Would children downstairs and parents upstairs put you off buying a property?

[RestingWanderer]

Hello. We are in the process of buying a house and have found a beautiful chalet bungalow on a quiet road which ticks a lot of boxes for us. The main downside is that the master bedroom is upstairs, but the other smaller bedrooms are downstairs. We've discussed this as a family, and have got comfortable with the fact that we would be sleeping upstairs whilst our two children (8 and 10) sleep in the downstairs rooms. This will be fine for us, HOWEVER, we are now a bit concerned that this might cause problems for us when it comes time to sell - Even though we have made peace with this, i can imagine that this might put a lot of people off and they might not even want to view, if they know that the family couldn't all sleep on the same floor.

My question for the forum is whether this configuration is likely to put you off of purchasing (or even viewing) a forever house?

It wouldn’t put me off and have had this previously but it was in an area where this was common with a lot of houses like that. From past threads on here I think it will put a lot of people off.

I’ve seen threads where it put off the majority of posters.

But, if it works for you and the house is otherwise great, and you’re planning to be there a while, I wouldn’t let potential resale issues put you off. There’ll always be something about a house that will put off some buyers.

We have a similar set up and we love it. The older the children get, the better this arrangement works! I would imagine people with young children might have concerns but honestly at the ages you are mentioning, it's just utter bliss.

Yes very much so.
Possible exception would be if the kids are older teens.

There’s no way I’d buy a house like that with young children and if I did, I’d be downstairs and they’d be upstairs. But completely dislike the idea, mainly incase there is a burglary in the night or a fire or one of the kids is poorly and needs me there quickly.

Works for us, ideal if DC can have their own bathroom too

If it works for you and you plan to live there a long time, go for it. I wouldn't personally want that with children, unless older teens. I don't really like the idea of anyone sleeping on the ground floor, adult or child. I'd never buy a ground floor flat for that reason.

Nope, not in a few years when my children are older. I imagine a beautiful upstairs sanctuary which is all mine! But for now it wouldn’t work for us as they’re too young.

I agree with pp, I think this has come up before and the majority don’t like it, but you don’t need a majority when you sell, you just need one buyer. Conversely, it could also appeal to a wider group by having bedrooms downstairs which is good for people with mobility issues. If it works for you and is the only atypical feature, it wouldn’t put me off.

We had a house with one bedroom upstairs and one downstairs. We moved because we didn't want DS in it and it was smaller than the upstairs room. He was a toddler at the time.

I wouldn't want a child under 8 in it.

So yes it definitely narrows who will consider the property.

We kept our converted loft room for guests rather than have the Dc (younger than teens) in between us and the front door. I would feel this even more strongly if the bedrooms were on the ground floor.

Depending on layout it would also put me off due to noise downstairs after the Dc have gone to bed - they would be kept awake if you have friends round etc.

But I would look at the house if I was happy to sleep downstairs and the upstairs could be configured to accommodate the Dc - split into 2 rooms, etc.

I definitely wouldn’t buy it, even if everything else about it was perfect.

I wouldn’t have that arrangement unless the Dd were older teenagers. Fire and burglary would be my worries.

It would put me off, sorry. An intruder would be unlikely, but the possibility would put me off. We had the reverse in a chalet bungalow - kids 1st floor, adults ground floor.

I would sleep in a bedroom above my children (until they were adults) so I wouldn’t buy it. Same with large master bedroom loft conversions

It would have put me off until kids were maybe 7+, but not after that.

You’re willing to buy it now, others have lived there before you, so someone else will want to live there in the future if and when you sell it.

It would have put me off when the kids were little (under 6) but after that age no
it wouldnt

We had a house over three floors, main bedroom on the top floor. It put a lot of family buyers off because any burglars are going to get to the kids first and you probably wouldn't even wake up. Same so it a fire which are most likely to start in the kitchen.

For a lot of people, a bungalow would probably mean not having to use stairs, though I appreciate that you do have stairs to the upper bedroom. The upstairs bedroom, unless they had the same family set up as you, the bedroom upstairs may become a spare bedroom for visitors. Does it have an ensuite

Yes it would put me off for children younger than older teens. I wouldn’t buy it.
however, my kids are adults now and occasional visitors so it would be perfect for this life stage.

Think of it as a bungalow with only one floor. Would it appeal to someone buying a bungalow?

Where I am from, bungalows are very much in demand and cost more than a house with the same number of bedrooms.

We are a floor up from our child (they are on the first floor, we are in the loft), but this is a pretty standard layout for homes in our area to the point where it would be difficult to find a property that didn't involve this kind of split. If it's more unusual in the area you are in, then I'd be more concerned about resale.

We purchased a house with bedrooms on different floors when DS (only child) was eight. His bedroom was on a mezzanine at the back of the house, ours was on the main first floor at the front. We experienced no issues, but when we sold almost the first viewer remarked that she'd not want her (younger) DC on different floors to her. The bedrooms were spread across several floors/mezzanines. Our eventual buyers had one 16yo DS.

Another house we sold was similar to the one you're considering @RestingWanderer, except it had two beds and an en-suite bathroom upstairs and potentially three/four bedrooms on the ground floor as there were five rooms plus kitchen and conservatory (and two baths) on that level.

Our buyers for that house had two tweens plus a newborn and went on to have a further three DC in quick succession. I know from when they listed for sale they were actually using four downstairs rooms as bedrooms for three of the youngest (who were then aged approx between 2-6). Their latest addition was in a cot in the main bedroom, one teen (18?) was in the other upstairs room whilst the other (17?) was downstairs. It worked for them - they were only selling due to a job offer in Scotland and ultimately stayed put.

So yes, some won't like it, but others will make it work. I remember the second house lady worrying about her older son having a room downstairs as it had its own door to the front, but it didn't stop them buying.

I wouldn’t buy it. No way.

Yes, we have the opposite with a dormer bungalow and I hate it with a vengeance, have had instances where one of the kids has had to run down to tell us the other got sick, or have been called up to get rid of spiders etc. Have also had an instance of the fire alarm going off which freaked me out because i played out all the worst scenarios in my head!! so handy when you’re all on the same floor.

It would put me off tbh.

Thanks all for the input - very helpful. It might be helpful if I also add the following details, to address points which have been raised above.

There is a second bedroom upstairs, it's a reasonable size but quite long and thin. With two children of a similar age i don't think it would be possible to let one of them sleep upstairs with the other one downstairs on their own though. It would, however, be more than adequate for a nursery.

There is a bathroom upstairs. It's not an en-suite, but is right next door to the master bedroom, so can effectively function as such.

The house is above average price for the area. I don't think that many young families would be looking in that price band. It's most likely to be older families who have outgrown their first family home who have the budget for the (like us with our 8 and 10 year old).