master bedroom down? (Dallas, Mansfield, West: custom home, to buy, square footage)

[getmeoutofhere]

Funny, all the houses I remember visiting friends in, growing up in, seeing on a daily basis were two-story.

I find it odd how people can live here for so long and have completely different views about something that is fact.

[ufcrules1]

Originally Posted by getmeoutofhere

Funny, all the houses I remember visiting friends in, growing up in, seeing on a daily basis were two-story.

I find it odd how people can live here for so long and have completely different views about something that is fact.

I find it odd that someone could live here their whole life and not know that having a master up hurts resale value. I guess we all find different things odd.

[ufcrules1]

Originally Posted by nsumner

Someone else said that the agent was wrong in pointing out that it's a negative thing. If the agent is a true buyer's agent, it is their responsibility to point anything negative to their buyer that will hurt them in reselling that house. This is part of why they hired a professional. Same as if the house backed to a busy street, obviously it doesn't bother some people but it still affects resale.

Naima

Thats a great point. When people move from other states, they don't fully understand the local real estate market. If their buyers agent is not giving them the facts, then he or she is not doing their jobs.

Busy streets, power lines, high crime area, bad schools, master upstairs, etc. all hurt resale values here in Dallas.

[Grainraiser]

Originally Posted by nsumner

Someone else said that the agent was wrong in pointing out that it's a negative thing. If the agent is a true buyer's agent, it is their responsibility to point anything negative to their buyer that will hurt them in reselling that house. This is part of why they hired a professional. Same as if the house backed to a busy street, obviously it doesn't bother some people but it still affects resale.

Naima

A master upstairs would not bother me but that's my personal opinion. I agree with everything you said. Your job is to point out the facts and I should use that information when making a decision.

[momof2dfw]

Originally Posted by nsumner

Someone else said that the agent was wrong in pointing out that it's a negative thing. If the agent is a true buyer's agent, it is their responsibility to point anything negative to their buyer that will hurt them in reselling that house. This is part of why they hired a professional. Same as if the house backed to a busy street, obviously it doesn't bother some people but it still affects resale.

Naima

Exactly.

My mother had a client a few years ago looking at houses in the Coppell, Lewisville, Flower Mound area. They were first time home buyers and they found a house they loved. Even didn't seem to mind the apartments that were backing up to the house. There was a brick fence that went down the alley on the apartment side but we pointed out to them that they needed to come back by the house later that evening and drive thru the apartment complex parking lot, down the alley and stand in the backyard of the house they were interested in. Sure enough they did and called right away while still there saying they wanted to keep looking.

While a realtor can't "steer" their clients they CAN and should be specific to what can hurt the house for the future be it upstairs masters, power lines, future road and highway construction nearby. While it is also the buyers responsibility to do their due diligence a good realtor will make sure they are paying attention and doing some research themselves to see for themselves what is a positive and what is a negative.

Having spent my 40+ years in Dallas, grandparents owning homes in Dallas, dad being in the construction business, myself working for builders, buying houses, mom a realtor that I've worked with, etc...... there are a FEW areas where it is common to have a master up. Those are VERY FEW and most people in those areas know that is the common thing for THAT specific area. I can pull out a map of the Dallas Metroplex and pretty much pinpoint what those SMALL areas are. The overwhelming majority of the Dallas Metroplex consists of single story homes and those w/ 2 stories that have a higher resale have the master down.

[Big G]

I have a neighbor with 3 preschool kids who LOVES his master-up house. His neighbor (with 4 kids) has a master-down and regrets it. He now has to share his bedroom with a baby, rather than having the kid in a nearby room.

It's one thing for the realtor to point out features that might make resale problematic. It's another to just poo-poo any master-up house, as the OP was experiencing.

IMO, a master-down is a poor choice for people with babies or planning to have babies. If you think hiking up and down stairs to do laundry is a beating - imagine dealing with multiple very young kids during bedtime from your downstairs bedroom.

The majority of people here prefer master-down houses. That doesn't mean everyone MUST buy a master-down. Yes, the lack of current demand for master-up equals a longer selling time and probable discounting. That's TODAY'S market. Who can say what the future will hold? Buying today based on what your realtor thinks the market will like in a decade is foolish.

I've had master-up and master-down. Right now, I have a master-down, and I like it fine. But, like Grainraiser, master-up would be fine with me as well. I don't see it as ABSOLUTELY SUPERIOR in all ways, as some on this thread seem to.

[Big G]

Originally Posted by ufcrules1

I find it odd that someone could live here their whole life and not know that having a master up hurts resale value. I guess we all find different things odd.

Perhaps that wasn't an issue until the past several years. I know back in 2000, my agent showed me both master-up and master-down. She was pointing out plenty of other items affecting value and resale, but didn't mention master-up vs master-down. (I ended up buying a 1-story that time.)

Somewhat off-topic, but relevant to the point of trying to extrapolate today's conditions to tomorrow:

That was my second realtor. My first one tried to shove Frisco new builds down my throat, and refused to show me Richardson, even though she lived there herself. Why? "That area is declining. You'll lose money on those houses." Uh, guess again. Today, you'd find it near impossible to sell a 10-year-old house in Frisco, and would have seen about zero appreciation over the decade. You could move a Richardson 70s home with much less difficulty, and the value would have gone up nicely.

[Korel]

I don't know if it really matters, posting a comment anymore, however, I've spent the past 40 years of my life working with people and their home designs. I work with people from all over the United States and the folks up north think it's absurd not having the Master up with the children. Here in the north Texas market, the consensus is the Master down plus one smaller Bedroom. So you could say, 2 up and 2 down on a 4 Bedroom home. Back in the hay day (3 years ago) I was selling over ten home plans a week and 99% of those have the Master down. But, about twice a month some yoyo Yankee would call me remarking how idiotic it is not having the Master up. So there ya go.

[Big G]

If you don't mind my asking, how would that floorplan work? If you had 2 BR down with a master bath, along with your standard kitchen, dining room, 2 living areas, laundry room, and mutli-car garage, wouldn't you have way more than 2 BR up top?

[lh_newbie]

When we say master down has a higher resale, what are we saying? Like a 1% premium? 10% premium? I would assume that the difference is pretty minor.