Financing Overview

Above is 40′ dome built on full basement in Connecticut.

To view photo gallery of this Ai dome, click on Aidome.

American Ingenuity (Ai) is happy that you are considering its Geodesic Dome Building Kit for your future home. You have made a big decision to build your dream home, and building with an alternative housing structure that comes with 225 mph wind and F4 tornado warranty that saves 50% to 60% on heating and cooling over conventional house is a smart decision.

Prior to purchasing property or if you own your property, feel free to call or email American Ingenuity and ask for our checklist of items to review to assure your site is buildable.  Our number is 321-639-8777. Email by clicking on Contact Us.

Prior to purchasing your land or making a set decision regarding the desired size of your home, first determine the overall budget needed to bring your dreams to fruition (land, land development, and structure). If financing, determine the amount of cash down payment required by the lender. Loans for alternative housing such as a geodesic dome are often harder to come by, with lenders generally requiring a 25% and 35% cash down payment.  On an approximate $200,000 finished cost for the structure and land development, this could mean a cash down payment of between $50,000 and $70,000. Keep in mind lenders may or may not take under consideration the equity in your land, when lending for the structure and land development. Therefore, if needing a loan to build it is wise not to invest all your liquid assets into the purchase of the property because a large cash down payment will be required on the home loan.

It is sometimes best to purchase a small piece of affordable land instead of large acreage.  This way you keep your land cost down so you have more cash money available for your mortgage cash down payment or more cash to build if you are an owner/builder.  To keep your construction costs down, best to build as small a dome as possible; therefore you are on your property living in a super-strong, super-energy efficient dome home saving money on your heating & cooling costs to add on a second dome later.  For example a 40’ dome (3 bedroom, two bath) can have 1,800 sq.ft.  A 36’ dome (2 or 3 bedroom, two bath) can have 1,400 to 1,600 sq.ft.  If your finished cost per square foot for your area is $105, then building the smaller 36’ dome automatically saves you $20,000 to $40,000 in construction costs vs building a 40’ dome.  A 27’ dome (two bedroom/two bath) can have 800 sq.ft.  Building a 27’ dome vs a 36’ dome automatically saves you $60,000 to $80,000 in construction costs.

That being said, American Ingenuity tries to look out after each perspective client to assure that they are not “blindsided” or shocked about some property issue that could stop them from building their dream dome.  Prior to purchasing property or if you own your property, feel free to call  or email American Ingenuity and ask for our checklist of items to review to assure your site is buildable.  Our number is 321-639-8777.

A no cost service to you: Provide Ai with the tax id for the property you are considering purchasing or you own and at no cost to you, Ai will call the building department. We will show them our web site, email them sample building plans pdfs, describe the component panel, email engineering statement, etc. and find out if the Ai dome kit can be built in your area.

The American Ingenuity component panel conforms to the provisions of current International Building Code Florida Building Code and California Building Code that allows for alternative materials and methods for residential construction.

Why do lenders not like domes? Lenders determine how much they will loan based on what houses in that neighborhood sell for. The lender can usually get within three to four per cent of the value of a conventional house. But because we do not have resale statistics on domes they do not know what the resale price is. The lender has to be concerned with the worst case scenario. If the homeowner dies, they will have to resale the dome. So they are reluctant to loan as much money on a dome project.

Dome Resale Value: Ai knows of only a few of our dome owners who have sold their dome; which is a compliment in itself. Therefore, we have no resale statistics on our dome, but we have heard of other domes being sold at a profit well above their initial building cost. We can offer some insight that would apply.

1. Energy costs are certainly increasing and therefore a very energy efficient home will increase in value as energy costs increase.
2. A conventional home will show its age as styles change while a new coat of paint on our dome will still look ahead of its time.
3. Our sales of dome kits has constantly increased through the years and a quality dome that is completed would have the distinct sales advantage of showing the finished product.
4. The resale value of a dome or any other home, is improved when it: a) matches the neighborhood in size and value;  b) exhibits quality construction;  c) is landscaped well; d) offers advantages over other homes.

Also, with the increasing popularity of domes, increasing number of super-storms and rising energy costs, the market for an exceptionally energy efficient, super strong, low maintenance home should be excellent. A large percentage of the home buyers cannot visualize a dome and do not want to be involved in the floor plan design and construction of their home. As a result a finished dome that can be touched and felt is a big plus to them. If you are thinking of resale, build at least a 40’ in diameter dome, have it built with quality workmanship and keep your utility bills.

To learn more about how to obtain financing on domes, click on Comparables.