Quote:
Originally Posted by darklord700
This is true. The value of a walkout is that a developed basement is much more useable in a walkout. In my last non-walkout house, I rarely stayed in my developed basement much because it felt very cooped up.
I agreed very much that you'll use your yard less in a walkout if that's important to you. But the huge upside of a walkout is, well, it doesn't tend to leak as much and even if it does leak, it's easier to fix as the foundation is above grade.
Also, say you spend $60K to develop a walkout plus the added $40K more for the lot. For $100K you get a whole floor of squad footage and in this market, that's a very good deal. A hillside walkout bungalow is huge improvment over a non-walkout bungalow.
|
I don't think you get any more usable space in the basement in a walk-out versus a non-walk-out. If he likes natural light (which would combat the "cooped up feeling" if you get that), he could probably pay a tiny bit extra on a new-build for over-sized windows.
I use my basement for my home theater and I think a lot of people do. It's nice to have a little more control over the light coming in with a regular basement versus the wall of windows you typically see in a walk-out.
My experience is you'll very rarely be exiting your house through the basement. You jackets aren't here, your shoes aren't there, etc.
But I suppose you're right that the market likes walk-outs and in terms of an investment, you won't be wasting money. It's not like everybody will one day have an epiphany and view walk-outs the same way I do. The fact that my house was a walk-out was in the first sentence on the feature sheet after all, so I know people look at them as a positive.