Pole barns in many areas are forbidden by zoning regulations within towns which is probably why you are seeing very few. Better to check the zoning regulations and look outside of the area that they are forbidden. Often other types of buildings are fine just not pole barns.

Pole barns are common and accepted around here. The shortage has been a property with a pole barn that also fits our size/price and location criteria.

Are you wanting to stay in the small town where you currently live? If so, it should be pretty easy to drive around and see how many properties like the one you want even exist. If they are up and down every road, chances are one will be up for sale eventually. If they are rare, then probably not.

If you are looking in a larger area and it's too much territory to cover driving around it's probably time to talk to a Realtor about the likelihood of something being available. If this type of property just isn't out there in large supply you need to think about changing your vision or buying land and building what you want on it.

Weedy, I was just going to say the same thing homechef did.

I've had 2 pole barns build for me, on 2 separate properties. Unless the area you are in has a lot of HOAs that have restrictions on what you can build, you may have more luck just looking for the right house and then having a new pole barn built.

Look for the house that fits your criteria, and build the barn. If this is unacceptable for some reason, and the inventory is such that only one property per year comes on the market, then you probably should have made a deal with the property when you were only $10,000 apart.

Forget the HOA's for a moment and look at the larger country. Some areas have what are called Zoning Laws that can cover as little as a certain type of activity or as in this area of 8+ counties where Kansas City proper is located. I mentioned Checking Zoning not some Podunk HOA. Most are a hodgepodge of rules that with the proper incentive can be changed or overlooked. Even with this they are in most states in the Midwest more legally binding than any HOA. In this area there are Zoning laws for state, city, county, and special districts that if enforced can prevent certain types of buildings and if built require the building to be torn down or a lien placed against the property until the correct action is taken. Our city has a public TV channel where the zoning groups often are shown. They can become quite heated at times.

The OP has already said that zoning laws are not an issue in her case...

nc however HOA's were brought up which would normally not effect rural or semi-rural property where zoning laws would be in effect. My comment was to provide information to those that apparently do not understand which jurisdictions would cover this type of property.

Geez Maifleur that's ever so helpful.

I live in Podunk USA and own a home subject to an HOA. So I just though I'd try to be helpful.

We would be just as willing to build a pole barn as to renovate a house. But here's how the listings pan out:

135-ish total in our zip code
43 of those with at least 1 acre (presumable smallest lot that would accommodate a pole barn and have enough space from neighbors)
10 of those are within the desired geographic range (within 3 miles of retail hub, within 5 miles of work). The rest are to the north or east, out in the country.
5 of those are too big/pricey. Don't need/want 3000+ sf.

Of the 5 remaining potentials:
1. is on a bad lot (incurable defect)
2. has a wacky layout (have viewed)
3. is ok inside, would feel compelled to update, and would never be a house I'd love (but is priced pre-reno as a house I'd love) (have viewed)

1. is over our desired price range because it has large and XL pole barns, but still needs new bathrooms and possibly a kitchen (haven't viewed)
   5. is the one that we offered on.

3,4,5 have existing pole barns, 2 has space to build one, 1 does not.

Building isn't appealing, as it's way more expensive than buying used around here, and this isn't our forever town.

We have a realtor that's shown us the properties. We've asked her about a couple drive-bys, like a large lot with just a barn on it, and she has looked into them, but they haven't borne fruit.

Also confirm that CURRENT zoning/codes allow for them to be built, or built how you are envisioning. Just because there's lots and lots of them that exist in your area doesn't mean you can put one up now. I'm not saying they wouldn't be allowed, but just to be safe, I would look into it.

Update: the sellers of the house we offered on dropped their price again and reached out through our realtor to see if we were still interested. We are now $5K apart, and we are standing firm. They are thinking it over.

I hypothesize that they are going to see if their price drop pulls in any new buyers or offers, and if not, consider coming down to our price. That's what I'd do in their shoes. Because paying the mortgage and utilities for 3 more months costs them about $5K.

I don't understand that if this house is the one you want, and you can't find another one that suits you, you are not willing to go up a mere $5,000 in price. It's not going to make a huge difference in the mortgage payment, is it?

The original gap between seller and buyer was $10,000. By coming down $5,000 the seller has met you halfway. That's a big move. I would advise you to either accept the offer or if you must squeeze that last drop from them, increase your offer $2,500. All or nothing is rarely a successful negotiating tactic. Calculate the difference in payment on a 30 year loan of $5,000. It's not a lot, $27 a month on a 30 year loan, or $324 a year. Maybe meet them halfway with the counter offer.

Thanks for your feedback, it's welcome and non-offensive. We're not moving off our price now for a few reasons:

1. The comps show value $5K below our last offer, so we're already above it. (House originally overpriced by $25K, per our agent.)

2. This house checks most boxes, but isn't our dream home. Boxes not checked: crawl space, not basement; no attached garage (they converted it to a family room); finishes are 20 years old. So we're not so in love with it that losing it breaks our hearts (and isn't worth overpaying).

I despise converting costs into monthly payments, because that obscures the actual cost. This is a sub-$200K house, so $5K is more meaningful than on a million-dollar one. And we'll be paying cash.

We may yet change our mind. Or the agents might get together to help close the gap and make it happen.

And in the meantime, there's a house around the corner from us that we've been watching for 5 years, ever since the owner went into a nursing home. It's finally gone through probate and foreclosure, and the bank is about to put it on the market. It has a basement, 4-car detached garage, is not on acreage, and house needs an extensive reno. BPO was $40K (fixed up it'd bring $100-110K).

Your original post gave me the impression that this place was IT. If you're not going to lose sleep over losing it over $5,000 price difference and are willing to wait, then, by all means, wait it out. My husband and I decided to look for a house on a lake--we were not in a hurry to move, so we waited until the right place came along. It was at least a couple of years, but it was worth the wait, which it sound like it would be for you, too. Good luck in your search!

If it's not IT, do you really want it if they come down another $5,000?

If it's not IT, I'd much rather work on the probate house, do the renovation to my standards and get the finishes that I want.

And....they took our offer. We are working on the paperwork and inspection.

Which one took your offer? You didn't specify.

The sellers of the one we originally offered on that stalled out $10K apart.

The probate house around the corner isn't officially on the market yet.

Congratulations. Patience was indeed a virtue in this case.

When we were selling our house in NY we told our Realtor we were firm on our price and would not budge a penny. We had already dropped it 10 grand against our wishes when no offers came in the first two weeks. We were not in a rush to move.

A buyer came along and offered $10,000 below our asking. We refused. Our Realtor tried to convince us to take it as the market started falling in NYC. This was in 2010.

We refused. The buyers wanted to split the difference and went up $5,000. I would not discuss it any further, answer was no!

After a week, our Realtor said buyers accepted our price and we signed the contract.

At closing, we discovered that the buyers did not accept the price and our house sold for $5,000 under our price. I was shocked and almost walked out of the closing. Turned out the two Realtors, Mine and the buyers, agreed to split the $5,000 between them.

We wound up getting the full amount but it was because the Realtors paid the difference.

Crazy, I was not happy about this as it was kept from me. After we closed, we gave our Realtor (who we loved), The $2,500.00.

Jane

Jane, it is common for realtors to pay some of their commission to close the deal, don't feel bad. Nice you paid it back to your agent.