Should I buy a rancher or a two storey when I downsize?

A rancher removes the stairs question permanently, which is why they hold value here and why there is competition for the good ones. A two storey with a main-floor primary bedroom, a main-floor bathroom and main-floor laundry gets you most of the same benefit, often for less money, because the upstairs becomes optional space rather than daily space.

Should I avoid stairs in my next house?

Not necessarily. It depends whether they are optional or unavoidable. Stairs you use to reach a spare room are different from stairs between your bed and your kitchen. Look at where the daily route runs. A well-built staircase with a handrail both sides and consistent rise is a very different thing from a steep, dark one with a handrail on one wall.

Why is there so much competition for ranchers?

Because a large share of buyers in this valley are downsizing and want the same thing, and the supply of well-located single-level homes is limited. Good ranchers in walkable, flat locations tend to attract several interested buyers. That is worth knowing before you set a search too narrowly, because a well-chosen two storey may get you a better house in a better spot.

Does a rancher with a basement count as single level living?

It can, if everything you do daily sits on the main floor. The basement then works as guest space, storage or a workshop, which many downsizers actually want. Check the laundry specifically, because in a lot of older ranchers it is downstairs, and that one detail puts stairs back into your week.

Are split level and bi-level homes good for downsizing?

Usually not, even though nobody calls them two storeys. A split level puts short flights between most rooms, and a bi-level or basement-entry home puts stairs right at the front door, so every trip in with groceries starts with a climb. Count the steps on the daily route rather than going by the listing's style label.

Can a two storey be adapted if stairs become hard later?

Often, and it helps to know what makes that easier before you buy. A straight run of stairs suits a stair lift far better than a curved or winding one. A main-floor den or office close to plumbing can become a bedroom with a bathroom beside it. Whether that is practical depends on the specific house, so have someone look before you commit.

Is a one level strata unit better than a rancher?

It depends on how much you want to be responsible for. A ground-level or elevator-served strata unit removes the stairs and the exterior maintenance, but adds strata fees, shared decisions and, in an apartment building, dependence on the elevator. Many townhouses are two or three storeys, so do not assume a townhouse means single level living.

What should I check on a rancher before buying?

The steps at the front door and from the garage, because many ranchers still have both. Where the laundry is. Whether it sits on a crawlspace or a basement and what condition that space is in. And the roof and foundation, because a rancher has more of both for its floor area than a two storey does, which makes those replacements larger jobs.

Rancher or two storey when you downsize

By Dan Jones · September 12, 2026

Bottom line: rancher or two storey is the wrong question, and the right one is whether your daily route through the house crosses stairs. Sleep, wash, cook, do laundry, get to the car. If all of that happens on one level, the number of floors above or below is a detail, and a two storey with a main-floor primary bedroom, bathroom and laundry gives you most of what a rancher does, often for less money. What a rancher genuinely offers is certainty: the stairs question is settled for good, which is exactly why good ones attract competition here. What people miss is that a rancher also carries more roof and more foundation for its floor area, and that plenty of homes sold as single level still have steps at the front door, a step from the garage, or the laundry downstairs.

I am Dan Jones, a REALTOR with Royal LePage Locations West in Penticton, licence number 1118346. I was a Red Seal journeyman carpenter from 1980 and built houses for twenty-four years before I was licensed in 2004, and a lot of my clients now are downsizers asking exactly this question, usually before they have walked a single house.

The daily route

Here is the test I use, and it works on any listing.

Walk the ordinary things in your head:

Front door to kitchen, carrying groceries
Bed to bathroom, at two in the morning
Kitchen to laundry, with a full basket
Car to front door, in January

Count the steps you have to climb or descend. If the answer is zero, the house works as single level living regardless of what the listing calls it. If the answer is more than zero, notice where the steps sit, because a flight to a guest room you use twice a year is completely different from a flight between you and your bed.

What a rancher gives you

Certainty. The stairs question is settled. You are not buying a plan to adapt later. You are buying a house that already works.

Everything reachable. Cleaning, maintenance, carrying things, moving furniture. All of it on one level.

Often an easier exterior. Gutters, windows and siding are lower and more reachable, though that still does not mean you should be on a ladder.

That combination is why well-located ranchers tend to draw several interested buyers in this valley, and why they hold their value.

What a rancher costs you

This is the part people rarely hear, and it comes straight from building them.

More roof and more foundation for the same floor area. A two storey stacks its living space. A rancher spreads it out. So for the same square footage, a rancher sits on a larger foundation under a larger roof. When the roof needs replacing, it is a bigger roof. That does not make ranchers a bad buy. It makes the condition and age of the roof and foundation more important on a rancher than on almost any other house.

A bigger footprint on the lot. Which usually means more lot, and often more yard to look after, at exactly the stage you may want less.

Competition. You may be one of several buyers wanting the same house, which affects both price and how quickly you have to decide.

Not every rancher is level. Plenty have three or four steps up to the front door, a step or two from the garage, a sunken living room, or the laundry in the basement. “Rancher” describes the style. It does not promise a step-free daily route.

When a two storey is the better buy

A two storey can be the smarter choice, and for some buyers it is clearly better.

If the main floor holds the daily route. Primary bedroom, a full bathroom and laundry on the main floor, and the upstairs becomes guest rooms for visiting family, a hobby room, or storage. That is often precisely what downsizers want, because the ones who regret going small usually regret losing guest space.

If it gets you the location. A two storey on a flat, walkable street near what you use may serve you better than a rancher further out with a steeper driveway.

If it costs less. With fewer buyers competing for it, the same budget can buy a better-built or better-kept house.

If the stairs are good stairs. Consistent rise on every step. A handrail on both sides, or room to add one. Good light at top and bottom. A straight run rather than a winding one, because a straight run is far easier to fit with a stair lift if you ever need it.

The layouts that fool people

These are the ones I most often see a buyer fall for before we count the steps.

Split level. Short flights between most rooms. Nobody calls it a two storey, and it has more stairs in the daily route than many that are.

Bi-level or basement entry. You come in the front door onto a landing and immediately go up or down. Every trip with groceries starts on the stairs.

The rancher with the laundry downstairs. Common in older homes, and the single most common regret I hear.

The sunken living room. Two steps, every evening, in the dark.

The garage step. Almost every attached garage has one. How high is it, and is there room to make it two shallow steps later?

Buying with adaptation in mind

If you choose a two storey, or a rancher with a few steps, look at what it would take to adapt the house later, and whether the structure allows it at all.

Is there a straight stair run that could take a stair lift?
Is there a main-floor room, a den or office, that could become a bedroom?
Is plumbing close enough to add a main-floor bathroom or laundry without a major project?
Can the entry be made level, or would that mean a long ramp?

In BC, people 65 and over, or living with a disability, may qualify for the home renovation tax credit for seniors and persons with disabilities, which covers 10% of eligible accessibility renovation costs up to $10,000, for a credit of up to $1,000 a year. It will not pay for a renovation, but it is worth knowing exists. When it is time to leave the family home covers the BC programs aimed at staying put.

Strata options

Ground floor or elevator condominiums remove stairs and exterior maintenance, and add fees, shared decisions and reliance on an elevator.

Townhouses are often two or three storeys, so do not assume a townhouse means single level. Some developments have main-floor primary bedroom plans, and those are worth seeking out.

If a strata is on your list, what to check before you buy into a BC strata covers the documents, which matter as much as the floor plan.

What I would do

Before searching, write down your daily route and what you actually need on the main floor. Then search by that rather than by style, and walk every house with groceries, laundry and two in the morning in mind.

The wider list of what decides whether a house works for the long term, including doorway widths, bathroom blocking and light, is in what to look for if this is your last house.

Tax credit details above come from the BC government and are current as of October 2026. Confirm eligibility for your own situation.

If you are downsizing and want someone to count the steps with you, email me at dano007@shaw.ca or call 250.488.0226.