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There’s a lot of confusion about what actually determines a bedroom, not only among homeowners, but also industry professionals. If you were to talk to three different Realtors or Mortgage Lenders; it wouldn’t be the least bit surprising to get a variety of answers. The reason for this disparity of opinion is the fact that there is no clear national standard for what the minimum requirements for a room to be considered a bedroom must be. Further muddling the picture is that there are no less than five different guidelines that may or may not be applicable based on where your home is located, what the potential Buyer’s financing may be, and whether or not the home is new construction or previously owned.

 

Despite the differences among the the various guidelines, there are 2 generally accepted requirements for a bedroom:

  • Egress: A bedroom must have at least two means of escape in case of fire. This is typically accomplished by a door to the interior of the home and a window to the outside. Bedrooms should have direct access to a common area of the home, like a hallway or living room. You should not have to go through one bedroom to get to another. Regardless of whether above or below grade, windows must be between 24 and 44 inches from the floor, and open no less than 20 inches wide and 24 inches high.
  • Size: The room can’t be smaller than 7 feet in any horizontal direction, and must be a minimum of 70 square feet. The ceiling height must also be at least 7 feet high for over 50% of the room’s area.

 

What about closets? Most buyers are going to expect bedrooms to have closets, but there is no specific guideline or rule requiring closets. Another way to think about it is that back in the late 1800s and early 1900s, a lot of homes didn’t have closets built into rooms designed for sleeping because they used wardrobes and chests to store clothing, while most everyone would expect a 1990s rambler to have closets.

The appraiser in almost all circumstances must give thought to the intended use of the room. A room off the hallway with a door and an acceptable size window with home office equipment inside it is technically a den or office. If you take the desk, computer, printer (etc) out and replace it with a single bed, the appraiser now has to consider the use of the room as a bedroom as long as it meets the egress and size requirements referenced above.

Some real estate agents will advertise “non-conforming” bedrooms, especially ones that are located in the basement. Very simply, rooms that don’t meet the qualifying criteria including window egress, should be labeled as dens or an office.

Bottom line, a room that a single bed will fit in with either closet space or room for a closet or wardrobe and has a window which gives the room natural light, ventilation, and an emergency exit is the definition of a bedroom.

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