Bedroom closet requirements

[Derek Schmaltz]

Does FHA require a bedroom to have a closet

 

[Derek Schmaltz]

FHA Bedroom Closets

I have posted this the the FHA section but have had no response.

Does FHA require a legal bedroom to have a closet? I can not find it in the Hand Book.

 

[Mztk1]

I can't imagine it does. Historic properties regularly have no closet space (or sometimes a common closet that is more like a small hall between bedrooms to allow air to flow). A bedroom can be a bedroom without a closet as long as such bedrooms are common for the market. If doing an FHA, I call a room a bedroom without a closet if that is accepted by the market.

 

[Derek Schmaltz]

Thanks for all the insight! I can not find this in the FHA Handbook. Any knowledge out there would be appreciated.

 

[Mountain Man]

You can't find it because it's not in there. No, closets are not required. However, if the market indicates functional depreciation, then you do have to address that.

 

[Derek Schmaltz]

Thank You, ( M Leggett)

I havent dont FHA work for over 7 years. I thought when I was being trained my mentor has stated to be considered a legal bedroom it had to have a closet.

 

[Mike Boyd]

I can't imagine it does. Historic properties regularly have no closet space (or sometimes a common closet that is more like a small hall between bedrooms to allow air to flow). A bedroom can be a bedroom without a closet as long as such bedrooms are common for the market. If doing an FHA, I call a room a bedroom without a closet if that is accepted by the market.

When those historical houses were built closets for clothes storage were not included. Not having lived in that era, I will assume that people wore the same clothes day in and day out until they rotted away and hanging them off the bed post while they slept....or maybe even sleeping with their clothes on. As "the frontier" became more civilized, the wealthy purchased, or had made, special cabinets to store the extra clothes they could now purchase because of their wealth. Cleaning clothes often meant a swim in the river, or hiding in the bushes while the WOMAN pounded those clothes against the rocks and boulders.

Nowadays, not only do we build rooms for clothes that are the size of what a child's bedroom used to be, but a separate room for machines that wash and dry those clothes!

EVOLUTION. Speaking of which, are ice bergs something we need anymore?
Maybe there is a greater need for the WATER that forms these bergs. What we may need are bigger and better WATER CLOSETS! lol

 

[Thern Newbell]

I found this discussion on the topic that was helpful:

http://www.inspectionnews.net/home_...mmercial-inspection/4301-closet-myth-not.html

The closet requirement may be a Fannie Mae or ANSI requirement, but not FHA. I think the key for FHA is window egress, but ultimately market perception would determine whether a room is considered a bedroom or not assuming that the room meets minimum requirements. A lot of older houses (in my area, typicaly over 80 years old) may have very few built-in closets in any of the rooms, but that may be customary for the area in which it is located. Conversely if you consider a newer residence with a room that has no closet, and it is customary for a bedroom to have a closet, the room may not be perceived as a bedroom by the segment of buyers that would be defined as the market for that home.

All of this relates to functional obsolesence and highest and best use. It may be necessary to indicate a recommended repair to add a closet if necessary.

 

[Mountain Man]

I'm not familiar with a closet requirement in Fannie either. As you noted, many older homes don't have closets... they used armoire furniture.

I thought when I was being trained my mentor has stated to be considered a legal bedroom it had to have a closet.

Unless it's a local municipal code, which I highly doubt, then it must have just been personal opinion. Many mistake things such as this as a rule... but no such rule exist. Just address the marketing issues and move on.

 

[realbiz]

Being the expert in your market, you should know if the room is a bedroom or not. Here in California it is very rare that we see bedrooms without closets. But, I have seen this in older neighborhoods (pre 1900) and this is typical of homes in the area. Therefore, I consider these rooms as bedrooms, because my comparable homes have the same type of bedrooms.