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Downsides to Ground Floor Units?

By Matt Goyer December 2, 2010

A reader asks us on Twitter about ground floor units:

I’m shopping for a place in SEA soon. Is there something bad about ground floor units that I don’t realize?

Security and noise would be the biggest downsides to me but could be outweighed by having a private entrance or private terrace. But I’ve never lived on a ground floor unit. Have any readers have?

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10 responses to “Downsides to Ground Floor Units?”

Ajenstat says:

December 3, 2010 at 6:10 am

Seems to me that most people on the ground floor also close all of their blinds to get more privacy. So, if you like living in a dark place then ground floor is fine. Plus security is a major concern in my opinion.
Jenschuld says:

December 3, 2010 at 6:21 am

I had someone climb in through my ground floor bedroom window a few years ago (while I was sleeping). I will never again live in a ground-floor unit!
Angie says:

December 3, 2010 at 8:09 am

Mold – I live in a unit where the back is ground floor while the front is second floor (set into a slope). The back wall of my closet is basically underground, and it gets damp and moldy if I am not super diligent about using those water – absorbing crystal things and changing them out regularly. I’m a renter but I would never buy a ground floor unit.

A lesser problem is people can be outside talking, smoking, or partying in the summertime and it is like they are in my bedroom (the back part which is on the ground floor).
Angie says:

December 3, 2010 at 8:12 am

Oh, and other people’s pets try to come into my apartment – especially cats — if we have the back window open. There’s a screen but it doesn’t fit well and they can paw at it to try to get in. And even when the window is closed sometimes cats will be outside the window while my cats are inside and they have little cat confrontations in the middle of the night.
CapHill says:

December 3, 2010 at 4:58 pm

It depends on where the building is. I have a ground floor unit on Capitol Hill, but it looks out to a semi-private garden that rarely, if ever, has anyone in it. I feel that I have a great deal of privacy, and no one’s smoke, pets, or conversations have ever bothered me.
Jojo says:

December 3, 2010 at 5:28 pm

Make sure the building is solid. If there’s ever water damage, a leak or flooding, guess who’s unit is going to get the worst of it…
Michelle Broderick says:

December 3, 2010 at 7:59 pm

Depends on the setup of the ground floor unit. My ground floor unit faces the garden and is very peaceful. It might be a different story if it faced the street and I had to deal with noise and privacy issues. I also have decorative security bars that contribute to safety without distracting from my view.

A few pluses:
You don’t have to deal with stairs.
You don’t have noise below you.
You can jump up and down without bothering people, you know, if that’s your thing.
You can generally get a ground floor unit for cheaper.

I wouldn’t rule them out but I wouldn’t give the green light in all cases.
Brett Frosaker says:

December 3, 2010 at 8:02 pm

I sold Maxwell condos when it was converted. It had a lot of exterior entrance street fronting units. I thought we would only sell them to burly fellas. They were almost all purchased by single females. I’d rather be facing the street than a secluded garden. Capitol Hill has a “safety in numbers” element going for it.
Kevin Jonson says:

December 3, 2010 at 11:02 pm

Hobo’s sleeping on your door. Don’t get me wrong, some are quite friendly and maybe you’re a really social person, but the majority are actually just taking a dump or smoking crack.
Josie Latona says:

December 14, 2010 at 8:04 pm

Yes, something to be aware of that I wasn’t. Luckily, I was only renting, but I found a ground floor unit at a great deal. I thought I was lucky – it had a tiny yard area and both front and back doors (I have dogs so that is a huge plus). A few months later, my allergies began going crazy. I noticed that the air in my unit felt “wet” all the time. I ended up buying a dehumidier and running it constantly. Sometimes it filled up in 1 day – ! I now live on the top floor and it’s sooooo much drier. Since then I’ve learned some things to look for such as the location of the ground floor unit in comparison to the ground – mine was below the ground a little – had to go down a small flight of stairs. The building itself was between hills, but somehow I think the water still rain under the unit … Yeesh!

Downsides to Ground Floor Units?

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