But are they electric? (Expensive?). We have mini splits for cooling, but don’t use for heat bc electricity is so exp.
I wouid never buy a house built on a slab. I can tell immediately when there is no basement. The houses feel “tinny” to me. JMO.
Mini-splits are electric but use a heat pump, so fairly efficient.
Here in New England we are used to and accustomed to having full basements below our houses. A few homes do have dirt crawl spaces but these are much older homes and are not that common. Personally I would not buy a house with no basement. I need place for all my junk. lol. I often wondered where people keep all their stuff when one does not have a basement.
If your fine with the lack of storage space, then you should be good. But if your keeping an eye toward resale, then you do not want to own a home that is outside the norm. You will limit your pool of potential buyers.
Good luck.
@emilybee and @MassDaD68 - homes here in my area usually do not have basements. If there is one, it is a daylight basement (living space) because of the lot topography, and those rooms will be on a slab.
@BunsenBurner True. I am aware it is regional. I remember talking to a colleague in AZ and he explained they did not have a basement. I was shocked as I felt having a subterranean space would be nice an cool. He explained that the soil is hard (who would have thought in a sandy desert) and almost needs to be jack-hammered to make a basement. A very expensive option I understood.
I did not see if the OP mentioned which region they live. it could be very natural to not have a basement. But here in New England it would be a strange thing.
@MassDaD68 - I hope I mentioned that we are in the greater Seattle area… So if not, apologies.
@BunsenBurner, I know that. That is why there are large swaths of the US I wouid never move to (among other reasons.)
I wouid have to be in a high rise in downtown if I moved to Seattle.
@BunsenBurner Apologies are mine.
No. No way. If anything went wrong, it would be catastrophic.
I’ve always thought of slab foundations as being a cheap way out. Everything around here (Seattle-ish) was on a foundation with a crawl space and when builders stared using slabs they were in the cookie cutter developments. Being able to access ducts, plumbing, the gas line (when we extended it for the gas cooktop and gas fireplace) is invaluable, IMO.
Our other place has a combo of electric baseboards and radiant heat in selected floors. I love, love, love it.
My aunt has it in her concrete kitchen floor in upstate NY. Very nice…when they use it…which they don’t like to do because they say it shoots up the electric bill. Knowing H and I, we would also be likely not use if for the same reason.
Slab foundations aren’t very common in my state except in low-end, cheaper housing. I’d be reluctant to buy one because of the need to tear it up for plumbing repairs. However, I’m in a tornado state and wouldn’t buy a house without a basement, so I guess it’s a moot point.
We have a slab in New England!! Advantage is our basement never leaks because it doesn’t exist. I don’t think there is a lot of plumbing under the concrete. The house had radiant heat when first built in 1950, but was retrofitted for forced hot water. Those old fashioned radiant systems were prone to leaks. Much better nowadays.
We have a floating wood laminate floor in the kitchen, dining and family rooms. The underlayment insulates well (does not feel cold in winter) but I bet it would be nice to have radiant heat!
I like a full basement. I think they are common here because once you dig down 3 or 4 feet for the footings you might as well just dig out a basement. I don’t like crawl spaces at all - they just make your floors cold and damp. Slabs are okay and as an architect I can tell you I was taught that radiant heat was the most efficient and comfortable of all the options.
That’s what I’ve always heard, too (not an architect haha).
I do not dispute the fact that these systems are energy-efficient. I’m trying to get some sense from this educated slice of the population whether folks like these in general. 
(I love it and have had it for 15 years–it’s standard in Korea. No slab floor, though–I’ve lived in high-rise apartments.)
I’m intrigued by the slab hate. That’s the only thing I’ve lived in, and, around here, it’s not a matter of only the cheap houses being slabs.
The question as to acceptability is so regional that I think answers will be hard to assess. In the Phoenix area, most houses are slab, and I remember appreciating the cool of the stained concrete in summer. One architect here in my upper Midwest city designs with in floor radiant heat, and it is quite comfortable in the muti unit buildings I have visited.
Having lived in Korea for a few months at a point, in the cool seasons, I really appreciated the warm floors, especially if living down close to them, eating and studying on low tables.
Thank you all again. I perfectly understand the regional preferences… However, in our area, a good chunk of the home buyers tend to be the transplants from elsewhere, and that affects the tastes and the potential resale values. I doubt that a forced air heater would cause as many strong reactions…