are basement homes in cary/apex as rare as they seem to be in the midrange market? (Durham: new house, established neighborhood) - Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary - North Carolina (NC) -The Triangle Area - City-Data Forum

annesg · 12-06-2012, 05:13 PM

We are going to downsize in a few years, sooner if WCPSS doesn't stop screwing around (ok, it will be sooner). We'll have one kid out of the house and another well into high school, the third finishing middle school. We are thinking of doing a major shift nto focus on a small home in a well-established neighborhood with lots ofm mature trees. I am in Morrisville now and would prefer to stay, or stay close by. My vision was a small 3/2 with a good size basement as a rec room/movie room, etc. $250k max. Basements seem to be nonexistent in this range/area, and I wondered if my searches are done wrong or if there just isn't much. When we bought our current home we wanted a basement as well and found some but in a higher price range.

Should I bag the basement idea and look for a house with a good sized bonus room instead?

Sherifftruman · 12-06-2012, 05:51 PM

There are some basement homes in Breckenridge but they are rare here in general due to soil conditions. Mostly basements are walk outs on sloped lots. Sloped lots generally need to be bigger lots. Bigger lots are of course more expensive and therefore need more expensive houses to make money.

andyselec · 12-06-2012, 06:02 PM

A lot of houses built prior to the 60s have basements. We moved down the street from Morrisville to Durham. and that was one of the criterior's and we are in that price range. We actually update from our 1934 model house in Morrisville to a 1960 house in Durham (county.) The new house has a full basement including a fallout shelter (complete cement room including ceiling.)

Special_Guest · 12-06-2012, 08:15 PM

I agree with andyselec. My childhood home was built in the 70s, and it seems like EVERYBODY had a basement back then. Even tiny houses in mediocre neighborhoods. That's why I never understood why they fell out of favor and all of a sudden folks started saying things like "the soil isn't right".

But many older homes in older neighborhoods have basements

twingles · 12-07-2012, 05:24 AM

I remember that when we were looking Dogwood Ridge in Apex had some houses with basements. THose might be bigger than what you're looking for though. I do think you will have better luck looking in areas with older home stock.

I searched a local RE website and found a few in Apex in your price range; one in Villages of Apex and one in Holland's Crossing. There are others too can't remember which subdivisions, in your range. In Cary I see quite a few in your price range - Northwoods, Silverton, Harmony, Cary Park, The Battery, Oxxford Hunt...again, I think the size of some of these houses may be more than you want.

annesg · 12-07-2012, 05:43 AM

Thanks, all. I will continue to look older. I definitely want a well-established neighborhood. I love our n'hood now but when the kids start to move out I want to go to something with more trees, hills, etc. I have worries about things in the area I don't know about--for example, the siding that everyone talks about that was a disaster--don't want that. The pipes....agh! Our houses have either been brand new or 80+ years old

I don't have a basement as a must-have, it's just one of those things we've looked for since we lived in MA for 3 years over a decade ago.

evaofnc · 12-07-2012, 06:47 AM

Personally basements creep me out. We had one when I lived in NJ and it always looked like a scene from a horror movie. Maybe other people felt the same way around here (plus cheap land) so developers focused on building up and out rather than including a basement in newer homes?

RedZin · 12-07-2012, 07:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by evaofnc

Personally basements creep me out. We had one when I lived in NJ and it always looked like a scene from a horror movie. Maybe other people felt the same way around here (plus cheap land) so developers focused on building up and out rather than including a basement in newer homes?

I'm not too fond of basements myself. My house now has a basement. The one we are buying has a walk up attic. I find those preferable. So bright and airy.

just_sayin' · 12-07-2012, 07:04 AM

Back in '94 when we were house-hunting....Waterford Green in Apex was one of the few new (new at that time) developments where some of the houses had basements. It wasn't a majority of the houses, but there were about 3 or 4 under construction at the time that had them and were about the size and would probably now be right around the price you are looking.

twingles · 12-07-2012, 07:13 AM

I know, I couldn't wait to leave my basement behind. And at some point, you will start to get water intrusion. Might be after 25 years or it might be after 75 years (that's how old our house was when it finally happened) - but it's gonna happen. And while that's fixable, it's a pain to deal with.