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I have a ranch, and we are debating between an extension of 500 sq feet (2500 total) or doing a whole 2nd floor with moving all the bedrooms upstairs (2900 total).
I know the price is going to be alot more with the 2nd floor, but I figured whatever we put into the house is an investment, so i really just want the best living arrangement.
Has anyone lived in both types and what are your thoughts?
What about resale value, are big ranches more in demand?
I have a ranch, and we are debating between an extension of 500 sq feet (2500 total) or doing a whole 2nd floor with moving all the bedrooms upstairs (2900 total).
I know the price is going to be alot more with the 2nd floor, but I figured whatever we put into the house is an investment, so i really just want the best living arrangement.
Has anyone lived in both types and what are your thoughts?
What about resale value, are big ranches more in demand?
Build up, not out. Expanding the footprint will have a greater impact on your taxes.
I've lived in a cape (unfinished, un-dormered attic), a colonial, a high-ranch, and a ranch (twice.)
As far as resale, I don't think the house style had any effect on how difficult or easy any of these were to sell. In each case the house style "fit" with the neighborhood, e.g., none of them stuck out like a sore thumb compared to the house styles surrounding it.
I have seen that happen when someone starts out with a ranch, blows it up into a colonial, split, or "post-modern whatever", and it ends up looking like an oak tree surrounded by a forest of shrubs. It looks overbuilt for the neighborhood, which is a turnoff for some buyers.
On the other hand, if a fair number of the surrounding small houses have been expanded, the one or two remaining original smaller ones will look dinky.
Another factor to consider is how long you intend to stay in the house. Is it likely that you'll still be there when you reach your sixties and beyond? Or do you anticipate an older relative ever having to move in with you? If so, going out instead of up will give you an accessibility advantage in the future. If you think you will ever need a stairlift to get to an added second floor, keep that in mind when you are planning your expansion layout.
Actually, it is smart to think of that even if you are not planning to live there in your Golden Years; a wider staircase with sufficient room at the top and bottom to park a stairlift will be a plus for some buyers. When I was looking at two-storey homes I paid attention to that factor, and there were a few "expanded" houses where the added stairs were not stairlift-friendly.
I've lived in a cape (unfinished, un-dormered attic), a colonial, a high-ranch, and a ranch (twice.)
As far as resale, I don't think the house style had any effect on how difficult or easy any of these were to sell. In each case the house style "fit" with the neighborhood, e.g., none of them stuck out like a sore thumb compared to the house styles surrounding it.
I have seen that happen when someone starts out with a ranch, blows it up into a colonial, split, or "post-modern whatever", and it ends up looking like an oak tree surrounded by a forest of shrubs. It looks overbuilt for the neighborhood, which is a turnoff for some buyers.
On the other hand, if a fair number of the surrounding small houses have been expanded, the one or two remaining original smaller ones will look dinky.
Another factor to consider is how long you intend to stay in the house. Is it likely that you'll still be there when you reach your sixties and beyond? Or do you anticipate an older relative ever having to move in with you? If so, going out instead of up will give you an accessibility advantage in the future. If you think you will ever need a stairlift to get to an added second floor, keep that in mind when you are planning your expansion layout.
Actually, it is smart to think of that even if you are not planning to live there in your Golden Years; a wider staircase with sufficient room at the top and bottom to park a stairlift will be a plus for some buyers. When I was looking at two-storey homes I paid attention to that factor, and there were a few "expanded" houses where the added stairs were not stairlift-friendly.
Well, I hated the cape cod and I lived there until I was 25. The first thing I did when I got my first job, out of high school, was to buy a car. The second thing I did was to convince my parents to take out a loan in order to double the size of my room and add an outside entrance to it, LOL. I contributed 50% of the monthly payment until it was paid off in a couple of years. In my defense, said room was about 7 x 9 or 7 x 10 originally. Only enough room for a twin bed and a small chest. (House was built in 1950) I've seen bathrooms bigger than my bedroom was.
Honestly from a house style perspective I'd have to say the high-ranch was my favorite. I know that goes against the prevailing sentiment; many people loathe high-ranches but IMHO they have several advantages, one being that they are on a slab base and thus no issues with damp basements or crawlspaces. (But that's assuming that the builder did NOT run any of the plumbing through the slab itself, as some did during the 1960s.) Also I like the fact that the principal rooms (bedrooms, kitchen, living and dining) are not at ground level; typically only the family room, a bathroom, the utilities and maybe (depending on house size) an additional bedroom are ground level. When my son was growing up it was great that the playroom/family room was on the separate lower level, especially with the noise factor. I also like the split staircase; instead of one long staircase you have two shorter sections. However, this also makes it a PITA if you ever need to add a stairlift.
That said, unless a high-ranch approaches 3000 sq ft, the bedrooms (and hall bathroom) can be too small. The one we had during the 1970s and 80s was 3400 sf (four bedrooms up, one down) which was a good size. And it was the wideline type, with a 2-car garage; those narrow row-house-shape high-ranches are a horror. You couldn't give me one of those for free.
Layout-wise my favorite was the colonial BUT it was custom built by the former owners and so was not your typical cookie-cutter. All bedrooms on the second floor. The house was big enough that the staircase was wide and not steep; I've seen some colonials with a staircase so steep that you can get vertigo by just standing at the top and looking down.
From a practical (read: Baby Boomer age) standpoint the ranch, which is what I have now, makes the most sense although at a gut level it is second only to a cape as my "most disliked." The only steps are from the garage floor to the house interior and if I need to convert that to a ramp in the future it could probably be done, although it would cut the partial one-car garage in half. Can't use it for a car anyway, at this size. :-/ It has a full unfinished basement which I hate because it's musty. I regard it as "a crawlspace with an abnormally high ceiling." I do not like the fact that all the rooms are at ground level; I would rather have at least the bedrooms on a second floor. But I am also mindful of the fact that a second level will be a problem for me in X number of years. Heck, there were days when the stairs in the colonial were difficult (wonky knee, fussy lower back) and plenty of times I got sick of carrying stuff up and down constantly. So from a mobility perspective the ranch wins over the other three styles.
I do wish this ranch was larger; it's only about 1400 sf of living space, plus a 10x12 Four Seasons room that's not really used. I was hoping to end up in a ranch with closer to 2000 sf (2400 would have been ideal) of ground floor living space but the budget (either purchase or taxes) simply did not allow that, nor will it ever from now on.
Last edited by BBCjunkie; 08-08-2018 at 11:27 AM..
I'd kill for a ranch but i think most people, especially people with families, would rather have a two story.
I grew up in a ranch and I live in one now. I found there wasn't much privacy with my parents and sisters in such proximity like ALL THE TIME.
At least in a house that is not a ranch, if family is in the living room or a kitchen, you can go upstairs and it's a bit quieter, more private.
My parents house is a tiny ranch - we were up in eachother's grills a lot, lol
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