Based on floorplans, which house would you buy? 2/3-storey?

[StrawberryCreamCake]

With a family of four (2 young children), working from home situation, and a budget for either of these two small 4-bed houses, which one would you go for?

The two-storey or the three-storey house?

I think the concerns about the size of bedroom 4 relate to the 2 storey house @TeaSoakedDisasterMagnet. You would actually be able to get a king size bed in it but wouldn’t be able to open the door!

The market is moving really fast ATM. My son is in process of buying his first 2 bed terrace in Hull and over 2 months houses are being priced up by estate agents and there are bidding wars going on with many houses being offered on above asking price. I don't know what market is looking me in other areas. I am expecting after end.of June past house prices might steady or even do small dip.

The three floor has better room sizes but might not be ideal with your childrens ages. Bedroom 4 as playroom / gaming room is a great idea as you then have a separate lounge for adults. You could have a sofa bed in the lounge for guests and they could use the upstiars bathroom or downstairs loo.

I would rule house 1 out as the living space downstairs is way too small I think you would struggle to get a table in the kitchen there.
Bedroom 3 and 4 are tiny! While your littlest is small you could put them in a cot in room 4 and have parents stay in another bedroom but as soon as they get bigger you will end up without a spare bedroom and just with a tiny office. It also looks like it has no storage space whereas the three story has a good size storage cupboard downstairs.

1st one.
But I would be taking outside space into consideration as well.

Out of those two, I’d go for the three storey without a doubt.

Our two are in the floor above (have been since DD2 was 1) - just need a stair gate and monitor that’s all. You don’t need a 4th bedroom so that fact that it is office sized not bedroom size isn’t an issue.

Would the children’s bedrooms have space for a double? You could get a single which has another bed underneath so when guests come they share a bedroom and the guess have one of their rooms.

To me having living space on different levels isn’t an issues - we very rarely eat in the lounge anyway.

Would house 1 give you the opportunity to extend I to the car port at some point and still leave parking out front?

Why do you need 4 bedrooms if you have 2 kids? The 4th bedroom in both of your floor plans is tiny anyway. I wouldn't even consider buying the 3 story one as bedrooms across 3 floors and living room upstairs is bizarre. Something to think about for selling on.

You could probably get better living space and not stretch as much in a 3 bed and consider a home office in the garden if that's what you need the 4th bedroom for.

Why do you need 4 bedrooms if you have 2 kids?

There is a 6year age gap between the two kids, so a room each, and the OP works from home.

from experience, its a total pain in the ass when you want a cup of tea when you're watching tv and you have to go down a flight of stairs to get it, similarly if you have guests in the living room and they need to go back down to go to the loo!

could the carport be extended or any other potential to extend?

@DennisTMenace the 4th bedroom in the 3 storey one isn’t tiny, it’s bigger than my master bedroom! I agree about the layout though.

@StrawberryCreamCake do you need four bedrooms? We were in a similar predicament to you in as much we needed to get out of a one bed flat. But we ended up proceeding on a 3 bed because we could get a 3 bed with better room sizes (all doubles) with a better living layout for significantly less money (20% in our area). The fourth bedroom adds £££.

I was all ready to recommend the 2 storey as it usually defaults to best option with larger living area, but between those two I'm honestly not sure which is prefer.

I should add, we currently only have one child and DH works from but we do plan on more kids. The is that our children will share until they are teenagers. Or we could convert the loft (a loft conversion would be less £££ than buying a 4 bed in our area).

So now if we buy that house all our savings will be wiped out.

You will be saving £1050 a month in rent though.

3 storey
office on ground floor if you don't need an office room for kids initially playroom then when older as a den with their x boxes etc etc upstairs lounge for you and DH to relax in kept as adult space not toy space

if you keep working from home both bedrooms 2 and 3 are big enough to be a fair size play space for kids
downstairs space looks big enough from tour for a small sofa and dining table so when you just have 1 year old around plenty of space for them to be with you also there is a downstairs loo so they can run in garden and never need to go upstairs with mud etc
The downstairs room is quite big at 12' x 12' so even as an office could be room for a decent sofa bed for your parents staying
house 1 the living space is just too small
you could even on house 2 use the small loft bedroom as office the kids share second bedroom just for sleeping for a year or so not permanently ( until folks are back in office or a definite decision has been made that you are working form home permanently) and have the lower room by kitchen as playroom kids sitting room tv room

We had a house similar to number 1 and really struggled both working from home. I could always hear dh on the phone. The 3 storey would give you better separation

We live in a 3 story house. Similar set up apart from master bedroom being on top floor with ensuite and one bedroom on middle floor without ensuite. Initially we all lived on top floor with two kids sharing a room. Have just put kids in own rooms. My 8 year old is now on middle floor and we are top with daughter who is 3. Bit worried about my son being a floor lower than us, but is working out well.

Is this something you can do until your daughter is older? So on same floor it it's a concern?

I think I prefer the 3 story option, but think the living room is quite small. But the living room is small in the two story house too

Re hot weather - our new build isn't too hot in summer and actually is great for the majority of the year as I hate being cold in old houses!

Gardens sound like they both have a nice aspect. I would go for more space inside.

The floor plan of House 2 is deceptive- the measurements suggest bed 4 and the lounge are exactly the same size? So use bed 4 as your living room, lounge as 1yr old's bedroom, put the 7yr old on the top floor and use the other top floor bedroom as an office. You can then reconfigure later when they are older (if you want to).

I am in a 3 storey house and hate it!

On the top floor are 2 double bedrooms and that is where our DD (15) is - it feels like she is cut off (she likes this!)

Also she has a sloping ceiling so rubbish for furniture and the windows are bad - if they are open - in the summer at night let in sun (from sunrise) and in winters let in rain!

Never again!!

We don't find it hot in our 3rd storey.
We also have a blackout blind on the velux window in the one room and heavy, lined curtains on the normal window in the other bedroom so no issues with light.

Generally, other things being equal, I'd buy a 2 storey over a 3 BUT I don't like the layout of your 2 storey. Anyone that comes round would have to traipse through your kitchen to get to the living room, which is odd.

@emsyj37

The floor plan of House 2 is deceptive- the measurements suggest bed 4 and the lounge are exactly the same size? So use bed 4 as your living room, lounge as 1yr old's bedroom, put the 7yr old on the top floor and use the other top floor bedroom as an office. You can then reconfigure later when they are older (if you want to).

I think it is a typo. The house appears to be 3.91m wide if you look at all the other rooms that are the width of the house. Therefore, Bedroom 4 can't be 3.91m x 4.01m, it must be half that width as it is half the width of the house. Plus, if those measurements were correct, it would be square(ish) and it isn't.

@chesirecat99 Yes the dimensions can't be right, can they - otherwise they probably would be selling it as a normal ground floor living room I would guess!

[quote PattyPan]@DennisTMenace the 4th bedroom in the 3 storey one isn’t tiny, it’s bigger than my master bedroom! I agree about the layout though.[/quote]
The measurements have to be incorrect. It's not as tiny as the 2 storey 4th bedroom but the whole house is 12ft10 wide so the bedroom can't be that. I'd reckon it's that minus the cupboard space, so just over 7ft at best.

I think the 3 story is fine, and is by far the best option space wise. No its not the biggest house ever but its got plenty of space

I'd have a similar layout to the virtual tour with sofa and dining table in the kitchen, office/snug bedroom four

Your DCs ages are a bit difficult as I was going to suggest sharing on the top floor and you in bedroom 2 until they were a little bit older. But 7 and 1 really need their own rooms so if you were happy you could put them both on the top floor, or the 7 year old in the master and you on the top with the one year old until the one year old is a little older?

If your not comfortable with being on a different floor to your DC option 1 is really the only option and you'd have to compromise on the living space. Do you have a virtual tour of that?