averaged four suggested estimates: Chase's $381K ($480K High Range), FSBO's $342K ($420 High) Rocket Homes' $346K for Finished Conventional Homes, and, importantly, the selling price of a Straw Bale House I built locally that recently sold for a comparable price of $310K ($360K minus $50K for outbuildings and 6 acres more than my property). That average is $355K.

 

I subtracted  $120K for sweat equity from $355K for a total of $235,000 price for my house. In effect, $30K will provide $75K sweat equity plus SB Equity of $54K, increasing your home value to $365,000. I am providing these price breaks as an incentive to sell the house quickly. I am motivated and not obsessed with money. However, upon installing the well, that sweat equity of $30K will be cut to $15K – but you will have a well!

 

Bottom line: If this completed house were resold in today's market, it would sell for between $310,000 and $364,000 +.

 

Important Notice Of Price Increase from $235K to $270K

The following is based on the lower estimate of $310K. The property does not have a water well. I have been hauling my water. I was asking for a low 235K w/o a well. I had offered the buyer the option to install the well for under $15K and receive an instant equity of $35K – increasing the  home's equity/value of $270. But I had no takers.  To attract more buyers, I will be installing the water well which will increase the home's value/price to $270. If interested, there may still be time to negotiate the wells installation and the keep the cost of the home below $270. The estimated cost for drilling a residential water well is $25 to $65 per foot or $3,750 to $15,300 on average for a complete system and installation. Here in the Wet Mountains, my neighbor hit water at 60', but it is abundant at 150'+.

Does the price of $270K for my home with a well with $15K sweat equity sound more appealing than paying $235K w/$30K sweat equity? This shows how advantageous this equity plan is and why it would be more profitable for you to put in the well.

 

Contact me for the detailed house description, work to be done, or the link for Sold SB Home, info,

 

 

Creative Owner Financing

 

With 75% down, I can offer a fixed interest rate of 2.5% (beating the Fed's high interest rate of 7%). I am open to other options – including trade for establishing a 5-year minimum internet presence and marketing a book I wrote.

 

Trade

I need someone long-term who is experienced in internet marketing for a project. I will trade about 25% of the payment for such services for five years or longer. That is about $50K. (A serious, committed learner will be considered.)

 

 

 

Location and Area

 

The home is in Custer County, in the South Central Rocky Mountains of Colorado. It is on 5 acres of hills, with 400+ pine trees. It is on a cul-de-sac road with minimal to no traffic. There are two other homes on this road; one is a summer retreat. You'll have most of the area to yourself. Custer County's population is 4,700, and it is not a major tourism center, so living here is quiet and easy. Westcliffe is the nearest town, 18 miles north. Pueblo is 65 miles to the east. Colorado Springs is 75 miles north. Denver is 135 miles away. The 50-mile-long Sangre De Cristo mountain range, with 14,000-foot peaks, is 10 miles across the valley. Hiking, backpacking, biking.

 

Pine trees cover the area with occasional meadows and grassland valleys. Electric lines are underground. The homes in the area are on five-acre parcels with county-maintained roads (including winter snow removal). The value of the custom-built houses in the area ranges from $250 K to $2 MM. There are a few newer modular homes but no mobile homes.

 

This property sits in the Wet Mountains at 8950 feet elevation and above a 7500-foot high valley that runs at the base and length of the snow-capped mountain range. The name Wet implies an abundance of shallow water (60 to 100 feet) as it can rain here more than in other areas. The property has abundant wildlife. I continuously see wildlife on my property: deer, bobcats, lynx, coyotes, a few bears, foxes, squirrels, rabbits, chipmunks, and a beautiful variety of birds. Several deer trails crisscross the property. The animals are free to roam with few fences in the area. It is very quiet and peaceful here. I love the contrast of the winter in a warm, imperviable straw bale home, yet the house is cool in the summer. It has been the ideal setting to concentrate on a book I've been writing. I stopped working on the house when it was livable to start writing.

 

The house sits on a slightly sloped, northern side of a pine-forested hill above a meadow known as Antelope Valley, the name of the subdivision. The house's interior is 1200 sq. ft., and the exterior is 1400 sq. ft. (Keep in mind the straw bale walls are 20" deep with a stucco coat.) It has two bay-front type entrances. If viewed as two sections perpendicular to each other and sharing a common wall, the house's exterior dimensions are 30' x 25' and 30' x 21', plus an 8' x 8' rear entry mud-room with a storage loft. See the floor plan.

 

 

House Details

              

Hard Work's Done - Needs Finish Work

 

The Main or Master Bedroom: The main bedroom (or Great Room) is 28' x 22' @ 600 sq. ft., with plenty of windows for soft northern light exposure, a sliding glass door, and a 12-foot cathedral ceiling.

 

The great room/ bedroom can be subdivided to create an additional bedroom or office. There is also level ground to expand the house to the west (on the right as you look at the front) as well as east of the house.

 

(Note: The main bedroom floor needs to be finished with brick, 3" earth-fill (or whatever material you choose), over a base of existing 4 to 6 inches of earth fill.

 

An open spaced Loft/Bedroom is 20' x 12' @ 240 sq. ft., above the kitchen and bathroom, and oversees the living room and out the windows to several acres of forest. There is an additional storage area behind the board-paneled wall.

 

 

The efficient Kitchen space is - 9' x 12' @ 110 sq. ft. It has the rear entrance/exit to the house via an 8x8 Mud-room/Storage room with an added mini-loft for extra storage - 4x8. This mud room has a Dutch door entrance.

 

The kitchen has a one-year-old Whirlpool refrigerator - 21 cubic. ft., at $1000. It has all the basic essentials and is fully functional. It has a functional kitchen set up in place; However, it needs a full cook stove (plumbed for propane), counters and cabinets, and a sink replacement to be a modern kitchen.

 

A Radiant Floor Heating hose is installed in the earth-floor in the kitchen in conjunction with the earth-floor in the living room. A heat source and pump are required.

 

The kitchen opens up to the Living Room area - 20' x 17' @ 340 sq. ft., with a 14' high cathedral ceiling, and is shared with the loft. The main entrance to the house is in the living room. The room has a bay window with two opening windows, and there is a second large opening window.

 

One Bathroom - 9' x 12' @ 110 sq. ft.

A high-end Biolet Composting Toilet, $2100, is installed and requires no water - a savings of 20+ gallons per day. A flushing toilet drain is installed, should you prefer a conventional toilet. An efficient manual flush urinal is installed. The shower/bathtub is provisionally served by a 7-gallon electric hot water heater for brief showers. A washing machine drain is installed in the bathroom (no washing machine). The septic tank is in place and operational. Sewage/septic is complete and operational.

 

The Custom Entry Doors are simple and energy efficient. The doors are a unique 4 inches thick with an 18 R-value. This is at least 4 times better than conventional doors.

 

The Earth Floor is made of 6 to 8 inches of earth clay and sand (adobe) and pumice. (See photos) While the pumice in the floor mix contributes about a 10+ R-value to the floor, the earth-clay-sand elements act as a thermal mass that captures the ambient heat, radiating the heat (or cool in summer) back into the house.

 

In other words, it will keep your feet warm in the winter and the entire house cool in the summer. In addition to the earth floor throughout the living area and the kitchen, radiant floor heat tubing is embedded in the floor. A pump and heat source are needed to make this operational. This will add substantially to the heat radiation and distribution throughout the floor and house. Heating costs will be substantially reduced.

 

Although the living area and kitchen are carpeted, the floor has multi-layer coats of earth-tinted (reddish brown) varnish finish, a nice semi-gloss, and looks very earthy (as seen in the pictures).

 

Heating: The energy heating efficiency of a straw-bale design is not just an ecological concern. It is an economic concern when, in our later years of life, we'll need to have more control over the increasing cost of heating fuel.

 

In the main living area (including the living room, kitchen, loft, and bath), you have a highly efficient ecological Englander Pellet Stove ($1200) as the primary heat source (almost smokeless, $350/year to operate). 

 

Behind the stove is a traditional earth-wall made of adobe bricks for ideal heat retention and radiance. The wall is unconventional in that it is a completely interior wall, and it has a wood stove on the other side, in the main bedroom, adding to the house's heating efficiency.

 

There is a high-end Rinnai Propane Heater, 30,000 Btu, $1,100 for a quick warm-up in the early mornings.

 

Radiant Floor Heating hoses are embedded in the earth-floor of the kitchen and living room. A heater and pump will be required to complete the system. This low-cost, ecological efficiency heating will keep you comfortably warm during the coldest days of winter. You'll be ahead of any conventional home,

 

In the summer, no AC is needed, as the straw-bale insulation and earth floor construction (and all the pine trees) keep the house cool on the hottest days.

 

 

POST AND BEAM CONSTRUCTION gives this house a strong building frame, which carries the load for the house. (This is not a straw-bale, load-bearing construction.) Each 8" to 10" post throughout the house is bolted to an anchor made of angle-iron (1/4" x 4" x 4" by 2 feet), which is embedded up to 4 feet of reinforced concrete.

 

 

STRAW BALE WALLS are an insulation infill between the posts of the frame, providing an extremely well-insulated building. In fact, there is no other better-insulated house. The straw bale/wall, 20 inches thick, has a 56 R-value – which is 2 to 3 times the warmth of a conventional house. Most conventional houses are rated as low as 19 R-value.

 

This house has the essential breathable lime plaster and stucco inside and out, which was traditionally applied by hand (which means it is securely bonded and creatively detailed). Windows: Double pane, insulated windows are installed throughout the home.

 

The Footer/Stem Wall, on which the bales sit, is 18" wide and made of a Portland cement pumice mix (no sand). This has created an unheard-of 20 R-value for a concrete base. (Concrete/sand mix commonly used is R-3 and acts as a cold-conductor rather than acting as an insulator.)

 

The ROOF and Cathedral Ceiling are a gentle 12/3 pitch, which will help control the snow from sliding off the roof and allow for capturing the water into an existing 1500-gallon concrete cistern.

 

The roof is made with wooden 18" TJIs Truss/Joists I-beams, which are more commonly used in much more expansive construction such as warehouses. (8" to 12" TJIs are more common in home construction).

 

These I-beams not only give an unusually strong roof load for the heaviest snow, but they allow for 18 inches of roof insulation up to 54 R-value. Loose but tightly packed straw in large bags were used for roof insulation. The snow on the roof does not melt quickly; this is an indication the well-insulated roof is not losing heat. The accumulated snow on the roof also adds to the house's insulation.

 

The roof overhang, or the eves, extends 42" further than the usual 24" and effectively gives added protection for the stucco and straw bale construction from the rain and snow.

 

The pitch of the roof is seen on the inside as a gentle cathedral ceiling, with large exposed center beams supporting the roof. The roof has mineral-surfaced roll roofing and is in good condition. No Leaks.

 

Upon building my house, I put off drilling a well so I could apply my funds toward the construction of the house and getting a roof over my head.

 

Water Supply: Even though groundwater is abundant, no water well was installed. Instead, a 400-gallon interior household water supply tanks are installed and operational. Interior water supply means no freezing, plus water continues to be available as gravity-fed water during power outages. When the is well, this would be an ideal water reservoir set-up.

 

* As much as $15K of investment/sweat equity, or completion cost, is allotted for the installation of a water well, although it could be cheaper. However, if you want to save $12K by postponing a well, you can haul your water until you are ready for a well. Regardless, the $12K will still be included in the discount.

 

Two hundred seventy-five gallons of household water is hauled with my one-ton truck eight times a year, costing $140 a year. The 275-gallon water-hauling tank is included. I am also thinking of adding a second storage tank. Presently, I have an older, reliable 4WD work truck that can be sold with the house, if needed. This is or will be how water will be supplied to the home until the well is installed..

 

A 1500 gal. concrete cistern has also been installed/buried and is presently filled with rainwater. While it has been run to the house, it has not been plumbed into the household system. This cistern could reduce hauling water down to once a year. The cistern can also serve as an available water supply for a fire emergency. This cistern will lower homeowners' insurance.

 

Drilling a residential water well costs $25 to $65 per foot or $3,750 to $15,300 on average for a complete system and installation. Water is abundant and close to the ground surface. I can show you how and where to use Divining Rods to detect water underground on my property - You can compare weak spots to some very strong areas. Neighbors at the top of the hill next to my house hit water at 60 ft. and again at 100 and 150 + ft. Guarantee: At the asking price of the house, if you install a well within the first six months of purchasing the property, I will guarantee reimbursement of half the cost of drilling the first well for water if you do not hit water within 250 feet, as long as we agree on the location where the well will be drilled.

 

What other work needs be done to complete the house?

The essential projects that will complete the house are: some electrical, some plumbing, kitchen cabinets/counters, and the main bedroom floor needs finishing.

 

All in-floor gas, water, and sewage plumbing is completed and in use.. Some temporary in-wall plumbing is in place for the house water supply but should be replaced. All plumbing is designed to go into an accessible interior wall (no freezing) shared by the kitchen and bathroom. I have all the PEX plumbing materials (PEX is the best piping), and they are included with the home.

 

Most of the interior electrical wiring is installed under the floor but needs some additional wiring/work in the walls. Temporary lighting will need to be replaced with your choice of lighting. I have already purchased most of the basic electric supplies/materials, and they are included (other than the supply-line).

 

The floor in the main bedroom needs finishing. - e.g., brick, compact earth-fill, or whatever you wish. It has 4 inches of hardened earth-fill as a base. The bathroom floor could use a final coat of sealant.

 

Kitchen cabinets and a stove are not included.

 

Presently, the house is fully functional and livable. If you were to finish the essential work yourself, you would save about $12k in labor costs.

 

Miscellaneous: Some minor trim and paneling needs to be installed. Two new 5-gallon electric hot water heaters are installed, one for an efficient shower and one for the kitchen and bath sinks. They may be upgraded to a larger capacity. An 11' interior divider wall needs to be installed/finished (similar to the loft wall in pictures). Presently, straw bales which I left in place serve as a divider.

 

Electrical and plumbing supplies and materials are included in the price. Everything in the house, including the refrigerator, pellet stove, wood stove, furniture, and fixtures, is included. Building materials, lumber, storage camper, and trash/dumpster trailer are included on the property. Construction tools and the work truck are negotiable.

 

If you read this far and are interested, you can contact me directly by email at: JerryG.Seven@Gmail.com or by phone 719 Eight Two Zero 0878

 

Thank you for visiting this site. Jerry Gomez