By E. Grant Murphy & D Scott Murphy, SRA
People often ask how you define a bedroom in terms of real estate appraisals. The question seems simple enough, but the answer is complicated and dependent on many factors, including bedroom dimensions, closet access, bathroom access, ceiling height, and privacy, among others. Furthermore, as with anything in real estate, the market itself influences whether or not a room meets all qualifications. Let’s take a look at these qualifications in more detail.
Generally, the first stipulation for qualifying as a bedroom is that the room must be adequate in size. For example, many municipalities state in their building code that. The room must be at least 80-100 square feet. Size alone, however, is not enough; the room must also be functional. In other words, a 100 square foot room that is 5 feet wide and 20 feet long would not qualify as a bedroom and would be better classified as a bonus room. A good rule of thumb is: could the average person live comfortably in the room? Typical bedrooms are 9×9, 10×10 or larger.
The second requirement is that the room has a closet. The bedroom cannot function on a long-term basis without adequate storage. Without a closet, where would an occupant put his or her clothes? It should be noted that the closet space is in addition to the 80-100 square foot minimum size. The issue of an old historic home with no closets is always raised at this point; does that house have no bedrooms? This is where the differences in market come into play; bedrooms in such a house would qualify, given that they are typical for that market and there is adequate space to make up for the lack of closets.
The next factor to consider is bathroom access. Every bedroom must have ready access to a full bathroom that does not require passage through another bedroom. The bathroom should be in close proximity and on the same floor as the bedroom. 3 bedrooms is generally considered the maximum number of bedrooms allowable to a single bathroom. Therefore, it’s also important to consider the ratio of bedrooms to bathrooms in a home. For example, very few buyers with a family will consider a house with just one bathroom, even though it may have more bedrooms than another house on the same street. As a result, an additional fourth bedroom might have no effect or even hinder the value of a home if there is only one bathroom.
Another factor is ceiling height. The room must have ceilings of at least 7’ over at least 50% of the room. Sloped walls are accepted down to a 5’ knee wall. This rule is actually part of the ANSI measuring standard which outlines the criteria for what is gross living area. The standards also state the room must be heated and cooled like the rest of the home.
The next requirement is ingress and egress. The HUD Handbook states:
Bedroom Egress- All bedrooms must have adequate egress to the exterior of the home. If an enclosed patio (solid walls) covers the bedroom window, it is possible that the bedroom won’t qualify as a habitable bedroom. Security bars are acceptable if they comply with local fire codes. Occupants of a bedroom must be able to get outside the home if there is a fire (HUD Handbook).
Let’s break this down a little bit further. “All bedrooms must have adequate egress to the exterior of the home.” What this means is that the room MUST have at least one operable window leading to the outside of the house, the window MUST be reachable to climb out of (44” maximum), and the windows MUST be large enough to allow a fully grown adult to crawl through (5.7 sf minimum).
Additionally, privacy is an important consideration in qualifying as a bedroom. There must be a door. A den, study or living area that meets all previously outlined criteria but does not have a door would not be acceptable to a buyer for long term use as a bedroom.
Here is the bottom line: these rules or guidelines all have gray areas and acceptable exceptions. We could go through a list of a hundred “what if”s. What you need to understand is that buyers determine all these rules. I always say, appraisers do not determine market value – buyers do. Same holds true here. If you have a 9’x9’ “bedroom” in a $2 million home, is that going to be acceptable to the typical buyer of that home? Probably not, but if it were an $80,000 home a buyer may be more tolerant. Functionality is a huge part of determining whether or not a room is bedroom. As mentioned earlier, a historic home may not have closets but if it is common in the market and expected by the typical buyer then there is no impact on marketability or value. But take a newer home with its forth bedroom being less than 100 square feet and no closet, and it does not matter if you call it a bedroom or not, the market is going to discount the value of that house.
Many agents believe more bedrooms = more value. This is not necessarily always the case. In a suburban market where there are lots of budding families with young kids, more bedrooms generally is a plus (to a point). In retirement communities, the number of bedrooms is not a driving force in value, and many of these homes are actually classified as one-bedroom homes with additional bedrooms on the terrace level.
Additionally, factors like bedroom size will always play a role. Suppose you have two homes in the same neighborhood. Each has four bedrooms. The first home’s bedrooms are all very small – approximately 10’ x10’. The second home has bedrooms which are all 14’ x 14’. Isn’t the second home more valuable, regardless of the fact that they have the same number of bedrooms? These guidelines help us to a point, but you need to put yourself in the shoes of a typical buyer.
Maybe an appraiser classifies that study on the first floor as a bedroom because it is over 100 feet, has a closet, a window and a door. But you have to go upstairs to get to a full bathroom. Is that the same as a bedroom which has an attached bathroom? Or if you add a closet to the bonus room so it now meets all the criteria above making it your eighth bedroom – did you really add any more value?
In some markets, it may even be more valuable to take three small bedrooms and convert them to two large bedrooms, each with larger closets. Alternatively, there are cases of rooms which have a closet, are of ample size, and have access to a bathroom that, while they qualify, should not be called bedrooms.
My overriding point of this article is that you need to step back and look at the full picture. Analyze the market and know what buyers are looking for and expect, beyond the basic qualifications. After all, Real Estate valuation is relative and is based on the reaction of a typical buyer.