north facing apartments

i will add: assume that each of these hypothetical apartments has an east facing exposure as well, so it's not like no natural light comes into one but it does come into the other. however, the primary exposures are north for one place and south for the other.

Personally I find northern light to be much 'colder' than southern light, which is warm and bright. You will never get direct sun (except from your eastern exposure) which is good for artwork but could feel a bit dreary and dark. Painters love northern light because of its purity and clarity.

I do think it's a personal thing, but for what its worth, I always prefer to be able to see the sun.

By the way, there was a thread on this same topic not too long ago--you might also try searching for that.

I want to say it depends on how high you are...does the view of the backyards (assuming you are looking down from the apartment) also offer a good view uptown. To me it makes no difference...I am buying the apartment based on the features in it and the school zone. Technically speaking if you are in an even number building (for the cross streets) your south windows would typically be looking in a backyard as well, albeit for the height factor.

I'm not sure there would be a premium. While more people would prefer a southern exposure, it's canceled out by being on the street side vs. garden exposure.

thanks all, i'll have a look for the other thread. i searched briefly prior to posting but didn't see anything - i'll look again.

creel, not so high up, but at the same level as the buildings that face it on either side. so there is no view per se (either uptown or down) but light is not blocked on either end by any other building.

i prefer northern exposure, as long as the apartment is bright. southern, particularly with a lot of window exposure, can be brutally hot. but bramstar is right, it does cast a cold light on the apartment, and you need to be particularly careful of the colors you choose, some can seem unexpectedly harsh.

Under your hypothetical, the two identical apartments should trade at equal value. There is no discernable premium to be paid. Buyers are likely to be drawn to both in equal numbers.

This describes my building pretty well. There are no difference in shares assigned to the north facing / garden view apartments v. south facing / street view apartments. Each side seems to think the other has it better, though. :-)

I am very positively bias towards South light, and have and would definitely pay a premium to live in it.

Personally I could not imagine living in an apartment that had all/ predominate/ or most windows facing North (this is my least favorite exposure). There is something very cold about sunlight rarely coming thru the windows.

One of the things that make me happy (and I think a lot of buyers subconsciously) is when you see the light coming thru the South windows and "dancing " reflecting over the floor and surfaces. Depending on the time of year etc usually between 1.30pm and 5.30pm.
Where as North light because it is more overhead, comes in at most about 40 min for only 1/2 the year.

It is hard to put a premium on South for a number of reasons, one being are the windows in main rooms, or lesser rooms like third bedrooms and bathrooms? Another factor is the size of the windows, if you are paying for oversized windows and an apt with a lot of windows, I would want them facing my much preferred exposure.

So for myself personally if I was lucky enough to have the choice of paying a premium, I would pay 10+% gladly and possibly more depending on the windows. The only caveat I would add to this is I would be hesitant to go to 10 +% if there was already a steep premium built into the maintenance i.e. my last building the 1 bedrooms on the North side maintenance was about $1100 and $1600 on the South facing side for the same line apartment.

When ever I have mentioned to a broker that an apartment must have dominant South facing exposure, the reply is "you and everyone else". However I think in NYC there are so many requirements that people want i.e., location, bedrooms, price, laundry, building type etc that unfortunately sometimes people let go of the less tangible requirements like direct sunlight.

I think South may be harder to justify intellectually (with the premiums), however I think more decision making is made emotionally than we would like to admit, and a feeling good, sun lite space taps into feel good emotions.

I warned you all that I was bias......

It's hard to say. I currently live in a North facing apartment towards a backyard and I seem to prefer that. Admittedly north side mostly does not receive direct sunlight, it can be quite bright and well lit with indirect sunlight if you have large windows. You also have to factor in the summer and winters....North facing lacks direct sunlight so it will likely be slightly cooler than the north facing with direct sunlight in summer (which leads to savings on AC). However the opposite occurs in winter and the south side will probably be slightly warmer VS cold north (save on heating). Direct sunlight also has the ability to bleach things quickly if constantly exposed also.

But all in all, it seems the strongest argument for direct light is its affect on mood and brightening the apartment...I can definitely see it being beneficial in the winter to avoid S.A.D.

I admit, I prefer southern light and compromised when I found a top-floor apartment with floor-to-ceiling northern windows and (for a walkup) fairly good views. The nice thing I've discovered about northern light is that if you're up high enough and/or don't care what the neighbors think, you never have to use window coverings.