Thursday 14 August 2008

Higher or lower: which floor?

Following on from yesterday's dilemna regarding whether it's better to buy a one or two bed flat I wanted to discuss another issue that plays on my mind- whether it's better to go for a higher floor or the ground floor.

In short the ground floor positives are: no stairs to deal with for anyone older or with any mobility issues, being far easier when bringing in/ taking out furniture, shopping etc, more sense of space and often a garden or the sense of a garden.

Ground floor negatives are: less security- a big one.

The pro's of going for something higher up, as I see it, are: greater security, possibly nice views, possibly better leg muscles.

The cons of higher floors are: the issues with shopping, buggies, getting furniture in and out, access for older people.

I have done some web based research and can find no mention of ground floor flats either being worth less or harder to sell. Neither can I find any information about flats in tall buildings being sold for more/ less (except where they are in an awful block where the lift doesn't work or isn't safe- but that's a whole other issue).

In truth no property is ever going to be perfect to everyone- or it's price would certainly be far out of my reach- still in a tough market these things are being considered more- and therefore I have to think about them when I think about any potential properties.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

go for the higher floor! trust me. i bought my condo on the ground floor and the woman above me makes so much noise! it's maddening.

Rose said...

That is a very good point! The people above me in my rental flat seem to love having friends over at about 2am on Sunday nights- which is strange and annoying...