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To market my 2,750f2/3b/1.75ba vs smaller, yet more expensive comps that have 4 beds, does it make sense to call mine a "3 Bedroom + Office", as I recently finished the basement & created a family office (although it could be used for anything), as well as the traditional basement family room.
My thinking is that many people are really only looking for 3 Bedrooms, but want a 4th space as an office/art studio/sewing/music room?
In my area it doesn't need to have a closet to be called a bedroom. It does need to have a window that meets ingress/egress codes for safety reasons. That said, it many places the "bedroom" police are not going to pop into a house to make sure someone is not using a basement room as a bedroom.
Typical basement windows don't meet this code. That does not prevent you from advertising it as an office though. I recommend you do so.
If it qualifies as a bedroom, advertise it as a bedroom.
Maximize legitimate bedroom count.
People will search for "3+ bedrooms," and it will turn up for them.
You also want it to turn up in the "4+ bedroom" searches, which it will not if you limit it to 3 bedrooms.
We looked for 4 bedroom houses planning to have one as an office until we had too many kids. As others stated, I wouldn't limit yourself to 3 bedrooms on the listing.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rrah
In my area it doesn't need to have a closet to be called a bedroom. It does need to have a window that meets ingress/egress codes for safety reasons. That said, it many places the "bedroom" police are not going to pop into a house to make sure someone is not using a basement room as a bedroom.
Typical basement windows don't meet this code. That does not prevent you from advertising it as an office though. I recommend you do so.
Realtors will not advertise it as 4 bedrooms without the closet and window. For the best possible resale value I would install a window and closet, so that it could be advertised as a 4 bedroom, and add a note that the 4th BR could be used as an office or game room.
In my jurisdiction, a room becomes a "bedroom" if it has a closet, but if it's in the basement it had also better have an egress window. If the work is done properly with a permit pulled and an inspection done, the inspector will not approve a basement room that has a closet (making it a bedroom) without an egress window. The inspectors in my area are fairly laid back on most things, but for whatever reason, they're LASER-targeted on the egress window issue.
I installed an egress window into my basement when I finished it a few years ago even though I did not have a room with a closet...I left that as an open option that my Realtor has been sure to point out to prospects now that I'm selling the house.
If the room is code-legal in your area as a bedroom, list it as a bedroom. As has been said, that's how people will search for home offices-capable rooms in the online listings because "# of bedrooms" is a reliable search criterion.
I say list as many bedrooms as possible, but be sure agent states that the 4th bedroom could also be used as office, etc. as someone above mentioned. My story: I was selling my 3 bedroom home. There was a house up the street with the same floorplan also for sale. The area that in my house was a formal dining room had been finished off in the other house as a bedroom with a door and a closet, and that house was listed in the MLS as a 4 bedroom. (Of course, it made for an odd floorplan because you had to go across to the other side of the house for the bathroom, but that's another story). Young couple is looking for houses, tells realtor they want a 4 bedroom. So her MLS search brings up the 4 bedroom up the street but not mine, of course. When they get to that house, husband looks at dining room/bedroom and says, "This would make a great office." Turns out they really wanted 3 bedrooms and an office. Realtor was familiar with my house and says, "Let's look at the house down the street. It's cheaper and has nicer finishes." They end up buying mine. They would never have looked at mine if the agent didn't know about it personally.
People can always buy more bedrooms than they need (I've got 5 right now, and it's just Mr. Dokie and myself), but they aren't going to waste their time looking at less than what they want.
A small point--most people and tax assessors view below grade rooms as being much less valuable than those above grade, and many people dislike working, etc, in most basements. So I would be careful to conform to the norms for describing the room in your area, or be prepared for showings resulting in negative feedback. Also I would not call it a potential art studio because those typically require a LOT of light.
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