is a duplex a plus or a minus?

Always a plus, in my book, particularly if there's separation between the living and sleeping areas.

They're good if the staircase is pretty enough to make up for the loss of space.

A regular duplex (your bedrooms over your living rooms) can be noisier than a simplex, because your upstairs neighbor's LR and kitchen are over your bedrooms.

A staggered duplex (all LRs in a stack, next to all BRs in a stack) can also be noisier, because your neighbors LR is next to your bedrooms.

Here's a building with both regular (B and C) and staggered (A) duplexes: http://www.columbia.edu/cgi-bin/dlo?obj=ldpd_YR_0371_MH_001_001&size=large

I prefer everything on one floor.

Generally a negative, because you can't resell to older empty nesters or people with toddlers. Still, it's often the only way to get real, gracious brownstone living ... so I think that location makes a difference here (i.e., it's not a negative to have a duplex on a park block).

ali r.
DG Neary Realty

"Generally a negative, because you can't resell to older empty nesters or people with toddlers."

Why not?

NYCMatt - that should be really obvious.

Definitely a minus compared with the same square footage on one floor. The only thing I like about these apartments is that you can cut through the ceiling below to access plumbing and electrical.

If you don't like noise in the apartment above you, then it makes sense depending on when the noise is. If the noise is at night, put bedrooms on first floor. If during the day, out living room on first floor. I tend to have bad luck and get neighbors above me with steel shoes so I actually like the idea of a duplex. That said, still likely a little harder to sell, but not a dealbreaker

Due to the wasted stairs space (at least 150-200 sq ft including landing), it only makes sense if your apartment is large enough - say >2000 sq ft. That said, I will take single floor space any time. Sometimes, duplex do get double ceiling height in the living room which is a plus as long as the developer is not counting that as double the space.

I would agree in the larger picture it's a negative in the sense that you will lose a portion of the buyer pool)maybe 60%?) on a resale. That said I raised our two children on the top two floors of a brownstone in Chelsea, we loved the homelike feel and managed to keep the little crumb snatchers from killing themselves. (though more than a few adults lost their footing on the stairs during some of our holiday parties).

If you found your dream home and it happens to be a duplex, perhaps the emotional side of the deal should take precedent. Certainly there are many other important factors that need to be considered, but if you found a place you love, I don't think a duplex lay-out should deter you from buying.

Keith Burkhardt
The Burkhardt Group

Keith, I agree. If you're looking for a house-like feel and don't have several million to buy a brownstone, a top-floor or bottom-floor duplex (especially with a backyard) can often provide a similar feeling at a much lower cost.

@KeithB

60% of people won't buy a duplex ? What are you talking about ?
To me it is just an element of the floor plan, that can enhance it (for instance if it separates LR and BR) or make it worse (for instance lots of space lost to reach a tiny floor)

Stairs suck. Period.

I think it is very possible that 60% won't buy a duplex. A lot of people don't want to have to deal with stairs, can't walk up stairs or worry that as they age they won't be able to walk up them, and like many others have said, they take up square footage. I lived in a duplex for several years and loved it. It really had much more of a home feel to it, in my opinion.

it's good for a marriage

The larger the apartment, the more a duplex makes sense.

Decent stairs tend to eat close to 200sqft of usable square footage. 10x10 on each floor. Most of this is arguably wasted space. Perhaps it adds graciousness. Howver, given they are mostly combination units, the monthlies tend to be slightly higher psft.

I think that a 1,600sqft duplex is valued close to a 1,500sqft simplex. In this price bracket, an extra bedroom is typically valued far more than the graciousness of a staircase.

If you're talking about a 3,000sqft duplex then the duplex may be closer or even more valuable than a comparative simplex. Proportionately, the cost is not that different, grace is a more important consideration and the potential buyer pool can afford the implicit cost of around $300,000+ for the staircase. I like reversely configured apartmetns with the beds below the living. In that way, you are in control of your own noise.

I recently turned my apartment into a duplex by purchasing the unit below. Both are full floor apartments, about 4,500 sf in total. At that level, it is not inefficient to put in a staircase. We put in a straight staircase near the middle of the apartment (i.e. one that doesn't block windows).

Top floor is the entertaining floor with a master bedroom and windowed home office taking up one third and the rest open (1,400 sf). We converted the former kitchen into a bar area.

The bottom floor is the kids floor with two kids' bedrooms and a larger ensuite guest bedroom. Also open living room and dining area.

Prior to purchasing the adjoining unit, it was getting a bit crazy with kids toys strewn everywhere and you felt like your whole job was picking up toys. Now they can have that but you can also have your own peace and quiet to retire to.

In general, I think combining into duplexes only makes sense above a certain size threshold (say 2k sf total) although of course every situation is different. The marginal/incremental value of extra square footage the larger you get goes down and starts to get outweighed by the incremental benefits you get out of being able to organize your apartment logically across the floors. The appeal of townhouse living, I suppose, combined with the benefits of living in a high-rise building ...

Also, just to add, you are definitely lowering the size of the purchase pool, but I think it's mainly from moving into at least double the price range. There are far fewer folks who can afford to pay $5 million than $2 million ... but those on that price range also appear to have less concern for cost and willing to pay premium $/sf ...

all else equal they tend to price as a positive, despite rendering footage waste in the form of stairway--go figure.

I'm a huge duplex fan. The first open house I ever went to in NYC was a 647-SF duplex which I really liked. (It eventually sold in early 2013 for a reasonable $260k, much lower than similar-sized units in the neighborhood sold for, though the high maintenance might also have been a turnoff.)

Duplexes just feel bigger. And even with a toddler in the house, you just put a barrier up near the stairs like people in houses do. I don't even think stairs waste space -- you've got to put your books and rarely-accessed miscellaneous stuff somewhere, and if you stash them in appropriately-sized shelves under the stairs, it gets them right out of sight.

I'm with you, Matt. Sleep on one floor and eat on the other. So much less noise if one person is up and about when the other is sleeping. I would love a duplex no matter what the size.

I'm a fan of the multiplex.

Fieldsy you sure you don't mean the suplex?

Yes!

hfscomm1

For many of the buyers I have dealt with I would say the duplex is a negative. It depends on the type of stairs (spirals are never welcomed). Most buyers prefer all the sqft on one floor.

Scotty
Town

In 2008 we purchased the top 2 apartments in a 4 story building here in Brooklyn heights (2 apts per floor that went co-op in the 80's) and did a front to back gut

We purchase the rear apt on the 3rd floor and are a few days away from completing this renovation, basically the downstairs will be an entire master suite area.

My only advice is make sure you put in a fantastic looking stairwell and don't cheap out on a spiral which you'll never be happy with.

deanc, any pushback from your neighbors on your land grab?

It really depends on the square footage.If you are talking a small duplex(below 2000SF) it's a minus.If you're thinking 5-7000SF Rosario Candela apartment at 834 Fifth or 740 Park, its a big big plus.Having young kids isn't an issue, most houses in the burbs are two floor, and accidents dont happen that often.
Also it depends on the staircase; if it's 3ft wide or more and the rake is ok then good.If its a narrow spiral then no.
For me duplexes have always been superior.The better seperation between public& functional rooms and bedrooms is very important.You can have a party downstairs and the kids play upstairs without causing trouble.Also people will not wonder all over the place , they stay on one floor.It has that home feel.Ground floor duplexes and PH duplexes are obviously great.You get the house feel with a garden or city views