any buyers took a two bedroom two story house and now regret it and why. (investment, price)

[naeem5]

I'm considering buying a two story house.
The first floor has the standard living room, kitchen and another small room barely able to hold a twin bed.
Upstairs is another small living room like area at the top of the stairs and the bathroom and two bedrooms.

Looking for pros and cons of buying a house with bathroom and bedrooms upstairs if you have done this and regreted it.

I know the stairs going up and down and over the years might ruin my knees. Other than that, any other bad-good experiences with such a house?

[Racelady88]

Personally I like having the bedroom upstairs. At the end of the day you leave whatever stress the day brought downstairs and I like that feeling.

I would not buy a 2 story house that did not have at least a toilet on each level. Thats just me. I imagine it would be better to have the only bathroom on the same level as the bedroom as opposed to having to get up & go downstairs in the middle of the night.

When I bought the house before this one I was in an area of 2 story houses. I narrowed it down to 2 houses and although the 1 bathroom house was in a better area I chose the house with a bathroom on each level.

[ilikepizza]

The two story house costs more to keep cool in the summer. We have 2 newer AC units in our house and in the summer its still hot in the house and the electric bill is very high. My next house will be a 1 story because of this. Its also a pain to move in and out when you have stairs. However, it is nice to have the separation of a 2 story.

[misplaced1]

I'm living in my first two story house ( if you don't count basements with utility rooms). We bought a house about 110 years old that has bedrooms and bath upstairs. One bath is down but it's being redone currently and is not in use. LOL sometimes if you have forgotten that 4th thing and have to keep going back up and down the stairs it gets a little irritating but I think of it as exercise in the general sense. I like the stairs for that purpose, maybe moving around more will keep me moving longer. Who knows.

[janetvj]

I currently live in a 2 story house (3 if you count the basement, which has a finished family room and the laundry room). It worked fine for us while my kids were growing up. As Racelady88 said, it was nice having a half bath on the main level as well as the full bathroom upstairs with the bedroom.

Now that I've retired and my kids are grown, I'm looking for a one level house with no stairs. I'm not that old yet, and still pretty active, but I really want the laundry room on the same level as the bedrooms - lugging baskets of laundry up and down 2 sets of stairs is getting harder and harder as I get older.

If you are keeping resale in mind I would think that a 2 level house would be ideal for younger families, but not so much in demand for older home buyers.

[naeem5]

this lot is zoned "neighborhood office" so I could lease to a business if I decided to move or buy it as an investment. However, the city requires that offices must be handicapped accomodative.
With the bathroom upstairs, they said I would need a wheel chair ramp on the stairs.
Or a bathroom installed downstairs.
Beside the kitchen, the washer dryer go under the stairs and there is plenty of room to install a toilet.
I told the city guy that many buisnesses do not allow the public to use their restrooms and the employees of the business I lease to, may never have a handicapped employee. He said, I'd still have to have a wheel chair ramp to the second floor if that was the only bathroom.

I am not much on a/c and we viewed the house. It was plenty cool for me. I could close vents and doors and maybe get some of the downstairs cold air to head upstairs and have plenty with a reasonable bill.

This house is a good deal on price and other factors.

[Aran]

I "grew up" from baby to 11 years old in a three bedroom house with one bathroom on the second floor, and a toilet/sink in the basement. We never really had a problem with it, since my grandparents (they raised me) were the type who were VERY comfortable with each other, having been together for 40 years at the time, and shared the bathroom if one was using the toilet and one just had to use the sink, or what have you.

Then we moved into a two-bedroom, main bathroom on first floor and half-bath upstairs (It was our lakeside cottage, renovated from being a full A-Frame to half a-frame, half two story house, and I hated the renovation) and while it was more convenient when there was company, I still preferred the one full bathroom over the half-bath since it had the tub/shower.

My fiancee and I just bought a two story, three bedroom house with a small full bathroom upstairs and a toilet in the basement... it kind of reminds me of the house I grew up in. And I like it. My fiancee and I are already at the same comfort level as my grandparents were with each other, so sharing a single bathroom has never been an issue.

[naeem5]

I live alone so I could sleep upstairs where the bathroom is.
I may host a foreign student so if they wanted the smaller room downstairs.........but we'd have to share the bathroom no matter where it was.

[Ohiogirl81]

I prefer two-story houses, and prefer to have my bedroom on the second floor. Having the bathroom on the second floor doesn't bother me a bit; I look at it as an opportunity to burn a few more calories.

[naeem5]

what about a downstairs fire

or a downstairs burglar....could you hear someone entering a window from upstairs? Well, if you are asleep you wouldn't hear any way if they are quiet.