Just put my home on the market. Buyers aren't liking all bedrooms upstairs. (Rice: houses, movies)

[metrorider100]

We purchased this home brand new in 2006 as a starter home. It has been great for 11 years. Two kids born while we were here and are now 4 and 9. We are now ready to move up to a nicer home....but we are getting a lot of negative feedback from our all bedrooms upstairs home.

I never envisioned starter home buyers would be so picky. One story homes around me fly off the shelf lately. They usually sell in a week with multiple offers. We purposely chose our home over single story homes because they lacked open floor plans. Lots of small choppy rooms with hall ways taking up space.

Not happy that my home is getting lowball offers because of the floor plan.

[Angie682]

My two story home has the master downstairs. I think many people prefer that layout now vs. all bedrooms upstairs.

Are there any features of your home that can be played up to distract from the layout?

Good luck!

[oldoak2000]

Originally Posted by metrorider100

We purchased this home brand new in 2006 as a starter home. It has been great for 11 years. Two kids born while we were here and are now 4 and 9. We are now ready to move up to a nicer home....but we are getting a lot of negative feedback from our all bedrooms upstairs home.

I never envisioned starter home buyers would be so picky. One story homes around me fly off the shelf lately. They usually sell in a week with multiple offers. We purposely chose our home over single story homes because they lacked open floor plans. Lots of small choppy rooms with hall ways taking up space.

Not happy that my home is getting lowball offers because of the floor plan.

Be patient - homes that 'sell in a week' are UNDER-PRICED imho, so don't let that guide your expectations. In reality, it takes at least a month for your house to really 'hit the market' and start showing up on the radar for most searching for home that matches yours parameters.

Our 'all-br-upstairs' home also took slightly longer to sell (to be expected when majority of people these days are fat and lazy --- an all upstairs is actually what they NEED... heh heh - IGNORE THAT FEEDBACK, as there is nothing you can change) - but we got top dollar when the RIGHT buyers came along.

[metrorider100]

I guess the key is to be patient, and the right buyer will come along. We have been in many of these single story starter homes for kids birthday parties, and getting 10 people in the house is very crowded with some standing. Our open floor plan can easily accommodate 15 sitting and 5 standing, and the kids have a playroom to themselves upstairs. Our house is the "go to" home for every family holiday for it's openness. Other family member have bigger homes, but that usually leads to some sitting in living area, some in kitchen, kids retreating to downstairs master.

[hal2814]

Homes cost a lot of money. People are going to be picky. I'm under contract now on an all-br-upstairs home. It sat for a while. It's something I personally don't care either way on but I am aware that it will affect the resale of the home and offered accordingly. Floor plan does affect desirability, but it's something you can't change. You can either lower your price or wait for the right buyer. Any house that sits for any length of time will get lowball offers. What you have to determine is if the offer is really a "lowball" or if it's a reasonable offer that's just lower than your expectations. Your realtor should be able to help you with that.

[metrorider100]

Originally Posted by Angie682

My two story home has the master downstairs. I think many people prefer that layout now vs. all bedrooms upstairs.

Are there any features of your home that can be played up to distract from the layout?

Good luck!

Not really any features that could distract you from the layout. When you walk into the home it is very open downstairs. Kitchen and living area dominate the space, with a 10 x10 office. My family leads a very active lifestyle, so we spend 90% of our time downstairs, and own our large covered patio area. Bedrooms are primarily for end of night bedtime. The kids have their own playroom/game room and they spend time there watching movies and playing games.

[Persdawg]

We stayed away from all up rooms...and over our year long course look for a house...these houses have tended to price 10%ish less than a comparable master down, or 1 story.


But we always looked as what if one of us...or older family visiting...couldn't get up stairs due to age, injury, etc.

[metrorider100]

Originally Posted by Persdawg

We stayed away from all up rooms...and over our year long course look for a house...these houses have tended to price 10%ish less than a comparable master down, or 1 story.


But we always looked as what if one of us...or older family visiting...couldn't get up stairs due to age, injury, etc.

Thanks for your feedback. Our parents and in-laws all live in the metroplex. Our only overnight guest have been younger family members in their 20's - 30's. In 11 years we never had to deal with an injury or stair issue. Not sure why we have an affinity for open space over a single story. Different strokes for different folks I guess.......but at a 10% cost to me.

[Angie682]

That floor plan might work for families with younger children. Be patient the right buyer will come along!

[metrorider100]

Got up this morning to check my Zillow owners report as usual. All comparable homes in my immediate area are under contract. My neighbor 5 doors down was one of them, he was on the market 3 days with multiple offers and accepted $6K over list price. Maybe if there is nothing else left on the market we will get more looks. (sounds bad)


Okay I have to be patient.......not easy right now. I will take a break from watching the number.