Master Bedroom above the garage? (Austin, Howe: transplants, buying a house, neighborhoods) - Texas (TX) - Page 4 - City-Data Forum

Jehjeh · 09-11-2010, 11:36 PM

I don't intend to hijack the thread, but I have to ask this:

When I lived in Austin in the '90s, I lived in 4 different apartment buildings. Three were 2-story buildings and I was on the top floor, and the fourth was a 3-story where I was on the second floor. I didn't notice any difference in my utility bills between apartments or floors, and my A/C and heat--some central, one wall unit--worked just fine. My bills were always in the two-digits, and I wasn't restricting my use of A/C/heat at all. Granted, I lived in small apartments (under 400 sq.ft.). I can understand huge utility bills due to houses being much larger because there's more to cool. It sounds, though, like now the apartment buildings also have a problem with temperatures on the top floor.

What am I missing? My experience in top-floor apartments was totally okay (well, except for #$%@% ceiling leaks, but that's another matter). The ones where I was on the top floor weren't of the best construction, so that's not the cause. Is the difference due just to my having been in a small place?

llkltk · 09-12-2010, 09:32 AM

I think you need a good realtor. You have posted several posts on this forum about finding a home and they are kind of all over the place. I think you need to do more research and get yourself a realtor.

AGA · 09-12-2010, 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by llkltk

If you are considering a certain SF homes floorplan with that option, I would run away. You will be stuck with that house on resale. Two master bedrooms is going to be a tough sell. Especially since it drives your square footage up and your price down for resale. No one is buying 3600 sq. ft. homes on certain size lots anymore, big mistake.

I would actually be in the market for a 2 master house. I could be taking care of an aging parent who can't do stairs, but needs her own "space".
Not such a far fetched idea these days with kids taking care of parents or kids moving back home etc....

And chiming in on some other statements
1. my master above the garage is NOT facing west.
2. my laundry in down and master is up

trayanh · 09-12-2010, 01:39 PM

this topic is for discussion only, since I see people somewhere else are asking the same question all the time, and I did see this home was not sold as fast as I've expected because of its location. just want to know from what aspects people can think about it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by llkltk

I think you need a good realtor. You have posted several posts on this forum about finding a home and they are kind of all over the place. I think you need to do more research and get yourself a realtor.

trayanh · 09-12-2010, 01:48 PM

apartment should be different since you are always sharing floors and walls with your neighbors while a home always has walls facing west and warms up during the day, and if your apartment doesn't face west it will be in good shape. like mine, it is on the top floor facing south mainly with big windows. I always have breeze through my windows. My neighbors have their A/C on for most of the time of a year, but I seldom need it. Last July, I was out of town for a few weeks, and when I came back in August, my apartment was just nice and cool without A/C on. Normally I just close all the windows except those shaded and put down the blinds when I leave for work in the morning. It helps a lot.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jehjeh

I don't intend to hijack the thread, but I have to ask this:

When I lived in Austin in the '90s, I lived in 4 different apartment buildings. Three were 2-story buildings and I was on the top floor, and the fourth was a 3-story where I was on the second floor. I didn't notice any difference in my utility bills between apartments or floors, and my A/C and heat--some central, one wall unit--worked just fine. My bills were always in the two-digits, and I wasn't restricting my use of A/C/heat at all. Granted, I lived in small apartments (under 400 sq.ft.). I can understand huge utility bills due to houses being much larger because there's more to cool. It sounds, though, like now the apartment buildings also have a problem with temperatures on the top floor.

What am I missing? My experience in top-floor apartments was totally okay (well, except for #$%@% ceiling leaks, but that's another matter). The ones where I was on the top floor weren't of the best construction, so that's not the cause. Is the difference due just to my having been in a small place?

trayanh · 09-12-2010, 01:51 PM

have you found one? It is actually so rare.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AGA

I would actually be in the market for a 2 master house. I could be taking care of an aging parent who can't do stairs, but needs her own "space".
Not such a far fetched idea these days with kids taking care of parents or kids moving back home etc....

And chiming in on some other statements
1. my master above the garage is NOT facing west.
2. my laundry in down and master is up

llkltk · 09-12-2010, 03:12 PM

They have that floorplan with an optional 2nd master in SW Austin. It exists and it does horrible on resale. Sure it might be right for you, but think about when you need to sell. It's a harder sell because it tacks on an extra 500 square feet and drives the price up considerably. So, you will be sellinga 350K house amongst 300K houses. A hard sell.

trayanh · 09-12-2010, 04:11 PM

did you mean the Meritage Boerne floor plan in Meridian, the one same with the model home? I checked the floor plan, and it seems the extra 500 feet came from converting the undesignated area upstairs to a media room and a storage area behind the garage to an office. For that floor plan, I don't know why they don't swap the 2 bedrooms with the game room. I was turned off by having half of the 4 bedrooms over the garage, but I do like the big window panels in the 2nd master up. Gee, I am always attracted by big windows.

Quote:

Originally Posted by llkltk

They have that floorplan with an optional 2nd master in SW Austin. It exists and it does horrible on resale. Sure it might be right for you, but think about when you need to sell. It's a harder sell because it tacks on an extra 500 square feet and drives the price up considerably. So, you will be sellinga 350K house amongst 300K houses. A hard sell.

AGA · 09-12-2010, 11:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trayanh

have you found one? It is actually so rare.

I have seen a few, but not many that would actually work. Most were coversions that were less quality, but there are some that were great original designs. Just sayin that when the time comes, that is an attractive option for me. Not everyone would appreciate it.
And my search area was rather small...s/w under a certain pricepoint of 300K

trayanh · 09-13-2010, 12:27 AM

Actually, I am thinking 2-master is still feasible even if you don't have aging parents to visit now. For 2-story, most designs put 3 bedrooms up and 1 down (there are some other designs 4 bedrooms down and a game room up). With 2-master, when you are having young kids, you can choose the master bedroom upstairs to be close to the kids; when they are older or when you don't have kids, you can just use the master bedroom down, so there is always a backup.

For me, probably I will use them in turns, say, downstairs monday to wednesday, upstairs thursday to saturday, and use ballot for sunday

Quote:

Originally Posted by AGA

I have seen a few, but not many that would actually work. Most were coversions that were less quality, but there are some that were great original designs. Just sayin that when the time comes, that is an attractive option for me. Not everyone would appreciate it.
And my search area was rather small...s/w under a certain pricepoint of 300K