Loft Bedroom?

[Mike Ault]

My hard stop for the bedroom classification is whether the occupant of said room has to traverse a public area (such as the kitchen, or living room) to reach a bathroom. If so, it is dysfunctional as sleeping quarters, and no architect would label such a room as "a bedroom". I appraised a multimillion dollar home several years ago where the upstairs bedroom overlooked the indoor swimming pool. Said room was huge, and the occupant of this room had all the space needed for privacy if they stayed off the balcony portion of that room. There was no wall separating "the sleeping portion" from "the balcony portion", it was obviously the "owners" bedroom, and I had no problem calling it the same.

 

[timindp]

IS there a window? Is there a closet? Does it have a door for entry into the area? If not, then its not a bedroom. Its a loft and call it that.

 

[Mike Ault]

IS there a window? Is there a closet? Does it have a door for entry into the area? If not, then its not a bedroom. Its a loft and call it that.

No requirement for a closet.

 

[sputnam]

No requirement for a closet.

Right. In most building codes, the only requirement for a bedroom is that is has to have a secondary access. The market the property is in decides what is and isn't considered a bedroom.

 

[Tom D]

me big city where old industrial buildings were converted to condo open space flats with a loft. just like a previous picture it has stairs and a balcony. now for you bedroom perfectionist, let's say that is just that loft used as 1 bedroom , so what privacy do you need from whom. you say you need a window. on the 5th floor, you need a window to jump from in case of a fire. so no bedroom and you say there is no bedroom. love to see the comps that the underwriter wants with no bedrooms. i suppose you could make a functional utility line adjustment against non loft bedrooms.
is there ever anything but a 50/50 position on this blog. just my big city comment about lofts where i don't see any price difference. millennials seem to like that contemporary loft look.

 

[J Grant]

me big city where old industrial buildings were converted to condo open space flats with a loft. just like a previous picture it has stairs and a balcony. now for you bedroom perfectionist, let's say that is just that loft used as 1 bedroom , so what privacy do you need from whom. you say you need a window. on the 5th floor, you need a window to jump from in case of a fire. so no bedroom and you say there is no bedroom. love to see the comps that the underwriter wants with no bedrooms. i suppose you could make a functional utility line adjustment against non loft bedrooms.
is there ever anything but a 50/50 position on this blog. just my big city comment about lofts where i don't see any price difference. millennials seem to like that contemporary loft look.

What Qualifies As A Bedroom? Know Before You Buy Or Sell

Not just any room in a home counts as a bedroom. Before you buy or sell, check out this guide to learn what qualifies as a bedroom in a house.

www.rocketmortgage.com

Te above references a door to the bedroom - a door is installed in a wall - builder floorplans and floorplans with bedrooms show walls and a door in and out to a hall or common area - when builders and developers show floorplans for what you describe above - a loft apartment or condo - the floorplans usually have language like "loft bedroom ) or "sleeping area ) or Flex space" or open area and sometimes just bedroom- maybe we can find floorplans later and post them -

Wrt, when I appraise that type of property, I call it a loft area or a loft bedroom and specify that buyers use them as bedrooms. However, there is no wall or door to the room. Some apartments have no designated bedroom such as a studio apartment. A loft apartment has a loft that many use for a bedroom; technically, per most building code, which specify a window or outside access , they often do not have any, so it does not need building codes for a bedroom.

None of the labels need affect marketability or prices - some loft apartments sell in the millions and some studio apartments in NYC sell for more than a 3000 sf house in Boringville, USA. There is plenty of room for narrative to discuss how the market sees it and its value.

 

[J Grant]

Cabin House Plan with Loft - 2 Bed, 1 Bath - 1122 Sq Ft - #176-1003

This spacious, open, country cabin home plan features a sleeping loft, large sundeck, floor to ceiling windows & a fireplace. 2 bed, 1 bath, 1122 sq ft.

www.theplancollection.com

open the link and scroll down to the floorplan from the builder- the upper is labeled a loft sleeping area, and there are 2 downstairs bedrooms that have doors and walls- the builder markets it as a 2 bedroom home.

 

[Andy Taylor]

open the link and scroll down to the floorplan from the builder- the upper is labeled a loft sleeping area, and there are 2 downstairs bedrooms that have doors and walls- the builder markets it as a 2 bedroom home.

There you go. Label it a "loft sleeping area". That way you can call it a bedroom without calling it a bedroom.

Again it all comes down to the market reaction to it no matter what it is called.

 

[Tom D]

with these loft 1 bedroom units does anyone here give consideration to the higher living room, kitchen ceiling that a normal walled in bedroom floor plan doesn't have. wouldn't that be a positive to balance off your negative bedroom adjustment. probable most appraisers don't think about looking up when it's not common to see one.
however, if there are other downstairs walled bedrooms i wouldn't call the loft a bedroom, i would call it a den or whatever.

 

[J Grant]

with these loft 1 bedroom units does anyone here give consideration to the higher living room, kitchen ceiling that a normal walled in bedroom floor plan doesn't have. wouldn't that be a positive to balance off your negative bedroom adjustment. probable most appraisers don't think about looking up when it's not common to see one.
however, if there are other downstairs walled bedrooms i wouldn't call the loft a bedroom, i would call it a den or whatever.

I might not give a "negative adjustment" for a loft bedroom. The fact that the sleeping area is a loft might or might not be valued differently than a bedroom with walls - it depends on the property.

That said, no, I would not balance out a higher ceiling with the lack of privacy and function of a walled bedroom. If the loft unit or A frame overall high ceiling was affecting price upward that would be considered in the reconciliation