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Wrong question. The question is not what you can call a bedroom legally (do you imagine that the RE sheriff is going to come by to put you in the hoosegow?).
The question is whether a prospective buyer will consider it a potential bedroom after looking at it. And whether he will be deeply annoyed and angry about having his time wasted if it doesn't measure up.
Now about what you can USE as a bedroom...there are sometimes codes having to do with size, egress, etc.
It can vary by state. In Texas it was 70 sq ft and a window. And that is only as of 2001. Anything built before that had no rules.
The home I sold was a 1940's era home. It was a 3/2 and one of the bedrooms had no window; interior room due to the back porch being closed in to make another room. And I was fine to list it that way.
Unless it is a vintage home with no closets, then it is a minimum of 70 sq feet (with no walls less than 8' in Oregon), an escapable window, and a closet. You can use a bolted to the wall armoire in lieu of the closet.
When you sell, you should go by what the city or county has on record (unless you have made legal modifications that have not been updated yet). If you have made illegal modifications, you should undo them for sale, re: bedroom numbers.
The HUD rules are 70 square feet with an operable window and closet.
and at least one wall has to be feet long and the room has to be at least 7 feet tall and it can't be a tiny window, it has to be something large enough for you to be able to get out.
some of these things are grandfathered in and some homes can have a bedroom that is less wide than 7 feet.
I think a bedroom can have a door to the outside instead of a window and still qualify since that's an exit in case of fire.
Also a bedroom has to lead out to a main room or a hallway, it can't lead only to another bedroom.
Another thought for those on Septic......tanks are sized by the number of bedrooms. So it is possible that you may end up with someone commenting on a '4 bedroom house' with a tank only sized for 3.....?
The only requirement to be able to call a bedroom a bedroom is it must have direct egress to the outside so emergency personnel can access it.
The closet requirement is a myth.
It depends on the local MLS. The way they distinguish an office or rec space from a spare bedroom is a closet. No built in closet or built in wardrobe means it cannot be listed as a bedroom, even with two egress points.
This may not be the case in every state but it has been in the three I’ve lived in
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