Need advice on 1 story vs 2 story home - SW Austin (Howe: insurance, homes)

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

Pros and cons to both, but after much reviewing of tax data for an upcoming hearing (), I can tell you that almost all 1-story houses have a slightly (to moderately) higher price per sq ft selling price. I think that a lot of that is due to the desireability of the 1-story over the two-story, for most of the reasons mentioned above. Most of the larger houses, though, are 2-story houses, so it makes it a little hard to compared exactly, since larger houses will almost always start a little lower in the $/sf calculations.

The most expensive parts of a house to build are the foundation and the roof, so a two story will usually be less expensive as both of those areas are reduced.

[G Grasshopper]

We are now in a split level. When we move, we will only consider a one story. We would rather have a smaller one story than a bigger two story. But we are retired, and it is smart, I think, to consider that we don't know what the next 20 years holds for us. As a retired physical therapist, I know stairs are good for us, but I also know that if life takes one of those unexpected turns and we need accessability, I'd rather be in a one story.

[luksky]

The only thing I hate about our 2 story is it's always hot upstairs in the summer and cold downstairs in the winter and vice versa. The stairs are fine....they are great exercise. :-)

[didadi]

Even I am in the same dilemma. But,this is what i kinda infer,after reading books and seeing + this forum.
As everybody said, footprint (and eventually costs involved) for 2 floor is less. Mostly these costs are foundation & roofing. I feel a 12ft ceilings, single story is way more luxurious feeling than 2 story, 10ft ceilings.,from the same builder / class. Honestly, many factors come into - when you are going for 2 floors.

How do you want the 2nd floor? Do you want stones/masonary on all 4 sides and both floors? If yes, you are thinking atleast 20K more than the non-all-4-sides, all floors brick/masonary.

[bjornb17]

I bought a house in January.......... i originally wanted a 2 story home in this neighborhood but for whatever reason the smallest 2 story house cost more than than a decent-sized (2000 SF) 1 story......... so i went with the 1 story for cost concerns.

Best decision I ever made!!! It is so convinient having everything on one floor. Also the house seems really big since you don't have 2 tiny floors connected with a staircase... instead its 1 big floor.

One bid advantage of 1 story homes is that often times they will have higher ceilings. my house has 10 foot ceilings whereas the comparable 2 story home had 9 foot ceilings and first floor and 8 foot on second floor.

[shankaupas]

When my husband and I were young with young kids we looked for a 1 story but eventually found a small 2 story that we liked. As the kids got older, we upgraded to a much larger 2 story. Now that the kids are older, there is no way a 1 story would work for us. A 2 story home basically allows you to have 2 separate homes. The kids rooms and a large play area are upstairs. Our master is down so we can escape the chaos in our own private retreat. And our 2 story allows us to have a much larger yard compared to our 1 story neighbors. When the kids are grown and gone, we'll probably downsize to a 1 story. In my neighborhood, I would guess that 75% of the homes are 2 stories.

[hoffdano]

Americans are too fat already. We should have MORE two story homes so we get a bit more exercise per day!

[oldtoiletsmkgdflrpots]

Originally Posted by hoffdano

Americans are too fat already. We should have MORE two story homes so we get a bit more exercise per day!

That is such an old line. Americans are NOT the only people in the world that are overweight. However, the phrase you used is part of the overall "letshateamericans" spiel. Sorry, but I'm sick of it already.

It reminds me of the brainwashing we had to endure to get to where we are now thinking the American worker is "lazy". The American worker is NOT lazy. The American worker is productive. For instance, we used to turn out a GREAT car. However, we had to be convinced we were all a bunch of drunken, lazy bums; otherwise all the production jobs wouldn't have been able to go overseas so easily.

I hear the same thing happened with the textile jobs here.

We demonize, categorize, and then vaporize the jobs.

On another tangent...

I was talking to someone yesterday that said, "I know of a woman that got a job at a school part-time and they were paying her health insurance." They then said, "THAT HAS TO STOP, THAT ISN'T RIGHT!"

I'm seriously baffled why we think people should not have health insurance.


That's my two cents.

[JERiv]

We personally went for the 1 story (also in SW). Have two small children who like to run around the house, and no matter what anyone says about gates, etc, it is always a concern to have stairs and small children in a home. At least once, you will probably see your kids fall down the stairs.

Heck, I remember rushing one day in my parents house and tripping down the stairs... Thankfully, it was a split landing staircase.

I can tell you we are extremely happy with the decision. The peace of mind it affords is very nice indeed. The ceilings are very high, so it feels very spacious. Energy bill will likely be much lower than a 2 story, since it retains heat/cold so well. Also, it's nice not having to lug things up and down the stairs.

Only negative, if it even is one, is that the backyard is smaller than a 2 story. So if you are planning to put a pool, trampoline, play area, and huge deck, go for the 2 story.

We will hopefully be here until our kids graduate and head off to college.

And for all those folks who say that we should all buy 2 story homes for the exercise, just get the 1 story and go walking once in a while. I mean, really...

[mimimomx3]

I love having a two story house, it works for us. Having the personal stuff upstairs and the life stuff downstairs is great. I also like having the master up rather than down- I once had a house with the MBR downstairs and I hated cooking smells from the kitchen in my bedroom! Just my .02!

Oh, and for the record, Americans ARE the fattest people in the world: Obesity statistics - countries compared - NationMaster