Tell me about a duplex apartment

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Forum -> Inquiries & Offers -> Moving/ Relocating

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amother

Babypink

Tue, Aug 18 2015, 9:37 am

We are looking to move and are considering an apartment where we can have a private entrance and can build up the apartment our own way. Thing is that it would be a duplex because the house is build small. What are the disadvantages of an up and down apartment? First I said no but that would be our only option for the private entrance and custom layout in our area. Tell me about it all. The pros and cons. Thanks.
Anonymous cuz I am discussing this irl.

JoyInTheMorning

Tue, Aug 18 2015, 10:20 am

You have to consider that going up and down the stairs all day is a pain. IME, if you have a decent-sized apartment --- three bedrooms or more --- it's worth it. That's kind of what living in a town house is like. I would not do it for a two-bedroom apartment.

JoyInTheMorning

Tue, Aug 18 2015, 10:24 am

Also: stairs cost you a lot of space. Take that into account when considering the square footage. A 1500 square foot one-level apartment gives you a lot more space than a 1500 square foot duplex apartment.

Amarante

Tue, Aug 18 2015, 11:26 am

A townhouse/duplex is going to cost less because the developer is able to build more homes on the land. So you can get more house for the money than a single family detached home.

If you are comparing it to an apartment in a multi-family unit, there are obviously certain advantages and disadvantages to apartment living versus what you are describing which seems to be a two family home - semi detached.

It's not uncommon where real estate prices are high. Many homes in Brooklyn and Queens were built this way as they were in other cities because they are affordable. Yes, there are stairs but some people prefer to have bedrooms separated by a floor. In my experience, the units with two bedrooms upstairs generally have larger bedrooms. The homes I am familiar with in NYC that were built Pre WW II generally have three smallish bedrooms.

The issue for me in terms of stairs is really whether there is a half bathroom on the ground floor level because other than that many people who live in LARGE suburban homes don't mind a two story home.

amother

Babypink

Tue, Aug 18 2015, 12:03 pm

JoyInTheMorning wrote:

This - That's basically the only main issue. Going up and down. But let me see the advantage of having bedrooms separate. Is it really bad to have it divided?

etky

Tue, Aug 18 2015, 4:13 pm

Going up and down stairs is fantastic 'short burst' exercise.
Shapes you legs muscles nicely too....

Fave

Tue, Aug 18 2015, 5:48 pm

I would love to have a duplex - like this at least half the house will stay clean (toddler and little kids will spend most of their waking hours on the ground floor)

You can keep a collection bin next to staircase for all stuff that needs to be taken up/down in order to avoid running back and forth all day long.

amother

Bronze

Tue, Aug 18 2015, 6:53 pm

I have a large colonial. Bedrooms upstairs and living space downstairs. I love it. I like the separation. Also by me. My laundry stays up as laundry room is upstairs and bedrooms can be flying but no one will know.

amother

Taupe

Tue, Aug 18 2015, 7:04 pm

I live in a duplex apartment and love it. The steps are a little bit of a pain, but its worth having the bedrooms upstairs. We have the play room and bedrooms upstairs, and I love that I can make noise downstairs while the kids are sleeping. We pile things on the steps and take them up with us each time we go up.

Fave

Tue, Aug 18 2015, 7:10 pm

Now why did I deserve a hug?

Another mom

Wed, Aug 19 2015, 3:07 am

amother wrote:

So glad to see that I'm not the only one who puts laundry/ other things on the steps Smile

etky

Wed, Aug 19 2015, 3:11 am

Another mom wrote:

So glad to see that I'm not the only one who puts laundry/ other things on the steps Smile

Isn't that what everyone does?

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