What makes a room a bedroom?

Question

I'm looking at this property that states it is 3 bedrooms. It appears that way, but after looking closer, one room has a custom made "closet" in an open space. It also has no door and is, in my opinion, a bonus room at the top of the stairs. After looking into international and local codes, a bedroom should also be accessible from a major part of the home, not through another bedroom. That makes the other room in my picture "unsable" as a bedroom. I hear it is mostly safety related and as long as safety is in check (a door and a window of minimum size), then it can be a bedroom, and it is mostly left of to the ethics of the agents when listing. What are your perspectives? Is this a local decision or an agent's decision? Pic attached up upstairs floorplan. There is no door at the top of the stairs. There are two custom made open-air "closets" on each side of the upstairs fireplace. How many bedrooms do you see in this pic? TIA

Brad S. · Answer

The quick and easy answer is that it is up to the local municipality and building code requirements.

And just because a room might have all the requirements of a bedroom, doesn't mean it is a "legal bedroom" either. It may still have the utility of a bedroom and even the market value and appeal of a bedroom, but may not be viewed as a bedroom, per local building dept. This is important to know when disclosing property info to sellers. In my area, CA, it is very important to properly and accurately disclose all known information, since people can be pretty litigious here. I mean, a converted garage or illegal addition may appear to be a properly constructed and finished bedroom, even though it was never permitted. And while that might still have some market value, it may cause an issue if a Buyer finds out they have to upgrade it to current building codes, etc, and sues you, as the Seller for not disclosing. It changes the occupancy of a house, which may have other collateral consequences, per local planning standards, like requiring larger septic system, more covered parking , etc.

Presence or absence of a closet does not make or disqualify a room from being a bedroom (at least in my markets). I have appraised multiple old homes that had no closets in their bedrooms, since it was common to have smaller bedrooms, no closets, and free standing dressers/bureaus for storage. So, they are still legally bedrooms in those cases, even with absence of closets.

Typically, a bedroom needs 2 ways of emergency egress (way to get out of the room) - door or window. I don't believe they need to lead to the exterior, just out of the room. I have heard some requirements for natural light. I had a client that added a bedroom with no exterior walls, just 2 interior doors leading to other rooms or area of the house. they had to put a skylight in order for it to legally count as a bedroom.

As to your sketch, the room with the fireplace appears to be a family/living room, not a bedroom, and the realtor is just calling it a bedroom, to make it more desirable. If it was considered a bedroom, it would make the bedrooms tandem, where you have to walk through one to get to the other. I personally don't know if that is allowable in some codes, but it would typically get a negative functional depreciation adjustment, since it probably would have an adverse affect on it's value and appeal, to prospective buyers.

Check with the local building/development dept to be sure.

Joe Norman · Answer

It really depends on who's asking. For marketing purposes the seller/listing agent can call anything a bedroom that they want (their reputation might start to suffer, but there's nothing stopping them).

Buyers are going to see the room through the lens of their own needs (did they want the 3rd bedroom for a true, private bedroom, or are they looking for a home with 3 bedrooms so that they can have an office space?).

HUD Appraisers are going to have different requirements. Local housing authorities (or other organizations that manage voucher programs) are going to have another opinion.

Long story short: whether or not this is a 3 bedroom house depends on who's asking and why.

Chris Martin · Answer

What I see is a loft with functional obsolescence. This layout may lead (see below) to an impairment via "Functional Depreciation" on an appraisal.

The HUD definition to think about is: BEDROOMS: The number of bedrooms in a housing unit includes those rooms that are used mainly for sleeping or designed to be a bedroom, even if used for other purposes.

But a better description and context comes from the Fannie Mae Selling Guide (FMSG), especially if you plan on getting financing secured by this property. Page 565 of the FMSG:

Dwellings with unusual layouts and floor plans generally have limited market appeal. A review of the room list and floor plan for the dwelling unit may indicate an unusual layout, such as bedrooms on a level with no bath, or a kitchen on a different level from the dining room. If the appraiser indicates that such inadequacies will result in market resistance to the subject property, he or she must make appropriate adjustments to reflect this in the overall analysis. However, if market acceptance can be demonstrated through the use of comparable sales with the same inadequacies, no adjustments are required.

Under the Cost Approach to value, on page 586 of the FMSG: "... if the improvement analysis indicates that it is necessary to go through one bedroom to get to another bedroom, lenders should expect to see an amount indicated for functional depreciation." That's exactly what you have in your diagram. Note that most of the time the Cost Approach is not used in valuation, so this functional obsolescence feature may not be recognized by an appraiser.

An appraiser should note that on the appraisal form (e.g. Freddie Mac form 70 or Fannie Mae form 1004,) in the Comments on page 3 and valuation adjustment under the "Depreciation" section, specifically Functional Depreciation.

Hope that helps.

Zane Cress · Answer

If it doesn't have a door it isn't a bedroom. Stand alone closet space is also a gray area but I wouldn't accept that as a bedroom, especially if they are trying to get a 3 bed price out of a 2 bed home. If they spend a few bucks they can frame in a door and throw up some drywall to make a closet. An inspector could tell you for sure if it qualifies. I would go to the county tax records and see what they list it as, most likely a 2 bedroom.

What makes a room a bedroom?

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