Any of you buyers change your mind from a one story to a two story house?

[North Beach Person]

One or two story depends on local market. One thing to consider is the stairs as you get older if you plan on staying put. By older I mean retired not 25 to 35.

To address why 2 storys are built has nothing to do with developers getting more houses on a property (that's called density). Density is determined by number of housing units on a given size property irrespective of house style. R-1 in many areas means one residence per acre, R-2 is two and so on. Townhouses or apartments have their own designations in many areas, typically R-10 for townhouses.

[movedtothecoast]

count us in for the one story, had a two story for a few years and did not like it at all.
we are both plenty active , biking , walking, surfing etc. and we want to
save our knees for those thing not because we are too lazy to walk
up and down.

[FalconheadWest]

As long as the master bedroom is downstairs, almost every buyer I've worked with in my ten years have bought a 2 story when they wanted a 1 story, when it comes to larger homes. With smaller homes, there isn't usually a choice to go up as the layout is already small.

Many reasons for this, but for the most part, it's space. You get more home for the money building up rather than out. Also, you have a much larger yard for kids when the footprint is smaller and the building goes up. Gamerooms and Media rooms are much more prevalant in 2 story homes.

[gvc8]

Originally Posted by bjornb17

When I was looking to buy a house I had a strong preferance for 2 story. In the end I bought a 1 story, and am incredibly happy that I went this route. I was able to get 10 foot ceilings (vs 8 or 9 foot with 2 story), no stairs to waste energy and square footage on, and everything just feels bigger and more spread out.

If i ever buy another house in the future, it will be either 1 or 1.5 story.

the older one gets the less one wants to travel up/down stairs all the time. also, if you live in a warm climate, trying to get your HVAC to cool the upstairs to a comfortable level can be costly, especially if your units are not sized correctly. we just moved from a two story to a one story and love it..high ceilings also and plenty of windows to let the light inside. I've seen one story homes, though, that look like dungeons.

[caravan]

I grew up in a 2-story and loved having the upper floor as one big play area, but now that I am a homebuyer, I am very glad that we found a 1-story (even though it's placed up off the street, so we have 15 stairs to go up to the front door, anyway--but we're 30 years old, so exercise is good!). During our search, I initially thought 2-stories would be great, but then I realized that they made me quite uncomfortable.

My reasons are kind of weird... perhaps it's because I'm a woman and have watched too many scary films, but I don't like feeling trapped in a place where there is really only one way out (the staircase). I mean sure, you can jump out the window, but really... I'd like to have multiple viable exit options. In the house we are buying, there are two doors in/out of every living space (except the bathroom), and I love that I always have a way to get out in an emergency.

We are also planning to build "down" instead of up, in the future... lowering our basement floor and adding living space down there. I wonder if people consider houses with finished basements to be "2-story" houses?... Not technically, I mean, but just in terms of space, heating, A/C, etc needs.