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Manhattan, Kansas Homes and Basements

By Byron Lewis

Real Estate Agent with Landmark Real Estate

October 11, 2007 01:12 PM

As more and more homes are being built in the Manhattan, Kansas area to house the influx of additional troops stationed to be stationed at the Fort Riley military base, entry level pricing is in mind of many builders. To accommodate this demand, we are seeing a larger amount of homes being built without basements. I am often asked about the percentage of current homes in the area that have basements and the number of homes currently being built without basements. Approximately 39% of single-family homes built since 1997 have been built without basements according to building permits issued.

New Construction in Manhattan Kansas

According to the Riley County Appraiser's Database of single-family homes within the city of Manhattan there are 6,844 homes with a full basement, 761 single family houses with partial basements, 934 with crawl space type foundations, and 2,332 single family homes with slab type foundations.

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BCL Properties-Manhattan, KS - Manhattan, KS

It would be interesting to know how many of the new apartments are being built without basements in Manhattan. There are also many new renters with the new Ft Riley soldiers.

Oct 11, 2007 01:31 PM

Byron Lewis

Landmark Real Estate - Manhattan, KS

Realtor, e-PRO, ABR, CRS, Manhattan Kansas Real Es

Michele-

looking at the residential building permit counts since 1996, 504 were not single family. Of those it appears 389 did not have basements.

Oct 11, 2007 02:40 PM

Kelvi Cunningham

ERA High Pointe Realty - Manhattan, KS

Storm shelters are important to many of my clients. ICF homes are an option for affordable homes without basements that offer good protection in storms.

Oct 11, 2007 06:37 PM

With so many military buyers coming into our area from all over the country, I have been asked a variety of interesting questions that I don't normally encounter from the usual local or in-state buyers. Having lived in Kansas my entire life, I realized I need to brush up on my local and state FAQs. I knew it was time to do my homework when I was asked to rattle off the average rainfall for Manhattan and had to use the good ol' default answer, "I'll have to check on that and get back to you."

I mention this because suprisingly, I had a military buyer ask me this exact question that you are addressing in this blog. I had to say that I wasn't sure, but guessed about half and half. Thanks for doing the research. Next time I will have the correct answer, no more educated (or uneducated) guessing.

Oct 12, 2007 05:33 PM

Kelvi- ICF homes and slab homes with storm shelters are also viable options that are affordable. Under a staircase or shelter in a room without windows is often recommend for storm refuge also.

Oct 13, 2007 04:40 AM

I have learned that ICF homes cost approximately 5% more to purchase initially, but when you factor in the savings due to the incredible energy effeciency the homes provide, it only cost about $1 more per month to own an ICF home.

Oct 14, 2007 12:03 PM

I have recently seen homes marketed with 'insulated slab home' what is this exactly? As I understand, the slab is insulated with foam or a material of the like-but isn't a slab foundation already insulated by the soil around it? Is this a marketing ploy or something actually benificial to the home.

Oct 26, 2007 08:53 PM

Manhattan, Kansas Homes and Basements

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