It may be that you are in the midst of working with a builder to design your own home. While you know how much space you need at the present time, your builder has advised you that it is best to also plan for the future. While you could check into the rules regarding expanding if it became necessary, adding a basement now might be the best option for several reasons. Here are five to consider.
1. Unplanned Family Growth
What would happen if, for example, your family expanded beyond what it currently consists of? Even those who are no longer of child-bearing years might want to think about the possibility of adult kids coming home to roost or aging parents needing a place to be safely housed when they can no longer care for themselves. Finishing off a basement might be your least expensive option and as long as you’ve sealed the concrete floors with something like crystalline waterproofing, you won’t be worried about damp and mildew which would make that basement uninhabitable.
2. Office Space
A growing number of business professionals are working from home these days and this is why so many homeowners are looking to add a home office to the property. If your living space is already maxed out, you could add an extension or a garden building, but those are more expensive than finishing a basement with future expansion in mind. Also, you could work undisturbed because most people wouldn’t exert the energy it takes to run down to interrupt you while at work.
3. Adding Value to the Property
Even if you have no immediate plans on selling your property, you may want to one day in the future. The more space available, the more you can ask for your house. Square footage is one of the factors calculated when your home is being appraised, and if that includes a finished, habitable basement, it counts as living space and very much toward what your home can be appraised for.
4. Rental Space for Extra Income
There are a number of reasons why you may wish to rent out space from your home, with Airbnb being just one way to earn an income from your property. Whether you want to rent out space to college students or any other kind of tenant, it’s nice to have a place that is separate from the family’s living quarters. You really could raise enough to even cover your mortgage if you have enclosed and finished that basement well!
5. Safe and Secure Multiuse Space
Some families like a recreation room removed from the living area just to keep the noise level to a dull roar. By putting a rec room in the basement, they are less likely to be assaulted by the din at all hours of the day and night. However, a finished and waterproof basement can also be used for safe and secure storage so that you aren’t paying a storage facility for all that ‘stuff’ you’ve collected over the years.
As you can see, there are many reasons why you may want to consider adding a basement to your property but it really would be cheapest to plan for it before the home was built. There are ways to add a basement later on in many cases, but it costs so much more and the disruption to your family would not be something you’d want to endure. Before finalizing the plans, talk to your builder to see just how much it would cost to build above a basement and you’ll see that this really is the cheapest way to gain all that extra space.
