how important is having a basement to you?

[shaynaatl]

We are in the preliminary stages of house hunting, and deciding if a basement is on our desired feature list. How much importance do you put in having a basement?

Some of our friends with older kids have been telling us a basement or terrace level is great, as it can be used a hangout for older kids, an entertaining area, or an in-law living area. Of course, it also adds extra costs and puts limits on house selection.

In our area, a new construction home without basement is roughly the same cost as a 10 year old house with daylight basement. Which would you rather have? New construction with basement is out of our price range.

[preppy]

I have never been in a house with a basement as they are standard in my area. But if it was that big of a price difference and it didn't hurt resell value I don't think it would be a deal breaker. Where do people store their crap if they don't have a basement?

[preppy]

ETA: Do you live in an area with tornados? If I did I think a basement would be a must have. Not sure if that's a factor.

[pinkalicious]

Basement is a must for me, but we live in an area with lots of tornadoes. I also want it for storage and extra living space- family room, bar, craft room or office.

[rbp]

We decided through our home search process that a basement or some other secondary living space was important to us. Since the neighborhood we bought in was developed in the 50s, most of the houses are ranches. And a ranch without a basement seemed really constrained to us. Two-story homes could be fine if there was a playroom or family room/living room setup. Right now our basement is just storing all our disorganized crap because we've only been in the house for two weeks, but ultimately we plan to make it a rec room. There's also the possibility of renting it out to a grad student (we are a few miles from a large research university) if we put a kitchen down there.

At the beginning of our home search process, we basically looked at all homes in our desired neighborhood and price range to get an idea of what we could afford. I recommend this approach as it's a great way to refine your list of musts and wants.

[rbp]

Sept 21, 2016 7:40:22 GMT -5 preppy said:

I have never been in a house with a basement as they are standard in my area. But if it was that big of a price difference and it didn't hurt resell value I don't think it would be a deal breaker. Where do people store their crap if they don't have a basement?

Attic

[osulori]

When we bought our house in 2008? Not that important, which is how we ended up with a house that doesn't have a basement

Now (8 years, two dogs, one kid, and a whole bunch of stuff later)? Very important. Our next house WILL have a basement, for storage and extra play/hangout space.

[peggy]

I think this will be highly dependent on your area. In our metro area, homes without a basement are very rare but in other areas of the country the opposite is true.

[ilikedonuts]

It's a 100% must for us. I actually click that option on any home search we do.

[ssmjlm]

I think it's nice to have if you're in an area with basements.

We don't have them here due to the water table, although years ago when we bought our first house we went through a house on a hill with a "basement" if you call 5' of height and a dirt floor.

[krystee]

We wanted either a basement or an extra bedroom we could set up as a rec room when our kid(s) are older. We ended up with a basement, and I really like having it.

[gerberdaisy]

In out area all the houses have basements, so it isn't really a concern for us. I'd say less than have of them either are or could be finished though, since most of the houses are older.

To answer your question, I don't care at all about new construction, so would take the house with a basement 100%.

[ECB]

A "basement" per se doesn't matter. BUT what does matter is:

1- having a secondary living space. I know that as DS gets older, having his own area to hang out with friends will be important. That space is our playroom and it's right of our kitchen, so it doesn't really have much privacy. but... that's o.k. and it leads out to our backyard.

2- storage. This is a MUST. Our house has an addition and because of that, we actually have a great storage basement. But the original house? It has one small room upstairs for storage and then crawl space. I don't know how people do it!! I LOVE having the space that we have.

[sunshine608]

Deal-breaker. WE would not look at a house without a basement unless it had an equivalent( like a 3rd floor media/bonus room) however those didn't work for us so we had to have a basement. They are pretty common here but not expected.

For us its for storage and a man cave/tinker area for H. ALso it adds possibilities for space like you mentioned above.

[countthestars]

Very important to us, but all houses here have them so maybe that's easy for me to say. I'm not sure it would be a deal breaker for me in your case.

[undecidedowl]

Well, we just bought a 10 year old house with a basement, so that's my vote. We moved from a ranch with no basement and we wanted the extra living area plus non-attic storage. We live in an area with tornadoes so that was a consideration. But, flooding is also a factor. Several of my neighbors had their basement flood with our recent heavy storms.

[CrazyLucky]

We moved from NY to NC, and let me tell you, we REALLY miss having a basement. Our basement in NY was finished and it just provided so much extra space. We had a family room down there, a laundry room and a huge storage area. We didn't have kids then, but now we would use it as a playroom, a place to hide away some of those 18 million toys. If we ever move, and there is a possibility of a basement, we will jump on it.

[spk926]

It was a non-negotiable must have for us when house hunting. I really wanted a walk out, but settled for a lookout instead with large and numerous windows. I was not okay with getting one with egress windows. It adds a lot of space to a house and I like that. Without the basement our house is 3400 sq. ft. but with the basement it's 5100 sq. ft. That's a big difference!

[imojoebunny]

I adore our daylight basement. It adds 1300 extra feet of living space to our house, so we could get a smaller main house because the basement absorbs all the clutter and has kid space/football watching space. It was partially finished when we built it, and now we are fully finishing it, less one large storage room. When we have friends over, all the kids go down to the playroom and the adults have the main floor. When we are done, it will have a bath, a bedroom, a movie room, and the playroom. It makes it much quieter on the main level, and the kids have plenty of space to play. It is so much nicer than our old house, where the secondary living space was upstairs, and you could hear the kids bouncing around and being crazy. We use it every day. It is daylight on two sides, so bright and light, not dark and dank.

[arch01]

We will never have another house with a basement in NC. Too many potential issues, NC soil is not good for basements.

I do miss having a usable basement like we had in WI growing up. Right now, our playroom is our living room. We jumped on our house because it was really the only one we could afford in our desired neighborhood, but I wish it had a playroom.

[rbp]

Is this in Atlanta? City or burbs?

[abs]

We live on the gulf coast so LOL at a basement. That would not work here. I do love the idea of them though! If we lived in area where they were common I'd want one.

We store stuff in our garage or spare bedroom. Not ideal.

[jeaniebueller]

For us, yes its very important. But they are standard around here.

[karinothing]

We live in an area where they are common, but don't technically have one. Our house is a split foyer, so there is a "basement" but not in the traditional sense. Anyway, as long as there is enough room for everything I don't care where it is located.

[namasteak]

They are not common in our area and I don't find it necessary. Our holiday decor and camping equipment are in the attic. Lawn equipment & home gym are kept in the garage. Everything else is inside the 2500 square foot house.

[karinothing]

Sept 21, 2016 7:40:22 GMT -5 preppy said:

I have never been in a house with a basement as they are standard in my area. But if it was that big of a price difference and it didn't hurt resell value I don't think it would be a deal breaker. Where do people store their crap if they don't have a basement?

Garage or attic?

[nextbigthing]

I wish I had a basement! I grew up in Massachusetts and the basement was great

I have a big game room now that works, but not for storing all the stuff

If you can get a basement do it!

[mrshandy]

We have a finished basement and it's actually like half of our house. We have DS' room and a guest room down there as well as a little workout area, a playroom and a beer cooler since we're home brewers.

Having the playroom in an area outside our main living area is the best. The kids go down there and can make a mess and we don't need to clean it up right away. We can leave it for a few days and then get around to cleaning it up when we have time. This is great since H and I work full time and we don't have time to clean the playroom every day. I can still have my clean living room and kitchen. We have some toys up in the living room, but I have them hidden away so they are easy to make go away.

But our basement did flood a few months after we moved in (thank god for insurance) and it gets really cold down there in the winter (nice and cool during the summer though). So I don't think a basement is essential, but I do think if you don't have one, I would want some living space someplace else. Especially a place for the kids toys.

[penguingrrl]

We have a basement, but it's not finishable so it's just for laundry and storage. H has to duck around the beams, which is why we can't finish it (ceiling would be too low), although finishing it was our intention until we realized that (he didn't notice he was ducking until I asked him about ceiling clearance because I was about to start calling contractors). I wish it was finishable because we were planning on putting a large family room and an office down there, but it is what it is. At least we have the storage space since we don't have an attic or garage.

[cmarie11]

It's non-negotiable for us, but that's easy to say because I've never seen a home here without a basement. We just finished ours last summer and it added a playroom, family room, exercise nook and a large storage room. I love it.