Full vs partial basement (house, buy)

[destinedtodave]

How helpful is a partial basement for reducing the risk of moisture? I'm looking at a couple to townhomes, one with a full basement and the other with a partial one. The full basement has a must smell that may indicate a real problem. The partial basement has a door going into the backyard - is this likely to matter for this risk?

Thanks

[MikeJaquish]

Houses. You buy them all one-by-one, on their specific individual merits.

You can have a wet partial as well as a wet full basement.

And, a partial basement may have a cruddy wide-open dirt crawlspace that is damp and barely controlled and releasing dampness into the house or basement.