It would be a deal breaker for me because my father, who has hip and knee problems, visits almost weekly and he would have a very hard time going up my steep 1930s colonial's steps to get to the bathroom.

OP, from all the responses you've gotten the answer seems to be that yes it will affect your resalability. But it's not a death knell. Some people will cross the house off their list and others will overlook it if they otherwise like the house.

it would be a deal breaker for me.

Arlington cape cods have this with a bathroom at the top of the stairs

Anonymous wrote:Our house is like this. Originally had one up and one in basement but we added a second upstairs in a remodel. I would have loved to add a main floor powder room but we didn't have space for it in the addition. It is the one thing I wanted but couldn't get in the configuration/budget we were working with.

I would definitely add one if I ever did an addition. I think if a buyer sees a house that's not yet renovated, they ought forgive it, but one that's already renovated with an addition -- it might turn into the sticking point! fWIW, we are renting in DC and we have 2 up, one in basement. We send people to the hall bath upstairs, but our immediate family usually always uses the toilet in the master so it stays nicer in the hall bath. Kind of a PITA. Especially for potty training, having other young kids over, grandparents, and during my pregnancy! Deal breaker for me on a future home unless we are actually buying a fixer-upper we know we can add a main floor bath to.

I don't like going to the bathroom in people's basements or upstairs. It's a pain, basements are usually kind of gross, and I feel like I'm in their private space upstairs. This was a deal-breaker for us when shopping for a house.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wrong. It's much grosser to send guest upstairs down e hall third door on the left.

Still haven't heard WHY. Makes no sense to me.

We're in an apartment with 1 bathroom on 1 floor, but as the mother of a boy, I'd rather have a bathroom that is always clean, and doesn't show signs that someone "missed".

Deal breaker for me, but where we are in the burbs, no bathroom on first floor is rare. If you're in a neighborhood where it's more common, then it's fine. We all make compromises with housing in this area and this is one of them.

Anonymous wrote:Wrong. It's much grosser to send guest upstairs down e hall third door on the left.

Still haven't heard WHY. Makes no sense to me.

Depends on what you are used to. In our rowhouse, prior owners turned a closet into a bathroom. I would much rather have a bathroom than a closet (there are coathooks in the bathroom) but I could see how if you were used to having a closet you wouldn't want to give it up.

For us, first floor bathroom is key. Potty training, guests, hell, I go to the bathroom frequently!!

We dont send people upstairs, we send them to the basement, which is fully finished and lovely and essentially our family room. NBD.

Anonymous wrote:Wrong. It's much grosser to send guest upstairs down e hall third door on the left.

Our Cap Hill RH has a bath off the kitchen. Can't even hear the toilet flush.

Bathroom off the kitchen we the grossest.

Wrong. It's much grosser to send guest upstairs down e hall third door on the left.

Our Cap Hill RH has a bath off the kitchen. Can't even hear the toilet flush.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're in a rowhouse w/o a bathroom on the 1st floor. As others said, it would be nice occasionally (i.e. birthday parties, guests over), but it doesn't bother me too much.

Gross. It may bother your guests.

Why would it? And how exactly is it any grosser than a regular bathroom?

I think it's grosser to be able to hear other people in the bathroom, which you can when the bathroom is on the main floor.

Anonymous wrote:Crap cod I assume?

I don't think I've ever seen a cape without a bathroom on the main floor. Lots of the little colonials in this area were built without first floor bathrooms.

We live in a neighborhood of 1940s houses, original floorplan was 3BR-1BA all upstairs. Over the years most of the homes have added on or remodeled and most now have powder rooms or even full baths on the first floor.

It's definitely nicer now that we have a half bath on the main floor, but it wasn't the worst thing in the world for guests to go upstairs. These are fairly small houses, so it's not like you're schlepping across 4,000sf to get to a bathroom.