Would a downstairs bathroom be a no deal for you?

PancakeP

Yes it's the selling on point of view that potentially concerns me.
I think I'll arrange a viewing and see how much I like the rest of it, then decide - thanks!

Soundgirlrocks

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

Just to clarify from your description of the layout...
1. You must have two doors between a toilet and the kitchen. This is a legal health and safety issue.

I don't think this is the case anymore - I think it goes back to when people thought smells carried germs I remember this being on one of those renovation programs

Back on topic I'm looking at two up two down terraces and most of these seem to have downstairs bathrooms, I would rather that and be able to buy a house than buy a flat (which would be the other option in our price range)

Barneysmom

We've got a downstairs bathroom, I wouldn't want a house without one.

I don't like the idea of casual aquaintances and workmen being able to go up my stairs to go to the loo, and maybe have a nose around my bedrooms at the same time.

We do um and ah about having the boxroom turned into loo/shower room but there's always been something else more important to pay for, like heating

Valli

My first house was a semi-detached but to all intents and purposes looked like a terrace and I had a bathroom downstairs. Was an extension at the back.

Don't remember it EVER being an issue to use the loo at night.

While I was there I took out (well I had it taken out for me) the back chimney, which ran from the kitchen through the back bedroom. Made me a lovely, big square kitchen and meant the property had two good double bedrooms.

I also had a new kitchen and new bathroom suite.

Made toilet training the Vallikids nice and easy - they had a loo downstairs they could use.
Once, when I had a leak (broken bath hence new suite) I didn't lose any ceilings...floor was concrete.

And the first person who walked through the door when I was selling bought. The reason we sold was because we had 2 bedrooms and the Vallikids are a pigeon pair - so an extra bedroom was needed.


It was common, in that area, for houses to have bathrooms as extensions - some did chop the bedrooms but lost a lot of space.

Valli

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

If it's a question of money, I'd say ours would have sold for £10k more if the bathroom was upstairs. If you're thinking in terms of selling it on, it's got to be a consideration. But it's not the end of the world.

but by the same token it will be cheaper to buy in the first place...

tizerbelle

You have to consider the area you are buying in as well - in many areas, downstairs bathrooms are the norm with 2 or 3 beds upstairs and people in that area are used to that layout so it wouldn't bother them as often the alternative would be the smallest bedroom is converted to a bathroom so it becomes just a 1 or 2 bed house.

For me, not a deal breaker in the least. Have lived in houses with bathrooms upstairs and ones with bathrooms downstairs and even one with bathroom in the house but the loo was in the back yard.

kittieviolet

I was a lodger in a house with a downstairs bathroom. I just remember that it was a long way to run if you'd had a skin full and you needed to be sick in the night (I was young once).

mynameisclare

I grew up in a downstairs toilet house, and have always found it bizarre that they are supposed to be such a turn off. Surely you're going in there a lot more often during the day than the middle of the night?

Now what I am really looking forward to when I get out of renting is a bathroom with a window

tyler80

I could cope with a downstairs bathroom, but not one which is through the kitchen at the back of the house when the stairs are at the front.

ChrisEvanson

The 'two doors off a kitchen' thing is old hat, I know because we are in the process of buying a house with a downstairs bathroom! However we will have the funds to build an extension and move the bathroom upstairs to the smallest bedroom. We researched as we need to site a loo downstairs, and found that we don't need two doors (but it does need a washing facility, ie handbasin). We dithered about buying the property, but when a less attractive one nearby with a smaller garden came up for 40k more we realised our plans were worthwhile.

Its not all about value though, we will be spending money to get our property 'right' for us, so the 'value' for us is also in that. I don't think our investment will add more than we invest to the 'value', but it would make it more saleable.

We viewed a really well modernised house with everything spot on and perfect, but it wasn't nearly as attractive a location as the one we are buying.