This as-told-to essay is based on a series of conversations with Pamela Voss, who has lived in a dome home in Texas since 2021. All costs mentioned have been verified by Insider. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
Do your homework on mortgage lenders upfront. Don't go with the national, big-box mortgage companies. Stay local, and call the bank ahead of time to make sure they can provide a mortgage on a geodesic dome home. But these banks told us that a dome is in its own category of structure, so they could not compare a dome home with a regular single-family home.
To avoid the same headache we went through, find a small company. They can do some more clever, unique things with your loan. After you've found a way to finance your dome home, find a good inspector, because if you're buying a previously-owned dome home, you have no idea how it was built. We are fortunate to have a home built by an engineer, so there were no corners cut. For instance, our insulation is six inches thicker than it needs to be for code.Look for home insurance companies that aren't afraid of insuring a unique structure
This experience taught me to find insurance companies that insure unique structures. Now, I use the Texas Farm Bureau, where I only pay $3,123 a year — several hundred dollars lower than theAfter you take these steps, you can reap the benefits of the dome's safety and energy efficiency.