In our area it's been 3/4 bath for a long time but nowadays a room with a toilet, sink, and a place to bathe and/or shower is considered a full bath, which makes sense to me. Sometimes I see it listed as 3 piece or 4 piece bath.

I would do what your realtor advices based on standards in your immediate area. If your configuration is typically listed as 2 full baths, you would be at a competitive disadvantage. However, if the norm is to list the traditional way, you would have an issue of bait and switch.

As groveraxle wrote, traditionally a full bath included a tub. In some ways this has become a bit beside the point since a 3/4 bath - shower only traditionally was generally a very small bathroom. In the past decade or so, many people have opted to get rid of a bathtub and have a large walk in shower installed. I find it very bizarre that my new very expensive master bath with large walk in tiled shower is now theoretically less desirable than my old configuration with the crappy tub/shower fiberglass fixtures.

When I moved in, I had a master bath with double vanity and tub/shower combo and the traditional 3/4 bath which was smaller and had a smaller stall shower.

It’s good to get these perspectives. My spouse always preferred showers and so a bathroom with a shower, plus vanity, sink and toilet always felt like a” full” bath to us since we didn’t need or want more. .

But we want to use the right listing terms. And it will be interesting to see if many buyers care if there’s a tub in the master bathroom. The other bathroom ( kid and guest bathroom) has double sinks, bath/ shower, vanity, toilet, etc,

It’s probably what people expect in a master bathroom but it worked well for the kids,....and now guests and grandkids.

What Helen said, precisely!

I think its' probably a regional thing. In my area you either have a full bath (any tub/shower combo) or a half bath (powder room). I don't recall ever seeing a listing or a 3/4 bathroom. As Helen says, let your realtor be your guide.

I too think it depends on local custom, plus what your Realtor can actually do.

Here in the DFW area, our multiple listing options only include full baths and half baths.

We have no way to call something a 3/4 bath!

I had previously heard a tub was needed to be a “full” bath and that a shower + toilet + sink was a 3/4 bath. When we began house shopping though we learned that a shower only bathroom was still considered a full bath here. I’d look at what other homes in your market are listing as and follow their lead.

I would interview a few other realtors as to what is mainstream in your area, as you've seen mixed listings on 3 fixture baths.
Since I, and many others, shop online, I would be seriously disappointed to miss a home with a three piece master listed as a half bath. thats a big disservice to many buyers, and to you.
In my area, toilet, sink, and shower is a full bath. we don't really differentiate in listings for a misding tub that many people don't want or use...

I would just list it as 2-1/2 bathrooms. Sounds like you have an en suite, a hall bath and a powder room. I think things are changing faster than the terminology and now there are too many variations. Our prior master bath have two sink vanities, two water closets, two shower heads, two shower doors and a jacuzzi tub so should that count as 2 bathrooms. And the other three baths were en suite; two with showers and one with a combo and a powder room. It was sold as a 4 bdrm/4.5 bath. This is in CA.

I just went through intense house hunting, I noticed numerous mistakes in realtors' listings, wrong lot size, wrong number of rooms, wrong number of baths, wrong year built,...etc. they are so obvious that most people could tell without viewing the house in person. It got to the point that I actually used different searches as cross references to find houses meeting my criteria.

I found most valuable information to me, a serious, well qualified potential buyer, is detailed description of the property. Unfortunately, most realtors do not bother to write it, instead they fill the standard template, usually with errors.

In your case, if I read one bathroom with well designed large walk in shower, even without tub, it will get much more attention from me than 1 full bath that has bath/tub combo.

Out of curiosity, I just checked listings in my condo (located in Los Angeles) and they are listed as having two full bathrooms although technically one used to be called a 3/4 bath as it has the stall shower.

This house was listed as three baths. One is tub only, one is shower only, the third is a tub shower combo.

My brothers house is for sale right now. I just checked the major listing sites and Zillow, Trulia, Redfin have it as 4 baths. There is no bathing going on in one of those - it's a powder room with no tub or shower.

I would describe that as a full bath because it is fully suited to fulfill the bathroom needs of the users. Since the expected users of a master bathroom are the adult owners, a bathtub is not required and its absence does not reduce the functionality of the space. A space without bath or shower would be a half bath because you can only fulfill half your needs in that room.

That is my interpretation of full/half bathroom

I agree with the others, you have a 3/4 bath not a full bath. To be considered a full you need both shower and tub. Those could be a tub/shower combo or separate facilities.

"guest bath" and full or 3/4 are not descriptions that belong in the same sentence. A "guest bath" COULD be any size. Let your realtor lead.

It’s a 3/4 bath where I live and listings specify how many full, 3/4 and half baths a property has. I’m not fond of small tub/shower combos but I would not buy a house without a decent tub, preferably in the master bath.

In my area it is a full bath.

Furthermore, I would argue that this is one of those times where the answer is probably subjective. My 2-person shower is larger than some full baths, so I would take issue with a realtor saying that it was a 3/4 bath were there no tub in the room.

If someone walked into my house and looked at my fairly nice showering system and shower and responded with, "I don't want this house because they misled us about this being a full bath" then I suspect they are not the buyer for my house anyway. At what point that becomes arguable I think is the subjective part. Certainly, I can see a corner shower, that you hit your knees on when sitting on the toilet, being a 3/4 bath.

In my experience, the use of 3/4 bath as a term has diminished over the decades. I'd call it a full bath, and make sure the photos show clearly what you have (and don't have) in the bathroom. Then there's no misleading.

The IRC does not recognize it as a "bathroom group" unless it has a toilet AND a sink AND a bathtub or a shower.

From the NEC: (underlining and bold are mine)
- Bathroom. An area including a basin with one or more of the following: a toilet, a tub, or a shower.

I.e., the NEC does not recognize it as a "bathroom" unless there is a sink AND (one or more of the following: toilet, tub, shower).

From the code you can see that it is not necessary to have both a shower and tub.

Having to have a tub to be considered a bath is Realtor BS.

Based on the varying answers here ( which I greatly appreciate) I see that most see our master bathroom as a “ full bath” and others as a “3/4 bath.”. I assume there are regional differences, There are also those comments where people said they‘d never feel a bathroom was complete without a tub,

Here’s my updated understanding and experience:

1. We purchased our home over 25 years ago. At the time it was listed as having 2 full baths, and a guest bath . We never saw any listings where “ a 3/4 bath” was noted..and we saw quite a few homes . But 25 years is a long time and things can change.

2. Because our master bathroom had a shower, sink, and vanity and because we didn’t care about a tub , it was a “complete bathroom” to us. My concern, hower, is what today’s standards are . .

3. The upstairs bathroom, has double sinks, an L-shaped vanity, 2 mirrors, and a pocket door separating the shower/ tub and toilet from the vanity area. This was very useful when we were raising 3 children. We wanted a shower and tub for them ( and guests) .

i assume the upstairs bathroom is unquestionably a full bath.

As you can see, this is regional. In my area anything with a sink, tub and/or shower, and a toilet is a full bath. This is also true for appraisals, not just the MLS. I've stated this here before, but it is worth repeating. There is no such thing as national standards for the MLS. There are hundreds of MLS systems in the country. Each has it's own set of rules as to how things are listed.

Well, if they don't count shower, sink and toilet as a full bath, we are in trouble! Last year we had the tub/shower removed and a walk in shower put in. We love it! We also have a half bath, toilet and sink. No tub in the house and that is what we wanted to age in place here. People moving into our area are mostly retirees who want to live on the lake. Our grands are all old enough to take showers. If anyone needed a bath, I have a large kitchen sink that will fit a young child.

We call our house 1 and 1/2 baths.

rrah nailed it:

As you can see, this is regional. In my area anything with a sink, tub and/or shower, and a toilet is a full bath. This is also true for appraisals, not just the MLS. I've stated this here before, but it is worth repeating. There is no such thing as national standards for the MLS. There are hundreds of MLS systems in the country. Each has it's own set of rules as to how things are listed.

In our area your bath would be considered a full bath in the MLS (two full baths). There isn't even a designation in our system for a 3/4 bath. There is for a half bath (sink and toilet) but a bath doesn't need both a shower and a tub to qualify as a full bath. There is another section of the MLS where the Master bath can be further described with additional searchable fields for those that specifically want a tub (for example) in their master bathroom so other agents searching for their buyers can pick up the homes meeting specific attributes .

Keep it simple - list as full baths and when people look at the house they will recognize the master doesnt have a bath- For some (elderly, couples who shower together etc) a large step in shower is desirable !!! You would be amazed at what qualifies as a "bedroom" - size doesnt matter- neither does having a code compliant egress- just needs to have a closet

Houses with a sink , toilet, & a shower OR tub or a combination of the two are listed as full baths. I don’t see 3/4 baths referred to at all. I think ( not sure ) it’s because most people consider it a full bath even with just a shower. My preference in any event.

As an appraiser I'm going to call it a full bath. It meets all the functions required. Half-baths only have two pieces. Full baths have a minimum of three pieces.

Your bath in the master has three pieces. Ergo, full bath.

The only time this would be considered as a functional obsolescence would be is there is no bathtub in any other bath in the structure.

Call it a full bath and be done with it. Good luck on selling your home quickly.

That would be a full bath where I live.

I'm in the 3/4 bath camp, but to add to the confusion, some websites do the math and get funny results. In my house there is a full bath, a 3/4 bath, and a 1/2 bath. Rather than considering this 3 bathrooms some websites would say it has 2 1/4 baths. To me, that implies there is a random toilet hiding in the garage.

That said, I would go with however the terms are generally understood in your area. Also known as listen to your realtor.

Homes in our area are almost always listed as full when they're 3/4. When our current home was on the market the listing had "3 Baths" when it's really 2 1/2. Not sure why they do that.

We were none the wiser when purchasing our home and a 3/4 bath both was described as full and served as one for our purposes. Also, after reviewing the comments, my take is that these bathrooms are seen as “ full” in some areas and “3/4” in others. I’ll simply use the most commonly used description found in my area.

It's a full bath around here. Most people don't want or need a bathtub in every bathroom, would prefer a good shower to a tub/shower combo

It's not the sort of thing that you need to worry about much-- people can see for themselves what's there, there's darn little opportunity to deceive someone into thinking there's a tub when there's not.

I'd call it 2-1/2 baths because that's what is functionally there.

Remember that the purpose of your listing is not to do an exhaustive description of the place. The purpose of the listing is to to get people in the door. There is no need to confuse potential buyers with "3/4" bath. If I saw that, I'd think it was some kind of half-tub. Many people prefer a shower and will look at not having an extra tub to clean as a nice feature.

I have watched quite a few House Hunters episodes where the buyers have stated emphatically that they do NOT want a tub in the master bathroom, calling them “wasted space,” “dust catchers,” “shoe storage,” etc.

And, as a former residential real estate appraiser, I would say that J Corn’s master bath is a full bath.

It is regional. In my area, there is no such thing as a 3/4 bath. If you have a bath tub OR shower, it is a full bath. Check what is customary in your area and list that way to be competitive.

If you can wash your face, wash your body, and empty your colon, it's a full bath.

Very regional. Our master has no tub but is considered a full bath. Matter of fact, most of the new construction around us has a similar set up (because masters with showers only are more desirable where I live) and they are sold as full baths. Tractions are for powder rooms :)

If it has a shower, but no tub, it is a 3/4 bath. Realtors like to embellish and fudge the numbers. It is very frustrating when you are looking for 2 full baths which include tubs in both bathrooms and you keep seeing listings with only showers in the master bath. Personally, if I could, I'd report every one of those listings that I come across as two full baths when only one has a tub as fraudulent.

Don't be mad at realtors who are following the common practices of their profession. If tubs are important to you, call or email for more information before viewing

I can't imagine that anyone doesn't check out pictures of listings on the internet which almost always have pictures of the bathrooms. I wouldn't visit any place that didn't have pictures because I would assume there was something wrong with it or it was a complete fixer upper.

At any rate, I could argue that I have NO desire for a master bathroom which has a tub/shower combination. 😂 because I got rid of it and opted for only a shower when I remodeled and so I would eliminate any homes with a tub in the master bath.

uh oh, somebody call the tub police.