5BR vs 4BR

[jyoder35]

Hi all,

We're getting ready to put in an offer for a 5 BR/ 2 BA home. The property is in AZ and was built in the 90's and the current owners converted the family room into a 5th BR. There is a large living room in the center of the house. Usually the family rooms here in AZ don't have a great deal of usefulness so I think it's a better use of the space, but want to know if it makes a difference to the value.

The house is pre-listing, so all the home value estimates online thru house canary/ zillow/ etc. are only factoring in the house being 4 BR.

There are a good amount of 5BR/3BA homes that are very sought after in the area, but not many 5/2's. Does a 5th BR vs having the extra family room have any affect, positive or negative, on the value?

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[Mejappz]

It would be impossible for someone on a national forum to give you the correct answer. Only a competent local appraiser will be able to do that. That being said, homes with more bedrooms generally have more GLA, so bedrooms may very well be highly correlated with GLA, and the appraiser may only adjust for the GLA portion as it may capture both features. There may also be a functional issue that would depend on what is typical for this specific market.

 

[shrubberyvaluation]

You might want to post which part of Arizona you are in. Most of the time there isn't a difference between 4 to 5 bedroom homes in my experience, but it depends on the market area. For instance some homes near a college campus which will rent the bedrooms to multiple college students it is preferred to have more bedrooms over other living areas. I don't know Arizona so I can't help specifically.

 

[Dublin ohio]

You didn't mention the style of home. Is there a readily accessible bath. Sometime when someone converts a room into a bedroom. The bath facilities could be on the other side of the house. Or in the case of a 2 story where all the baths are on the second floor and the converted room is on the lower floor. Creates a somewhat of a functional problem.

 

[jyoder35]

Thanks for the quick responses. It’s in NE Mesa in an upper middle class neighborhood with a largely 30-50 year old with a couple kids demographic. Competitive market with 650k to 700k normal listing range for a 4br3ba home of similar size and upgrades. Not especially close to any unique draw for more rooms other than lots of families in the area. It’s a ranch style home. Master bath on one end of house and main bath near all other bedrooms. 2200 sqft so not enormous for 2 ba but maybe a tad small for having 5 br. Hope this helps.

 

[Overimprovement]

Personally, any family that would want/need 5 bedrooms would probably A) want at least 2 rooms in which to congregate (not just a living room), and B) want at least 3 bathrooms.

I speak this not so much as an appraiser, cause I don't know your area, but merely as member of a 7 person household in a totally different area, but I think many families might probably prefer a home with 4/3 and a family room. 4 bedrooms sharing one bathroom is generally a form of functional obsolescence.

 

[Tom D]

i don't understand? after 4 bedrooms, what is the difference between a bedroom & family room beside the wording. similar functional utility. the listing agent can note it as a family rm/bedroom on the MLS. best of both worlds. the r.e. agents in the area can give you a better answer about marketing than an appraiser. i would ask, might an extra bath for that room give you a higher return than the cost of adding that bath?

 

[J Grant]

As an appraiser, I doubt I would find support for any more value - the overall living GLA sf is the same as the others , and the minimal cost to convert a family room into a bedroom, while appreciated by those particular buyers who want a 5th bedroom, other buyers who prefer a family room might see it as a negative, something they have to remove. It is more of a personal buyer preference than adding value imo.

 

[sputnam]

It depends on the market and submarket. In my area, everything else being equal, there would be no adjustment for 5 vs 4 bedrooms. A buyer who needs 5 won't look at 4 bedroom houses and a buyer who only needs 4 is unlikely to pay extra for a 5th bedroom. Again, everything else being equal.

 

[The Warrior Monk]

This is market specific.

A few obvious questions come to mind though. If there is no significant modification required to convert the family room to a bedroom and vice versa, then your talking about something that is likely less than 1% of a the home value in the $650K-$700K range.

In my own personal observation, in the general market area I work, the extra bedrooms in this circumstance doesn't make much of a difference unless it's a rental market, or in an owner-occupied market where the bedroom count is very substandard to the market.