Your Master Bedroom Preference: First or Second Floor?

Another "which do you prefer" question – which I just love. They’re a great way to get your opinion and preferences, therefore also getting valuable insight into your minds and the trends of today (a.k.a. consumers/buyers). As you can probably guess, this question really applies to those of you who own homes with second floors and can make a choice about where to locate your master bedroom. So in other words, we're basically talking about colonials, capes, multi-levels and often contemporaries too. Even if you've bought a home and inherited a master bedroom that is not on your level of preference, with these types of homes, you can often make changes to the floor plan and room sizes and relocate the master to the floor of your choice. But those of you who own ranches don't have much say in the matter; your master bedroom is generally on the first floor.

So back to the question at hand.... Which is your preference - having your master bedroom on the first or second floor? In my humble opinion, the answer to this question probably depends on where are you are in the course of your life. Are you single, a couple without children, a family with young or older children, an empty nester - the list of possibilities is endless?! For those who are single, don't have children or have older children, the preference for a master bedroom on the first floor or second floor is probably not earth-shattering - there is some flexibility there. Though once the children come, and especially when they are young, parents seem to have a strong preference to all be on the same floor. This generally means the second floor since that is where the bedrooms are traditionally located in a home with two stories. On the other hand, when the children have moved out of the house and the parents are getting older and are having a harder time navigating stairs, the preference seems to be hands-down for a first-floor master bedroom (and as an aside, a garage on that same level as well).

From a re-sale perspective, the best way to look at this is what appeals to most buyers therefore increasing the number of buyers or buyer pool. And the predominance of buyers - at least in our neck of the woods in Weston, Wellesley and surrounding towns - are families with children. And so what appeals most to these families are homes with bedrooms all on one floor, traditionally the second floor. As mentioned above, families with older children are often willing to have their master bedroom on the first floor while their children are on the second floor or the lower level, but some are not willing to be separated. It's like the Venn diagram we learned about when we were young - the largest intersection of buyer preferences is for the master bedroom to be on the second floor with all of the other bedrooms. Once you have bedrooms on different levels, buyers may have to make concessions about their preferences, which can result in their discounting the house and finding it less appealing.

These are my thoughts from a general perspective. I know there are many other opinions about the ideal location for a master bedroom. What are your thoughts? Do you love having all of the bedrooms on the second floor or do you prefer having your master bedroom on the first floor thus having some separation from the kids or from the other bedrooms? I can't wait to hear....