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View Full Version : Nice house, NO basement...your thoughts?



brotherbenn83
06-04-2011, 05:55 PM
My wife and I are looking to purchase our first home. Today we saw a VERY nice 3br 2ba ranch with NO basement. There is plenty of room for our stuff (nearly 1900sq ft) and a extra deep 2 car garage with shelving for storage and a shed for lawnmower/snowblower etc. Do any of you have or HAD a basementless house at some point in time and what pros/cons or general opinions could you offer us before we decide whether or not to make an offer.

Thanks,
Ben

Reverend Cooper
06-04-2011, 05:56 PM
we passed on several without basements,honestly they are harder to sell in the longrun and appraise lower as well.buuuut if you really like it hey

Holeshot
06-04-2011, 06:26 PM
Looked at several homes with out basements before we bought our current home. We had a place up north with just a storm cellar and I hated it.

michelle
06-04-2011, 07:09 PM
I wouldn't own a house without a basement. Great for storage, working on things (ours is an exposed basement, so Adam brings in his tractors to work on), and the added safety when I freak out at the thought of a tornado and rush all of my pets downstairs.

UnderPSI
06-04-2011, 09:37 PM
Pass!

Lash
06-04-2011, 10:46 PM
Pass!

x2

DoubleAron
06-04-2011, 11:02 PM
We did it for 5 yrs. As a first house we were just happy to have something of our own. It can be a pain in the butt but it is not as bad as would think.

On the other hand once we got a house with a basement we had no idea how we how we did it without one, lol.

pOrk
06-04-2011, 11:15 PM
I looked at a few without basements and a few with, and it I looked at it as a downfall when looking for our first house. Now we have a house in tosa with a half basement and go down there less then once a month, soo you tell me? If you can get a great price on the house, I wouldn't turn it down because of the lack of a basement especially if its a ranch and has an attic. You can run wires via the attic assuming its not SUPER low and if the house is 1900 sq ft with a decent size garage I'm sure you won't have troubles finding places to store things.

Lash
06-05-2011, 12:50 AM
if the house is 1900 sq ft with a decent size garage I'm sure you won't have troubles finding places to store things.

Unless you have kids...lol.
Our condo with attached garage and no basement was fine until we had our first. We know have a full basement with a 2.5 car garage with a 3rd kid on the way and space is getting thin.

pOrk
06-05-2011, 10:13 AM
Yea, its just the wife and I and 3 dogs. I am currently setting up the 3rd bedroom as a Kennel, planned on using the basement at first but too much hassle with the dogs taking the stairs like a raceway

michelle
06-05-2011, 10:31 AM
Yea, its just the wife and I and 3 dogs. I am currently setting up the 3rd bedroom as a Kennel, planned on using the basement at first but too much hassle with the dogs taking the stairs like a raceway

*likes this*. Bedrooms make excellent dog rooms.

http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/181623_643855169118_219700023_35852055_775627_n.jp g

wrath
06-05-2011, 10:50 AM
No basement as in on a poured slab, dirt floor crawl space, or poured floor crawlspace?

The last one isn't so bad. My parents purposely built their house (2600 square feet plus another 400 above the garage) without a basement. It has a poured crawl space floor. At the short end it is ~36" to the joists and at the tall end it is about 46" to the joists. They did it so they didn't haul stuff down there that they knew they'd never take out (like most basements). He has a couple mechanic's creepers and cart down there for the few times he might need to do stuff. The "access hole" is also 4'x4'.

A basement is worth about 15,000 for a typical 7' ceiling and about 25,000 for an 8' ceiling. I would never touch a poured slab house. A dirt floor or pea stone crawlspace isn't bad as long as they put plastic down but they almost never did. Plus, if you live in Radonville crawlspaces tend to accumulate more and if your house has forced air it sometimes gets in.

-stew-
06-05-2011, 01:45 PM
I dated a girl from Radonville. Weird chick...

animal
06-05-2011, 04:07 PM
Basementless houses = non-mobile trailer homes :goof

Cutlass Queen
06-05-2011, 04:31 PM
It all depends on your preference in my opinion, but I def agree it may be harder if/when you put the house up for sale. I just purchased my first home and I always kept in mind the future selling issues since I plan on moving out of the city at a later date.

Wagonbacker9
07-18-2011, 06:58 PM
I have been house shopping and found a very nicely updated colonial era house with a fieldstone basement, and a crawlspace under the addition. My fiance is in love with it but the lack of dry storage space (fieldstone will weep) and room is a major downside for me. The garage is big enough to serve for a workshop, but thats still only 3 season capable (unless heated... $$$), and I want some space to be able to tackle a project or 2 come winter.

Slow Joe
07-18-2011, 07:17 PM
Kristie and I were just faced with this question, we decided that having a basement is worth the extra money... Even though the place we're buying has an exposed basement, it's still a basement. IMO the resale value, and ease of working on things underneath is worth it. Plus for us it's extra living area, which will be nice.

And I'm with Michelle, exposed basements are the bomb!

wrath
07-18-2011, 09:20 PM
My tiny house has a basement 1 car garage. That is its "exposure". I thought it was stupid (because of the lost heat and space) until I realized it makes a sweet semi-heated and semi-cooled wood workshop. When it's ~20° outside it's about 50-55° and when it's 90 outside it's about 70°. It has an insulated door but it doesn't seal real well. Hopefully I get to that this summer.

The best part about an exposed basement/basement garage is that you can get big/heavy crap in the basement with little to no effort. Like a 700lb safe. Plus, assuming you have a basement bathroom, you can get cleaned up in the basement bathroom after wrangling poison ivy, digging a hole, or working on a Ford.

nismodave
07-18-2011, 09:22 PM
2 words...Tornado Shelter.