Surprisingly, the number of bedrooms a house has is often times a subject of great debate for buyers and sellers alike. The ‘official’ number of bedrooms a home for sale has can impact how many buyers tour the house, the tax assessed value and the appraised value among other things so getting the count right is critical.

Legal requirements for bedrooms vary between jurisdictions but here are some general accepted guidelines:

• Must measure 70 Sq Ft
• Must have a closet
• Must have a dedicated heat source
• Must have two legal methods of egress
• Window egresses can not be more than 44 inches off the floor and must be at least 5 square feet (think large enough for a firefighter to get in or a person to get out)
• If a bedroom is in a basement then the window might need to be larger and there might need to be a ladder
• You can not pass through another bedroom to get to a bedroom

Homes built in the past 40 years typically comply with these standards and counting bedrooms is easy. In much older homes and row houses it can be harder to determine what is a bedroom and what is not. Additionally, some recently built condo buildings are designed with a room that often functions like a bedroom but has no window so calling it a bedroom (or not) for marketing purposes varies by seller.

If you are…

• Looking for a home with a certain number of legal bedrooms.
• Considering selling and want to know how many bedrooms you can market your house as having.
• Considering investing in making a non-compliant bedroom complaint to increase your homes value.

…then reach out to Anslie and The Stokes Group today and we will help you confidently navigate the business of bedrooms in a home purchase or sale.