Basement Level Garage

[hockeywife]

We are looking at houses and found one we like, but it has a basement level garage, which is not the norm around here.



Would this deter you from buying a house you otherwise really liked? While this is likely our forever home, I'm more concerned about the annoyance factor (having to bring groceries upstairs, etc) then worrying about when we're old and grey.

Thoughts?

[jlt19]

It would annoy me, but I'm not sure it would be a dealbreaker.

[momin2013]

Hmm...in the case of a likely forever home, something like that might deter me. Having lived in a couple of places where I had to lug groceries up a flight of stairs to get to the kitchen, not having that layout again would be really important to me, as it was really, really annoying.

That's just me, though; I'm not sure what the layout is like coming in from the garage, whether it has a nice user-friendly mudroom or not, etc. I'd try to visualize what it would be like coming in through the garage on that level to get a feel for it, and go from there.

[dottyblue]

It was a deal breaker for us, but we had very specific reasons; my family has bad knees. I don't want to aggravate my knees (which are already showing signs of problems) by hauling up/down the garage stairs a minimum of 4 times a day. Additionally, visiting family members can not climb stairs to get in my house, either from the garage or even the front walk.

Without that consideration, we probably wouldn't have had any issue with a basement garage.

[mrs.jacinthe]

They're very common around here and I wouldn't hesitate to buy one; however, I'd want to be sure that the stairs were a) built well and b) strong enough to support one of those stair chairs in the event of a life-changing event or just old age.

I'd also consider adding a dumbwaiter for groceries and stuff if I thought it was needed.

[Susie]

It seems annoying to me in the same way that it is annoying to have laundry in the basement. My house has basement laundry, so I guess that's where I stand!

It seems like it would result in increased above ground square footage (so do you wind up with an extra first floor room above the garage?) and less basement square footage for a separate workout/whatever area. Whether I liked how the space was used would probably be a bigger deal to me than the stairs -- which can be addressed.

[mrsukyankee]

What Susie said.

[badgergrl]

It was a deal breaker for us - we wouldn't look at houses that had it. I wasn't willing to haul groceries etc up a full flight of stairs.

[hockeywife]

It's a moot point. We were scheduled for a second showing and they cancelled bc they accepted an offer

Thank you all for weighing in. And yes, Susie, it gave us much more space on the first floor and the layout was great. We would have turned the basement into a fabulous "mud room".

[Pibs]

Nope. It's how our house is built. We're on a pretty decent hill, so the garage + garage gym, main guest room and theater are all down on that level. It's great because the garage is far away from our bedroom so I don't hear the garage door when husband leaves for work on my off days and because it's partially underground it stays nice and cool in the gym space even when it's 90+ and I'm working out at 3PM. The guest room is far away to allow everyone privacy, and it stays cool even though there isn't AC on that level. And the theater is nice and dark. I just consider getting everything upstairs in one trip as a challenge/workout when I bring home groceries. Our house is most definitely not a house for old people so I expect that'll change someday, but for now it's just kind of annoying but not worth losing the other benefits.

I'm sorry your second showing was canceled.

[tres3]

I have a basement garage. I just park by the front when unloading groceries.

My parents' house growing up had a basement garage and my bedroom was over it. It sucked. the space from garage to house wasn't properly insulated so my bedroom got super cold at night in the winter.

[Susie]

Boo! House shopping is the worst. Are you still in the area, hockeywife?

[hockeywife]

Jul 19, 2017 9:41:52 GMT -5 Susie said:

Boo! House shopping is the worst. Are you still in the area, hockeywife?

The absolute worst. Ugh.

Yes, we are still in the area. Looking north of you, exits 8-11, but preferably more toward 8 where we are now. We are looking in Nisky and North Col, too, but there is even less inventory there!

[karinothing]

We have one, we do have to bring groceries upstairs and it is somewhat annoying but I got over it.