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I am still struggling with basements. In Maryland they are a must have and should be finished. That was a big deal with our selling a 3,200 sq ft house with unfinished basement. We know people who are having their basement finished just to sell the house. They know they will not get back as much as they are putting into having it finished. They need to do it just to sell. Now we buy in North Carolina and it is pretty much why do you need a basement. We have adjusted but I wonder if in 20 years the northerners relocating will have made basements standard. Doesn't surprise me that Cary has a lot of basements since we all know what the letters CARY stand for. If my kids can't sell the house because of no basement I will be crying as they drop us off at the home.
This won't be the case. There are soil issues to deal with here as well. You don't see basements in FL do you? And how many northern transplants are there?
Cheaper to build maybe, but certainly not cheaper to condition. It costs very little to heat and cool a basement, but a second floor will have the A/C running non-stop in the heat of summer. Personally, I'd love another ranch w/ a basement like I had out in Colorado a few years back.
There is a great one up for sale in Wake Forest...though on it's large lot and no hoa...it's not cheap!
Outside of higher end homes and a few neighborhoods like Long Lake in N. Raleigh you can typically only find basements in older neighborhoods. It's not all about the grade of land, sometimes it's the architecture of the time (I'd say 70's and early 80's), think split-levels.
My dream is to have a basement for a home theater but I've come to expect that based on my other search criteria I'll have to work with a bonus room.
I wanted a basement, but NOT a walk-out basement. Couldn't find one in any new development when I was looking. There are lots of walk-out basements out there, but those just don't do the trick for me. Main thing is, I don't want a two-story deck off the kitchen b/c of the dogs, and I don't want to have to down to the basement every time to let them out.
When we first started looking at homes in the area my husband was set on us having a basement, since we have 4 boys. We traded the basement for way more livable square footage and a newer home. We have a nice open upstairs bonus room that houses all our 360 gear and toys. We've only been here 2 weeks but we all seem to be doing just fine without it!
The frost line here is only 12 inches... that means builders only have to dig down to just that point for the foundation. It makes building a basement not as cost effective as it would be if you had to dig a lot lower (like in some of the northern states where I hear the frost line is around 4 feet ) I guess that's why basements are so plentiful up north - the builders have to dig deep anyway, so might as well throw in some more living space while you're at it.
I grew up in Raleigh in the 70s and 80s in a home that had a basement, the lot didn't slope much but half of the basement was above ground and it had some windows up high in it.
I wanted a basement, but NOT a walk-out basement. Couldn't find one in any new development when I was looking. There are lots of walk-out basements out there, but those just don't do the trick for me. Main thing is, I don't want a two-story deck off the kitchen b/c of the dogs, and I don't want to have to down to the basement every time to let them out.
So, I gave up on the basement idea for us.
Mike
Toll Brothers is doing some in their new development outside of Chapel Hill, but you're looking at close to 1 million
Yeah, I guess I should clarify that price point, huh?
If you spend enough, you can get whatever you want, I suppose. I have a hard time thinking any house is really worth 1M. But I guess a lot of them are these days.
We are basement lovers too, and let me just say this: POOL TABLE!
I recently asked a new builder in the Raleigh area if they are doing basements, they said yes. The builder was K.Hovnanaian Homes. I was looking at The Park at Richland Hills in Wake Forest/northernmost Raleigh. We are a small family, so would only need 3 BR. The floorplan I was looking at (Remington & Lafayette plans) she said would go up into the 200's with an added basement area. I think I can live with numbers like that!
Does anyone know of new homes builders that have basement options? We are looking at a meager $200k and below, but would prefer a downstairs finished basement for so many reasons! Any info would be great. Realtors feel free to message me. Thanks.
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I wanted a basement
) I guess that's why basements are so plentiful up north - the builders have to dig deep anyway, so might as well throw in some more living space while you're at it. 
Thanks.
