Ideal Family Units and Trade Offs

Soooo many variables...

What are the genders of the children? After a certain point you may want the kids to have separate bedrooms (maybe even if they're the same gender), so there you are: start in a 3-BR, unless you want to move later. Unless you're Hercules or a masochist, if you've living above the ground floor, building must have an elevator. At a minimum, laundry in building, but preferably in the apt, dryer vented to the outside. Unless you're Hercules, building must have an elevator.

It is possible for a family of 4 to share a single bathroom (though nobody seems to believe that these days), so you could start in a 2BR/1BA, but when you're moving up to a 3BR, you may as well get 3 BA, and you can use the opportunity to teach the kids about housework ("everybody cleans their own bathroom").

I personally loathe that kitchens are open to the LR in modern plans, and developers will all say "but look, daddy can watch the kids while he makes dinner", so if you buy that line then go ahead and get the 3 BR, so the kids can each have a private place to escape to, so they don't feel like they're living under constant surveillance.

My compromise: I wouldn't have so many (or maybe any) kids.

I also don't understand the question. Is this a hypothetical or is for you? Is money not an issue?

Bedrooms off a hallway removed from living area.

TeamM - It is a hypothetical...that I can use for myself.

I wholeheartedly agree with the bedrooms down a hallway. I've seen way too many layouts with bedrooms surrounding the living room. Add lots of insulation and a set of doors at the hallway entrance itself for even more sound deadening.

Ideally 2.5 bathrooms: one for the parents, one for the kids, and a powder room for guests.

Two 2 BR apartments: parents each get a bedroom and share a living room, kids each get a bedroom and nanny gets living room. Hopefully not in the same building. Plus when you're ready to ship the kids off to boarding school you don't have to move - just sell the second unit.

Lol 30

What is the budget and appx location?

Once you define that, it will become more of what you can get in that price.

Classic 6 (and if more money, 7, 8). I find these layouts, especially if the dining room is capable to be completely closed off, to be amazing, and shall I say, timeless.

300_mercer...that is the conventional wisdom! I have found lots of articles about how 6-person families fit into and live in 800sqft apartments in their ideal location and for their budget but I wanted to flip the script and see what the ideal apartment would be and then find the location (therefore price) that matches.

well, one question I have is how much family support do you have? The amount of space that felt "OK" to me when I had access to my sister's suburban basement feels too small now that's she's moved away and I need to house family heirlooms for the house we grew up in, off-season clothes, etc. The other question is, how many of those adults need to work from home? Mr Front_Porch and I both work from home a lot (even though I have an office downtown) so there are reference materials, files, a shredder ... stuff like that in our primary residence.

3 bedrooms, home office/guest room, large living and dining room and kitchen, w/d. 2000 sq ft min since you really want to flip it the other way round without budget.

And 3.5 baths. I am assuming 2 kids.

Let's assume there is occasional work from home? No family storage nearby but i suppose room for family guests should be considered.

300, 30, sluox et al....
What would you trade off to have all that? Living near the entrance or elevator? No pets? No greenspace? No nearby subway?

Nothing. Since I do not have a budget.

And 10 foot ceilings please. No more than 2-3 families per floor. Packages delivered to my door step.

We did a large master bedroom with a study last time, rather than have a separate home office. It's a much better feeling than dividing the space into two, although obviously it's not a good arrangement if somebody works super late.

Laundry room is large enough to do double duty as a storage room.

Guest room was vetoed. Greater ROI and QOL to have the mother-in-law at a nearby hotel during her visits.

Willing to trade off kids.

3.5 baths seems a bit much for 4 people.

Ok I will play ball. Let's say the budget is $1m.

Now we are talking. White brick building low floor 2 bed room and 2 bath in ok condition. You take what you can get for $1mm.

Why white brick?

What would you sacrifice? Would you take a spot over the garbage or in the air shaft?

Post some examples. There are slim pickings for 2 bed 2 bath in ok condition under $1mm. White brick are the cheapest.

I’ve seen 2 closings in a building I follow of pretty large 2BR/2 Bth , not white brick, not low floor , between $1,050,000 and $1,200,000

The major trade-off: location, and with that, school zone.

For under 1M examples see this:
https://streeteasy.com/building/320-west-84-street-new_york/1ef
A tiny classic 6 but it also has two full baths but in a good zone and raise 1st floor doesn't feel claustrophobic, and the building is a nice prewar with a garden.

For between 1-1.5M, you can get a beautiful classic 6 in Forest Hill Gardens that basically meet all of 300's criteria and is in a decent zone:
https://streeteasy.com/building/10-holder-place-forest_hills/4g

For slightly over 1.5, you can get a decent Edwardian 5 on the UWS, and possibly a full 3 bedroom in a postwar in a good zone. I know many families live in those layouts for decades, and IMO are adequate for a good location. You can always improve your lot by buying a country home for under 500k.

Just as a followup--there are also PLENTY of UWS/Park Slope parents who live in 2 bed 1 bath apartments with 2 kids for decades. This seems adequate especially if the two kids are of the same gender. You can reasonably clamp your budget to under 1M in a good zone. The convenience factor is hard to beat, even though it does often require 1) some squeezing 2) compromise such as lack of natural light, walk-up etc. It's also a lot more doable if you only have 1 kid, which is very common in NYC. There's also comparably no stigma associated with living in a 2/1 as a family of 4 in NYC. Plenty of people I know who are dual-income professionals do this.

Sluox, big difference between the ~$1900 maintenance of your first listing and the ~$3200 maintenance of your second pick. If you have kids, ideally you want a doorman for those middle years when they're learning to be independent, coming home from school or staying home by themselves, but you as parents are still at work. Depending on the size of the building, that level of service can add a hefty chunk to monthly charges.

I would say that the second bathroom is precious with two kids. Even with one child, it is very nice to have at least 1.5 bathrooms. Prevents the morning rush and related stress.

sluox,
I don't think you can use that 320 West 84th St as "under 1M" because it's not an apartment yet.

That's a turn of events Sluox,
Aren't Manhattan prices usually higher?
Do you go for the cheaper fixer upper or the turnkey?
Do you go for the bigger place in the ok neighborhood or the smaller place in the more desirable?