This question occasionally pops up and surprisingly, there seem to be a couple of answers. Zillow user unbelieve asks in Zillow Advice:
“Realtor said I don’t need a closet to call a room a bedroom. Will this kill a deal? Is it true”
What is the code in your state/area? Some areas say you need a door and closet and others say you must have a door, closet and window. Let us know!
Great question – I once rented a studio plus, and the reason it was rented to me as a studio plus instead of a one bedroom was the lack of closet and the lack of door. It had a closet in the entry way and a doorway to the sleeping area.
I asked the property manager why they didn’t just add a door and call it a one bedroom and he said that the lack of closet was the issue. Of course, this is just my experience in Seattle in 2007 / 2008, so don’t quote me on the code!
Well, in California there are also specifications for a “legal” bedroom.
In CA in order to be a bedroom a room must be completely close off with a door
It MUST have a window that opens to the outside.
The diminsions are at leat 2×3.
It must also have a closet, and yes, the closet needs to have a door, otherwise it is an office or den.
Some strange specific expectations, and I actually needed to build a door on my bedroom closet to meet regulations.
In Northern Virginia real estate, a bedroom needs to have a window that you can use if you need to escape. A little 1/4 size basement window won’t do, and I had a Vienna, VA home seller tell me last week that he uses a room like this for his house guests (yeah, but it just doesn’t qualify as “legal”). Hey, he tried!
Builders of new homes put in window wells that have ladders or easy steps. Having a closet, and a door is also part of the qualification as a bedroom.
A legal bedroom must have a window and a closet. In case of a fire one needs to have the ability to escape.
This might be a strange question, but, let me give it a try.
Realtor lists the house with 4 bedrooms, appraiser says house only has two bedrooms.
Ground level in question bedroom has a window that does not open, it also looks inside an enclosed sunroom. My inspector said this is not a legal bedroom, it is a den.
Below ground bedroom has two windows leading out, with an adjacent egres door leading to the back yard.
My inspector says it is not a legal bedroom, because it does not by very little have 2X3 feet.
So now that two professional have determined the house to have two legal bedrooms and two non complainat bedrooms is it safe to renegociate the price down?
No, it doesnt have to have a closet as you can simply buy one, or install one yourself.
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