but before I spend 50k on the basement, I would rather invest the money in a house one size bigger if possible
But that is not always possible, although there has already been an endless thread about that.
Long story short: your plot determines whether the house will be large or not. And if necessary, that means you have to move downward.
We then also went for the selection" fireplace, anthracite-colored windows, electrically controlled windows, staircase in anthracite, etc. but the base price was 10-15% below.