Last week, I walked through two homes with a home buyer -- and both homes were around 2,000 square feet and had relatively similar list prices.  On paper, the homes are nearly identical -- but in person they felt quite different.

The two-story home felt cramped on the main level. Most of the square footage was upstairs on the bedroom level, leaving the kitchen, dining, and living areas feeling squeezed. 

The single-story ranch, on the other hand, was open and spacious as soon as you walked in -- with natural light from multiple directions and a large kitchen that flowed into an equally large living area

This is not an uncommon experience.  Many two-story homes feel smaller than an equally sized (by SF) one-story home because staircases, landings and hallways eat into both floors. The main level -- where you likely spend most of your waking hours -- often ends up with less usable space than you'd expect. 

A single level home spreads all of that square footage across one level, with more flexibility for open layouts.

When we're comparing homes, we'll be looking at the square footage... but we'll also want to think about whether that is divided up between multiple levels.  If it is, the feel of the home might be a bit different (smaller) than you might have otherwise expected.