would you buy a house with no basement?

Saw a house I really liked today but it did not have a basement. It's a ranch also. Would the no basement part he a deal breaker for you?

Re: would you buy a house with no basement?

Yes! We use ours so much especially as a playroom! So glad we have one!

would you buy a house with no basement?

I grew up in a house with no basement, so I don't know any differently (my parents have a high ranch). Wouldn't be a deal breaker for me.

Re: would you buy a house with no basement?

We have a house without a basement. It had everything else we wanted. The same home with a basement would have been over 150,000 more in the neighborhood and school district we wanted. I am glad we were able to get our home. Unless you have unlimited funds, there is something you are going to have to compromise on. Decide what your must haves are. For us, it was location, number of bedrooms, garage, number of rooms. We did get other types of rooms (three season, and a 12x7 second closet inside of another bedroom). Because we got the storage space we needed, and the fact that my kids hate being on a level of the house without an adult, for us, it works.
Edit, for a ranch style home no basement would be a deal breaker for me. We have a center hall colonial.

Message edited 8/13/2015 5:29:55 PM.

would you buy a house with no basement?

Depends did the house have an attic? I feel like I would need a place for storage at least

Re: would you buy a house with no basement?

i grew up in a house where the basement was made into 2 bedrooms for a large family. currently in a high ranch with no basement. as long as there are other storage areas such as a garage and an extra room for storage, a basement is not essential for me.

Re: would you buy a house with no basement?

It would be a deal breaker for me. I love having a basement, ours is part finished and part storage area. My parents have no basement and my mom complained about it all the time. They added a 2.5 car garage onto the house in order to have storage.

Re: would you buy a house with no basement?

I grew up in a house with no basement and bought a house with no basement. I don't miss it. We have a big attic and a garage so I think we have a lot of storage. I am glad we don't have one because we live on the down side of a hill and our neighbors with basements have had floods but we have not.

would you buy a house with no basement?

Growing up we didn't have a basement but the neighbors did and they always had flooding. We did have an attic for storage. I also grew up when we placed outside and didn't have as many toys as kids have now.

Our must for a house was a basement. We didn't look in flood zones and we wanted the extra space. I do think with the right layout and storage no basement would be ok.

would you buy a house with no basement?

Yes but as long as there was other storage such as garage and/or attic

Re: would you buy a house with no basement?

No

would you buy a house with no basement?

My house has a basement which was not a must have for me, I wanted a garage but as another poster said most people have to compromise on something. I grew up without a basement and hanging out underground seems so weird to me. I also lived in a townhouse for many years with no basement. DH has a mancave downstairs now, I have a large storage room/laundry area and the rest is DHs workshop, basically filled to the rim with crap. We have two attics in this house and large closets.
I feel like the more storage space you have the more crap you acquire.

would you buy a house with no basement?

I think it depends on the rest of the house. I wanted a house with a living room, dining room, separate den, a playroom and office. That was non-negotiable. We found a house that had all that without a basement so we didn't need it.

Re: would you buy a house with no basement?

After Sandy, hell no.

We don't have anything down there anyway so it's wasted space.

I also have discussed moving our washer/dryer and boiler/hot water heater upstairs.

would you buy a house with no basement?

No. When we were looking I fell in love with a house with no basement. At the time, I thought it was no big deal. DH talked me out of it and even though I still dream about the kitchen and living room in that house, I am glad we didn't go with that one.

would you buy a house with no basement?

Even with a garage for storage, our basement is absolutely necessary. We have tons of stuff down there that I just wouldn't want to put in the garage (i.e. seasonal clothes bins are in the basement vs. holiday decorations are in the garage). It's currently unfinished but we will at some point finish it and leave part for storage.

Re: would you buy a house with no basement?

It would depend upon the space in the rest of the house.

Re: would you buy a house with no basement?

Personally, a basement was a must-have when I bought.

Professionally,I would say it depends on a lot of factors... personal preference, budget, etc. It can depend on the area you want to live... some of the most desirable areas near me -- such as Wantagh Woods, Merrick Woods -- have mostly homes with no basements. So many people who want to live in those beautiful areas are willing to sacrifice a basement.

I think it also depends on why a buyer wants a basement. If it's for storage, maybe a garage, shed, attic, etc. will suffice. If it's for living space (playroom/office/guestroom/family room) it might not be needed in a larger house where some/all of those rooms were there above grade level.

While a basement is obviously not a must-have for many buyers (otherwise the large town of Levittown wouldn't exist), I do find it much harder to sell a house that lacks both a basement AND a garage. I find that most buyers want at least one of those in a home.

would you buy a house with no basement?

No. A basement was a requirement for us. We lucked out and have a gorgeous finished basement. BUT, DH and I both grew up in homes with basements and in areas where it was unheard of to not have a basement. If no basement was the norm for us we may have thought differently.

would you buy a house with no basement?

Never. That is a deal breaker for us.

Re: would you buy a house with no basement?

no unless it had ridiculous storage...but that's because we have a lot of things (DH surfs, has men toys etc....) we only have one DS but we have a Ranch and a full bath down there for my DH plus is own closet, media room area, Gym equipment, closets and laundry room...basically, our basement is the entire size of our Ranch

Re: would you buy a house with no basement?

Nope. We use ours for the kids and built a huge storage closet plus we also have a cedar closer down there. I can't imagine not having that space we also have 2 attics!

Re: would you buy a house with no basement?

No basement is a deal breaker. We did not look at any homes unless it had a basement.

Re: would you buy a house with no basement?

We did and we are just fine BUT it's a big house. We have 4 nice sized bedrooms and one is the kids media room with a couch and flatscreen. They hang out there with friends. We have a 2.5 garage with storage and an attic.

would you buy a house with no basement?

Deal breaker. Basement is a must have for me.