Anyone later regret buying a house without a basement?

[gordo]

I found close to the perfect house yesterday, except it has no basement. I am wondering if I will regret it later. The house is BIG, way bigger then what we were in. But most of the extra room is in the bedrooms where we really don't spend a lot of time. The living room/dining room is one room, no real separation between them and then the family room is off the kitchen. The whole first floor is very open, so there would be no separate play room like I was hoping for. But the lot is enormous and there would be ton of room to add on in the future if we needed to. Any suggestions? Anyone without a basement regret not having one? I am also concerned about storage. There isn't a ton of it except some large storage sheds in the yard. However, there are plenty of things we have that I wouldn't want to store outside.

[carolinamama]

The area where I live doesn't do alot of basements, although they are starting to build more and more as all the northerners move down. (I'm one of those northerners :) ) It doesn't bother us to not have a basement since it is rare here. However, we do have an unfinished 3rd floor where we store all of our holiday decorations, extra clothes, extra furniture, baby gear etc. DH wants to finish this area and I will NOT let him take out more than half of it because I love all this storage.

I think it's fine not to have a basement, but I would need somewhere else for storage because it just makes life more organized, kwim?

[HIU8]

Som insight from the other side....We do have a basement--unfinished and it cannot be finished unless we want to do some major things to it that should have been done a loooong time ago. We use it for storage only. We have storage in an attic, but it doesn't have pulldown stairs so we need to drag a ladder inside when we need to get up there. Add to that it only has 2x3's instead of 2x4's so we would need to lay down some type of boards to put stuff on. So, in answer to your question, I could not live in a house without storage/basement. We are having issues b/c the basement is only storage and all the toys etc... are in the family room and living room, and DH does work in the dining room. In my next house, which we are looking into now, I want a basement as a spce for the kids and storage and an extra room for an office for DH.

[egoldber]

I think it depends on where you live and what the expectation is in your area. If you live in an area where it is the norm to have a basement, I wouldn't because of re-sale.

But in many areas of the country, it's common to not have a basement, so it wouldn't bother me there.

[infocrazy]

Our basement can't be finished...because we store too much down there! :) I can't imagine where we'd put stuff without our basement. Personally, we'd never buy a house without one, but as a pp said, I would expect to have one here.

My dad's house doesn't have a basement and they really miss it. They can store stuff in the garage attic, but it isn't really that accessible for them so they end up using a spare bedroom as their storage. It works for them but they hate it. We went on a last minute visit and my dad's wife was horrified we all had to stay in the same room because there was just too much stuff and no where to put it in the other spare room.

[MMMommy]

I don't think basements are common in California (I could be wrong), and we have never had one. A good sized family room is important to us and probably makes up for any lack of basement. If it were me, I wouldn't negate the house for lack of a basement.

[doberbrat]

the downside of storage shed storage is that the stuff isnt climate controlled. even if your basement is unfinished/unheated, it tends to stay at a semiconstant temp. lack of climate control means lots of things get ruined faster.

also what about the other hosues in the area - do they have basements? b/c I know around here, resale would be a problem. I would never buy a house w/o a basement - fortunately for me, having one is the norm here.

[newg]

I would say it depends on your area and what other storage options there are.......we live in SW Ohio and looked at a house this summer with no basement....it is still on the market and they have been dropping their price all summer long because every other two story house around them has a basement.....plus, we do get the occasional tornado through so the basement is nice for that reason as well.........
Now storage wise......we just came from a bi-level where our storage was under the stairs and a walk-in closet...I had to store all baby stuff at my parents house (in their basement :) ).......plus we had a shed; but only kept things that could handle heat and moisture in there...we were maxed out.........now we're finally in our new house and in love with our unfinished basement!!!

If you don't have weather worries and need a basement for safety and there are plenty of other storage options I'd say go for the house.........but remember you'll keep adding more stuff to your life so you need a place to store it!!!

[egoldber]

but remember you'll keep adding more stuff to your life so you need a place to store it!!!

On the upside though, not having a basement gives a strong incentive to NOT acquire so much stuff. We moved from Iowa (basement) to CA (no basement) and got rid of a lot that in retrospect we didn't really need. Moved to VA (basement) and slowly the stuff started accumulating. You fill the space you have, no matter what size it is.

[brittone2]

I think the advice to consider what is expected/typical in your area is good advice.

Our first home was in PA where basements are typical. Our basement mostly was used as storage...it was not finished. It had some radon issues (as did my parents' basement growing up) but levels were brought down via a ventilation system that we had the previous owners put in before we closed on the house. We had a small crawl-space type of storage setup above the 2nd floor but it wasn't an attic.

In NC, attics are more common, and basements are much less common than in PA. Our house has a dirt floor "crawlspace" underneath (but you can walk into it). (eta: it is only accessible from outside of the house, from underneath our deck). We have an extra freezer in there and store a few things but nothing major. We do have a nice-sized attic, which helps w/ storage. It gets hot but is at least not damp like a basement can sometimes get.

THe norm in PA was very different from the norm here in NC.

[AnnieW625]

jealous as most homes in California don't have basements or livable attics.

[sariana]

I think the advice to consider what is expected/typical in your area is good advice.

Yep, ITA with this.

As for storage, if the bedrooms are large, and you don't think you'll use them that much, is there a way to convert some bedroom space into storage space? You could do this permanently by adding closets or temporarily by using furniture, such as armoires, blanket chests, or closed (or open) bookcases.

If basements ARE common in your area, you may want to find out why this house was built without one. Is there a high water table (thus indicating that flooding could be a problem)? Is it a custom home, perhaps built by an owner who didn't know any better? Something else?

[cono0507]

I think it depends on where you live and what the expectation is in your area. If you live in an area where it is the norm to have a basement, I wouldn't because of re-sale.

But in many areas of the country, it's common to not have a basement, so it wouldn't bother me there.

Agreed. Seems that nearly every house in Illinois has a basement. Personally, I would never buy a house without a basement because we rely on ours so much for storage and for exercise equipment, etc.

[SnuggleBuggles]

We had a bonus room over the garage that had great closets. They were all I needed. I find that having the basement just makes me more likely to have more stuff than I need because "we can always just throw it in the basement!".

If homes in your area go either way on the basement front, like other posters mentioned, then I would be willing to buy a basement less house.

Beth

[vonfirmath]

We live in Texas (Grew up in Texas) and in the Puget sound area. None of these places are basements common. Extra stuff -- stored in attics and garages and rented storage units. Here in Austin, they even have problems putting in in-ground pools because it is SO expensive to go DOWN.

[niccig]

jealous as most homes in California don't have basements or livable attics.

:yeahthat: Love MIL's basement. Our garage is our basement, and the cars are parked outside.

[AnnieW625]

:yeahthat: Love MIL's basement. Our garage is our basement, and the cars are parked outside.

Not many of those in my hood. When we lived in Nor Cal and DH was in the bay area his dream was to get one of those houses with the garage underneath the house that are common in that area.

[niccig]

Not many of those in my hood. When we lived in Nor Cal and DH was in the bay area his dream was to get one of those houses with the garage underneath the house that are common in that area.

No, I meant our detached garage is a our storage area, we call it our basement as we don't have a basement. Well, we have what's called a California Basement - it's an area 10 x 10 that you access through a trap door in a closet. It's cement and cinder block and has the furnace, water heater and we put the holiday decorations there. It's difficult to access though.

[specialp]

I have a finished basement & a garage. They are very typical in this area, so I would hesitate to buy just because resell would be difficult without one. However, it they aren't typical in your area, I'd be fine without a basement so long as there is there is plenty of storage elsewhere (large accessible attic) and I had some room to put my excercise equipment & office in which is what our basement is used for now.

My parents bought a ranch house w/o a basement and then put a large (and I mean LARGE) shed in the back. I hate it, but I think they collect way more junk than the typical person.

[tiapam]

In Illinois, I think it will affect resale value. You said it was close to perfect but you did have two other issues - bedroom sizes larger than you need, and no separate playroom. It sounds like you are trying to talk yourself into it. I would pass, or at least wait and see if it sits and the price goes down. If you are thinking twice about it because of the lack of a basement, then others most likely are, too.

[athompson]

Yes, I'd say not having a basement in Illinois is a big deal. For resale and for your lifestyle; what will you do when it's been snowing for months and you need some peace and quiet? I don't know what I'd do without "go play in the basement!"

[gordo]

Thanks for all the advice. Basements are the norm around here so it would affect resale. However, this could possibly be our forever home so I am not too worried about resale. While there is not abasement, the house in on a HUGE plot so there is plenty of room to add on. I need to ask about an attic for storage and there are some nice closets, but not a ton. So much to consider!!!

[niccig]

While there is not abasement, the house in on a HUGE plot so there is plenty of room to add on.

How much does it cost in your area to add on? I ask because we and several friends all bought homes thinking we would add on at some point. The cost for that is astronomical in our area. Friends spent over 200K and ran out of money. I now wish we had bought a house that was big enough, interior remodeling is expensive, but less than adding on.

[MamaKath]

When we lived in NJ we had one with, then a house without. Both were fine. Where we live now I would not buy without a basement! The town frequently has tornado warnings during storm season and saw severe damage from an F5 7 years ago. Not worth risk imo here!

[JBaxter]

Ive lived in MD & Pa and would not consider a house without a basement. I've always had one and really us it alot. We finished ours into a big kid entertainment area , office storage and 5th bedroom W/ 3/4 bath.