Home on slab therefore no basement or Home with basement (how much, house)

[lets_hope_for_newbruns]

What do you prefer and why?

I just saw 3 single family with 4 bedroon, in the same 1 mile area (not a flood zone. And all of them tore down the existing and build new ones.
Some slab ones did not even change the foundation. Some did.

The cost is still high because it appears these builders purchased from existing home owner and adding cost of building to it and a profit margin.
On a lot by itself, it should not cost that much to build on slab. Jeez - doesn't it impact market prices? Why do the municipal towns allow it?

[JG183]

personally, I would never allow the basement (or lack of one) to have any major impact on the decision to purchase or not.

too many other factors take precedence: location, price, condition...

whether or not a house has a basement is equal to having a fireplace or not -- pluses & minuses in each case.

for me, I want something as maintenance-free as possible, I don't have the time or brain-power to spare to worry about what needs to be done in a basement or with a fireplace...

YMMV

[lets_hope_for_newbruns]

So if you had to chose between two home -- one nine year old with basement and 3 bedroom , and one new without one but extra bedroom , what will you chose?

both build on existing lot.

[JG183]

no contest -- the new one with the extra BR and no basement

the fact that they were built on an existing foundation is immaterial, e.g. do any of us really care how many previous partners our S.O. had before they met us ?

[brook2ga]

house with the basement.

[clevedark]

Basements cost money to build, so if I bought a house without a basement I would want that reflected in the purchase price.

[tahiti]

Originally Posted by JG183

no contest -- the new one with the extra BR and no basement

the fact that they were built on an existing foundation is immaterial, e.g. do any of us really care how many previous partners our S.O. had before they met us ?

wait. you just said there are other factors: location, price, condition...

why are you leaping to the conclusion that the newer home trumps the older in these 3 categories?

[Irish Eyes]

Does the house have a garage? An extra bedroom can be used for many things but you're probably not going to want to put your circular saw, lawnmower and wheelbarrow in there.

And yes, I cared how many partners my SO had.

[Shwa]

You can always add a bedroom. You can't add a basement. It depends upon how important a basement is to you... what would you use it for? I grew up in a house without a basement but it had a huge attic. Never was a problem (except first floor flooring was very cold over slab).

Now, I have a basement and can't imagine life without it..... lots of stuff stored there. It really depends upon how much stuff you have/want and what/if you would use the basement for.

[FlyersFan]

Originally Posted by JG183

personally, I would never allow the basement (or lack of one) to have any major impact on the decision to purchase or not.

too many other factors take precedence: location, price, condition...

whether or not a house has a basement is equal to having a fireplace or not -- pluses & minuses in each case.

for me, I want something as maintenance-free as possible, I don't have the time or brain-power to spare to worry about what needs to be done in a basement or with a fireplace.....

YMMV

You can always add a fireplace but you can't add a basement and the trend today is finished basements with in home theathers, etc......if it takes too much "brainpower" for you to figure out what to do with a fireplace then you are definitely better off without one, however, buyers today expect a finished basement and one of those brain challenging fireplaces too !!! Additionally.....I would care about how many partners my SO had.......especially if I needed a calculator to figure it out !!!