2-Storey or 3-Storey.

hotredhead

Hi all,just thought I'd get a few opinions on a little dilemna I'm having.
Two houses,both 1435 square feet,one is on three floors so hence less living space but nicer bedrooms and 2 ensuites,technically a 4 bed but called 1 bed with study.
Second house is on 2 floors but has an apartment above.bigger living room and kitchen more of a family feel to it so to speak.
Second home is more expensive but builder may ??negotiate.
There are pros and cons to both obviously.
I just thought I'd throw it out there and see what the general opinion is.
Personally I prefer the house on 2 floors,I dont have a problem with apartment above.There is only myself,my husband and 21yr old daughter and hopefully a new puppy on the horizon!!!

hotredhead

sorry first house is a three bed with study.

The_Conductor

The one with the apartment above, presumably is a leasehold interest with a management company. Is there a management company involved in the 3 storey house? If not- I'd be inclined to go with the 3 storey one. Even if there is a Management Company involved- I'd still go with the 3 storey one. You would have much better privacy, less noise etc.

Try to get out of any management company arrangements, if at all possible......

hotredhead

Thanks S for your prompt reply.
Both properties are in a managed estate.
I know the 3 Storey is Freehold because we are two days away from signing!!
Not sure about other property till the morning.
What problems would you envision with the 2 storey hse.
It has its own private enclosed back garden.
I appreciate your input.

The_Conductor

hotredhead wrote: »

What problems would you envision with the 2 storey hse.

Primarily noise. Either too much noise from them, or them complaining about noise levels from you
Does the 3 bed not have a garden of its own?
Having your own bit of private space is a massive plus- and can make a small living space all the more bearable.

Hope you are getting a decent discount from the developer......

hotredhead

We will see about the discount in the morning.
Yes the three storey does have a private walled garden but in a few years time when and if LOL I finally get rid of my daughter there will be a lot of wasted space in the 3 storey,whereas there is more downstairs space in the 2 storey.
It is very doubtful as to whether we will move again.
Once we get comfortable and I hope we will we will be happy to stay put.
On a different note I do worry about management companies.
Rang them this morning and they said no dogs,but then retracted later in the day.

The_Conductor

hotredhead wrote: »

We will see about the discount in the morning.
Yes the three storey does have a private walled garden but in a few years time when and if LOL I finally get rid of my daughter there will be a lot of wasted space in the 3 storey,whereas there is more downstairs space in the 2 storey.
It is very doubtful as to whether we will move again.
Once we get comfortable and I hope we will we will be happy to stay put.
On a different note I do worry about management companies.
Rang them this morning and they said no dogs,but then retracted later in the day.

Seriously- do not sign anything until you get a copy of the terms and conditions of the lease. You might be very surprised when you see the terms and conditions that the Management Company impose on you...... You *need* to know exactly what your rights are. Do not blindly assume that all is well- the bit about no dogs is an early example (most probably it does specify no dogs- its a pretty normal article in the leases). Get a copy of the lease and spend a day or two examining it in detail so you are familiar with it.

With respect of Management Fees- make sure you know what they are- ours here comes to almost 1 months after-tax income for me, something I had not factored into the equation when I was buying.

Get a copy of the lease and examine it........

hotredhead

The 3 storey hse is 380-400 a year as far as I am aware.The other hse is 800 but includes bins and building insurance.I am not naieve enough to know this figure can only rise.
Yes I will have a very good look through the agreement before I sign anything.
The situation with a dog is important to me,and whereas we may never get a dog (after having a gorgeous lab for 12 years,very hard to replace) I do not want to be told I can not have one.There are dogs as I said in the developement.I may borrow my parents dog occasionally !!

astrofool

The two story with an apartment above would be a duplex rather than a house? (albeit with a garden).

podge018

Would much rather not have anybody living over me if I could help it.

sadie9

You have no control over who lives above you. Think about the effect on your quality of life if you have someone's radio alarm really loudly going off every morning at 6.30am, then they go away for the weekend and it comes on and stays on. Or high heels clacking across your ceiling - or worse the sound of someone peeing loudly overhead when you have guests around for lunch!! Not to mention some young people with the wrong sort of 'attitude' not turning the music down. Or an elderly person with the TV up really, really loud.

SkepticOne

sadie9 wrote: »

You have no control over who lives above you. Think about the effect on your quality of life if you have someone's radio alarm really loudly going off every morning at 6.30am, then they go away for the weekend and it comes on and stays on. Or high heels clacking across your ceiling - or worse the sound of someone peeing loudly overhead when you have guests around for lunch!! Not to mention some young people with the wrong sort of 'attitude' not turning the music down. Or an elderly person with the TV up really, really loud.

It would almost put you off apartment living.

Victor

Note the useable floor area of the 3-storey is less than the 2-storey becuase of the space taekn up by the stairs.

hotredhead wrote: »

Two houses,both 1435 square feet,one is on three floors so hence less living space but nicer bedrooms and 2 ensuites,technically a 4 bed but called 1 bed with study.

Do you mean "3 bed with study"?

What age are the lads upstairs who'll be watching your daughter in the back garden.

amtc

or in my case a long and expensive insurance claim due to my upstairs neighbour's dishwasher...as much control over your own place the better.

hotredhead

Jeez,what can I say!! Absolutely fantastic brand new 4 bedroom spacious house.Garden is 35foot wide and 48foot long.Fully floored in solid wood.
At the moment we are living above somebody and never have had any issues.In the past we have lived below people and ditto.As a matter of fact you just get on with life and dont notice the other people attached to you.In fact although I have always got on with my next door neighbours to the left or right they are also the ones I would ever have any issues with,not the ones above or below!!
I seem to be way outnumbered here,yes there are pros and cons,but it would also appear to be the way things are going.
Look around,nearly all new builds are mixed unit developements.The traditional three bed semi is only now affordable to buy second hand.Where they are new they are either in some godforsaken spot or out of reach financially as in the 600k mark.
Anyway as yet I have to decide,but I am pleased you have taken the time to respond.Thanks.

hotredhead

Victor wrote: »

Note the useable floor area of the 3-storey is less than the 2-storey becuase of the space taekn up by the stairs.Do you mean "3 bed with study"?

What age are the lads upstairs who'll be watching your daughter in the back garden.

There are two types,one has the space taken up by stairs,the other does not and is 20 grand more expensive but without the big garden.The living space in house is 1435 sq foot.Again it would not bother me you walk in and dont think there are stairs there.Concrete build so I would hope noise would not be too much of an issue.
Victor most back gardens are overlooked to some extent.

The_Conductor

hotredhead wrote: »

Concrete build so I would hope noise would not be too much of an issue.

Concrete build is irrelevant. Depth of floors/walls and whether they have cavities or are solid matter. Seriously check it out.

hotredhead

Thanks again S for your advice.Where do I find out that information?

The_Conductor

hotredhead wrote: »

Thanks again S for your advice.Where do I find out that information?

To be honest- only the builder will know, and he/she is unlikely to give that information away so handily. I'd suggest going to somewhere the builder has previously developed and chatting to someone who lives there. If they took shortcuts elsewhere- you can be pretty sure they've done similar with their latest build.

hotredhead

Although one can never be sure in these situations,it is a reputable builder who has built many fine developements.I will of course take all advice on board and check out what I can.

The_Conductor

hotredhead wrote: »

Although one can never be sure in these situations,it is a reputable builder who has built many fine developements.I will of course take all advice on board and check out what I can.

Some of the biggest names in the industry are notorious for using cavity walls, thin layers of cement between floors etc. Normally you can spot this in contracts- where it specifies that floors (concrete) must be carpetted and not tiled or wooden laminate- that sort of thing. This does not mean the house will meet the terms as spelt out in the contract when you purchase it (as I discovered, when I had to pull up an entire floor- when the neighbours complained about hearing footsteps etc through what was allegedly an 8" solid concrete floor with support strutts.......)

Are there any other units occuppied already in the development? Can you ask the tenants/owners how they find them? Be really specific about noise levels- more so than anything else (even little noises can become massive in the dead of the night.......)

hotredhead

Thats a good idea S so simple and one I never even thought of!!
I will ask the neighbours over the weekend.
To be honest my heart is really set on this house and once I can establish there are not any major issues we may go for it.
The garden is a huge selling point obviously,and the house is well finished with top quality fittings.It is also costing us 120000euros less to buy than it would have last year.Like I said earlier we have lived both over and above people in the past and it has always been the ones next door who ever gave us any issues!!!
However I will take all advice on board and speak to my solicitor re any concerns that come out of all suggestions.
Thanks again.