Bedroom Closet Size Requirement
Many home descriptions are inaccurate in specifying how many bedrooms are within the home. Some homes make a list that they have three bedrooms when in reality, they only have two bedrooms and a den or bonus room.
This can make an already complicated situation more confusing. A bedroom's legal definition can vary from city, county, or state. So how do you know what a bedroom is?
Six Qualifications for Defining a Bedroom
As a seller, you cannot just proclaim a room is a bedroom. There are legal standards for what you can call a bedroom in your home or not. Surprisingly, there are six total standards that a room needs to be legally called a bedroom. While exact codes will vary from state to state, it has to have all the room requirements to be listed as a bedroom on your real estate listing.
Square footage. A room needs to meet a specific minimum requirement for square feet to be legally called a bedroom. It is expected that the room will be large enough to accommodate a bed. The most common measurement for a bedroom is a minimum of 70 square feet of floor space. This translates to a room measuring 7-feet by 10-feet.
This can vary by city standards, as some cities have a rule that equates square footage with how many people are meant to be in the room. Some cities like the ones in Michigan require a minimum of 50 square feet per person living in the room. Therefore, a bedroom such as a master bedroom would need to have at least 100 square feet.
Horizontal measurements. If square footage minimums weren't enough of a requirement, a room needs to have a standard horizontal measurement to qualify as a bedroom. In most cities, homes need bedrooms to have a 7-foot horizontal measurement in any direction. This makes it so something like a hallway cannot be illegally classified as a bedroom since no one could live there.
Multiple ways in. You must be able to go in and out of a bedroom more than one way for fire safety. Most often, home builders fulfill this qualification by having a bedroom door and a bedroom window. These main two points of egress make it so you can successfully enter and exit the bedroom by two different points if need be. In some areas, a skylight may even count as an exit. However, that would be tricky to reach.
Ceiling Height. Bedroom ceilings are required to be at least 7-feet tall in half of the bedroom. If the space has a loft, you can still place a bed in the loft space without concerns of not meeting the minimum height requirement, as long as the rest of the bedroom has 7-foot tall ceilings.
Window Size. Many cities have a minimum size requirement for windows in a bedroom. This requirement plays into the requirement for a means of egress. In case of emergency, the window needs to be the appropriate size for anyone to escape through.
Although it varies, a window needs to have at least 8% of the floor area in glass. If there are multiple windows in the room, one of them is required to be 5.7 square feet and must be at least 44 inches or less above the floor. This breaks down to a window size of 24 inches tall by 20 inches wide. With a height of 24- 44 inches from the ground, most children and adults will be able to exit the bedroom through the window successfully. A window is essential in the bedroom because it provides ventilation and natural light, ensuring the room is habitable.
Temperature Regulation. In most states, bedrooms are required to have a source of heating or cooling. In warmer states like Arizona, the regulations focus on having cooling units in the home or rental. In contrast, colder states such as New York or Minnesota require a heating unit to be in the bedroom. Space heaters do not qualify as a heating unit. The same goes for fans in warmer climate homes
Is a closet required to make a room a bedroom?
Having a closet in a room has long been thought to be a sign that the room is a legal bedroom. However, the standards on that assumption have changed. Depending on what state you're in, it may not be required to have a closet in a room for it to be considered a legal bedroom. Some states such as Alabama require a bedroom to have at least a window and a closet. However, this is not the case across the Nation. In California, the residential code does not require that a bedroom have a closet.
Most buyers prefer that a bedroom has a closet available. However, depending on where you live and your building codes and zoning laws, it may not be required. Many historical homes will not have the standard closet space that new homes do, giving some leeway in those listings. In newer built homes, buyers will expect you to have a closet in spaces like a master bedroom. If a room does not have a closet, the potential buyer may not want to put in the time and money into remodeling.
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What do you call a room with no windows?
If you have a room with no windows, you can get creative with what you call it. In some listings, a room without any windows can be called an office or a bonus room. Some may even refer to it as an extra storage space depending on the size. If you want to get extra creative with space, especially if it has a good size square footage, you can call it a playroom, an exercise room, or even give it some upsell value and suggest that the buyers turn it into a movie room.
If the windowless room is in a basement space, it can be called a wine or beer cellar, a storeroom, a dark room, or plain extra storage. If a buyer has it in their budget to do some renovations, you can have your Realtor suggest they add a skylight to get some natural light in the room if a window is not feasible.
Finding an Agent for Your Home Search
Getting ready to list your home and searching for a suitable replacement can be difficult when you have to navigate listings and home descriptions. When listings take creative liberties, it can be frustrating as a buyer, especially when you walk into a home that is listed as a four-bedroom, and it turns out to be a three-bedroom with a bonus room. To help you navigate the home selling and buying process, a real estate agent from UpNest can assist you.
UpNest has a database of highly rated real estate agents that can help you with the process. If you're unsure if your room qualifies as a legal bedroom or not, an UpNest agent can help you find your local building codes and ensure it is appropriately listed on your real estate description. An agent can also help you find a new home with the appropriate bedroom count for your needs. This way, you will not run into a situation where you expect a different layout to see a different layout when you arrive for a home tour.
Bedroom Closet Size Requirement
Source: https://www.upnest.com/1/post/legal-definition-bedroom/
