With housing prices down, mortgage loans tougher to come by and unemployment rates rising, homeowners are increasingly deciding to stay put and make do with what they have.
But when what they have isn't enough, many homeowners are looking down instead of out when it comes to finding additional space.
With basement remodels costing about half the price of an addition and offering a high resale value, home building experts say finishing a basement can be just the right option when it comes to expanding the size of a home.
It's also a choice that could gain momentum even in today's slumping housing market and outpace other home improvement projects, market researchers say.
Having moved into their new Jarrettsville home five years ago, Todd and Michelle Levey decided recently it was time to finish their basement. The couple wanted a place their children, ages 6 and 8, could retreat to with their friends, games and toys.
"It's not really a space issue. They're getting older and we wanted a place they could go to and hang out," Michelle Levey said.
Although still in the process of interviewing contractors and settling on a design, Levey said essentials include an open great room, kitchenette, laundry room, bathroom and game room. Their targeted budget is $40,000 to $50,000.
Donald Lynch Jr., president of Lynch Construction in Churchville, is working with the Leveys in developing a design. He said determining a budget is the first step in finishing a basement.
Make "sure the client's budget is going to make the project happen. It really depends on what they want in it and the finishes," said Lynch, who serves as the president of the Remodelers Board of Directors for the Home Builders Association of Maryland.
A basement remodel in the South Atlantic region of the country, which includes Maryland, will cost homeowners an average of about $53,500 with a resale value of just over $43,000 or 80.9 percent, according to Remodeling Magazine's "Cost vs. Value Report" for 2007.
Lynch said the design of the basement is extremely important. Homeowners must take care in correctly optimizing the space. Opening up the stairway, creating the right light and a strategic color concept should all be part of the design.
"Open and airy is what we try to push," Lynch said. "That's the way most people live nowadays."
