Ground Floor Apartments

T

TMacC

Guest
Hi, can you please advise me on your thoughts of ground floor apartments. I was supposed to be buying a first floor apartment and the estate agent has just contacted me to say that " another estate agent " has already sold it. It is a new development. There is only 2 floors - ground and first floor with car park underneath. I guess I have to accept that I don't get the first floor apartment ( I've only paid holding deposit ) but I was wondering what peoples thoughts / experiences were with ground floor apartments ie noise etc. Thanks !
 
My perception is that they would be more prone to a break in an noiser.
Generally people prefer not to live on the ground floor so its not as good as a buy as second floor etc...
 
As well as the points the previous poster made, you're more likely to have people looking in your window as they walk past. You have a lot less privacy, and this is regardless of wether or not you're street facing or courtyard facing.

Also, a benefit of apartment living is that you absorb the heat generated from those beneath you. You won't have that. You'll have a cold car park.

Personally, I'd hate to live on the ground floor. I'm currently on the 1st floor.

Kevin.
 
Ground floor is less desirable because of street noise, pedestrian/ vehicular activity, risk of break in, less privacy, more maintenance required generally (window cleaning, vandalism etc). However ground floor units can be more attractive to some people such as those with physical disablities or those who are less mobile (including older people) and those with very young children.
 
Where I live the GFs seem to have the blinds down and curtains closed in all rooms a lot of the time. Ours are only closed in the bedroom at night.

You here passing foot fall and the conversations alot more and headlights in the window full blast must be a mare!
You will never nip out to the shops without shutting up fully where as I ofetn leaving double doors fully open, no one can even see them open on upr floors.

Noise from above will occasionally be an issue on top of neighbours next door.
 
It depends on what type of complex you buy into. I wouldn't discount a ground floor apartment out of hand. If it's a modern block, sound insulation has to be of a certain quality. As to privacy, most modern apartment blocks (in Dublin at any rate), are built so close together that no matter what floor you're on, you can be overlooked. I heard from a Garda source recently that ground floor apartments are only really a target for the casual burgular. The more experienced tend to go for the higher floors as they are less likely to be seen! He said it's a common misconception that the ground floor is broken into more regularly but they get a lot more call outs to other floors. This is even more true if a complex has security guards as these patrol at night. One drawback I can see is light, but this doesn't apply to you as your not buying in a high rise complex.

If I were you I'd look at the site. Leave the deposit with the estate agent, it's refundable after about three weeks. See if what any of the other posters say hold true in your case. For example would headlights from cars shine in? Do other tenants have to pass your window to get where they want to go?

Before anyone asks I don't own a ground floor apartment!!!
 
TMacC said:
Hi, can you please advise me on your thoughts of ground floor apartments. I was supposed to be buying a first floor apartment and the estate agent has just contacted me to say that " another estate agent " has already sold it.
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Bear in mind he may be lying to you. Insist that the "other buyer" is the one that loses out and see what happens.
 
TMacC said:
Hi, can you please advise me on your thoughts of ground floor apartments. I was supposed to be buying a first floor apartment and the estate agent has just contacted me to say that " another estate agent " has already sold it. It is a new development. There is only 2 floors - ground and first floor with car park underneath. I guess I have to accept that I don't get the first floor apartment ( I've only paid holding deposit ) but I was wondering what peoples thoughts / experiences were with ground floor apartments ie noise etc. Thanks !
Click to expand...

Depending on where this apartment is,if your prepared to walk away i'd demand what i put a deposit on or else !.
 
My sis lives in a GF apart, she has not experienced any of the problems descibed above, maybe she has just been lucky but a lot depends on the actual complex.
Her's is four floors with no lift so when taking in shopping, putting out the bin etc she is very thankful to be on the ground floor!
 
I would never live in an apartment not on the ground floor again. It will be ground floor or nothing.
A few years ago i lived in a 3rd floor apartment in london and one night the apartment below caught fire.
By the time we woke up the hall was too smokey to go out in. Then the apartment started to fill with smoke. We were about to jump when the fire brigade showed up and took us out on the ladder.
All in all 4 families were evacuated this way. An experience i will never ever want to repeat.
 
Hiya

I'm buying a ground floor apartment and it was my first choice. :)

Aparts on the first floor upwards have glass sided balconies which seem to be just stuck on to the side of the building - not pretty - I knew I wouldn't sit out there and use it, but that I would open the patio door and step out onto a terraced area which then leads onto the communal grass area - it'll be like my own back garden and will feel a lot more spacious than a balcony.

The apartment doesn't have a pedestrian walkway around it so I won't be bothered with people walking by either....

Some apartments might not have these features but ground floor needn't be all doom and gloom if you pick the right one! Besides which, every house has a ground floor and you wouldn't just use the upstairs in case of break ins now would you!!

Dr P
 
I lived in a gf apartment for three years in Rathfarnham. I did initially think we would have all the problems that people have mentioned here but the pros and cons balance out for the most part. It was extremely handy having our own front-door and post delivered into our apt rather than in a post box, noise from upstairs was minimal, great being able to sit outside in the sun (if you don't mind people walking past!) or put clothes out to dry. Also thought people would be looking in the window all the time as they pass but they generally don't. In terms of noise/lights from traffic etc it depends where the apt is. Ours was in a square so traffic was minimal.Downsides were that we couldn't leave windows open at night and our flower pots got robbed from our window sill twice!!! Who robs flower pots?!?!?Also, shortly before we moved we had new neighbours upstairs who insisted on smoking on their balcony and dropping their butt ends down at our door-step. Had to have words but didn't make a difference. Ignorant people.On the whole, I'd move back there without hesitation, loved living there.
 
Agree with most of the sentiments so far. I lived in a ground floor apt for 2 years and experiences some positive and negative aspects. As others said, we had to keep blinds down for most of the time for privacy. We had a couple of attempted break ins. And resale value wasn't as high as for apts oh higher floors, although that wasn't really an issue as it was cheaper in the first place because it was ground floor. There are some plus points as others have mentioned. We had double doors to the front and after doing a weeks shopping could just park the car on front of the doors and carry all the shopping through, rather than struglling up stairs. Similarly, on a frosty morning if i came out to my car and the windows were iced up I could pop in and out the double doors getting hot water until it was clear. This posed a bit of a problem for people in the penthouse! And at the weekends I could park my car outside the double doors and drag out the hoover to clean it out.
So I definitely wouldn't be put off buying a ground floor apt, there are good points as well as bad, once you go into it with your eyes open
 
I never understand people's arguements with ground floor apartments. What if you lived in a small artisan terrace in Stoneybatter for example? You're also on the ground floor. Someone mentioned that people would be looking directly into your property, so what's the difference with a house considering you spend most time in the front ground floor room anyway.

I honestly think that most people just accept that living in a ground floor apt being bad is conventional wisdom, rather than fact. I wouldnt let what level the apt is on deter me. The real question is how much you like the layout, the development as a whole and its location.
 
suntot said:
Agree with most of the sentiments so far. I lived in a ground floor apt for 2 years and experiences some positive and negative aspects. As others said, we had to keep blinds down for most of the time for privacy. We had a couple of attempted break ins. And resale value wasn't as high as for apts oh higher floors, although that wasn't really an issue as it was cheaper in the first place because it was ground floor. There are some plus points as others have mentioned. We had double doors to the front and after doing a weeks shopping could just park the car on front of the doors and carry all the shopping through, rather than struglling up stairs. Similarly, on a frosty morning if i came out to my car and the windows were iced up I could pop in and out the double doors getting hot water until it was clear. This posed a bit of a problem for people in the penthouse! And at the weekends I could park my car outside the double doors and drag out the hoover to clean it out.
So I definitely wouldn't be put off buying a ground floor apt, there are good points as well as bad, once you go into it with your eyes open
Click to expand...

so all you really need is a car, to make a ground floor apt worthwhile buying...:)
 
I remember living in the Dorset Square apartments a few years ago on the third floor.

Council flats opposite, windows regularily got egged even on the third floor.
The people on the ground floor rarely had windows...initially they were all glass then after weekly/daily (in some cases) smashings they went plexiglass then plexiglass with bars on the outside.
In the two years I lived there, my motorbike was set alight, my flatmates one was stolen (this was in a private car park !!), a stolen car was crashed into one of the ground floor apartment walls, the bins in the car park were set alight once causing a totaly evacuation and no power to the whole apartment block for a week, the poor sods on the ground floor got blackened half melted plexiglass windows.
Hollowean was a whole new experience believe me..hell on earth is probably the best description I could give..outside was a no go area.

There is no way in hell I'd ever consider ground floor living after the experiences there.

On a positive note, lived five years in the Kingscourt apartments on Parnell street on one of the top floor apartments. Lovely balcony to sunbathe during the summer months. Quiet, even the traffic seemed distant with the windows opend.
Car park never ever bothered though was smack in the city centre. Landlord sold the place - I'd still be there otherwise, if I could afford it would move back in a second.
 
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