We had that comment (resale value) come up when we took out the only bathtub in the house and put in a shower. Our son said that we should make our home to suit us and not worry about resale value. After all, a house is supposed to be comfy and convenient for the people living in it now. Of course, if you are planning to move in a year or so, that might be different.

Our 50s house was also a 3/1 upstairs and 1/1 downstairs. The house next door had the same footprint. Previous owners in both knocked out the wall between the eat in kitchen (the only dining space) and a bedroom to make a dining room.

I would have given up part of the large rec room downstairs to make a bedroom before I put that wall back up.

If the quality of the basement space is as good as upstairs, I wouldn't mind having only two main floor bedrooms. Is the basement well lit, with good HVAC, storage and windows?

What is the practicality of leaving the main floor as is and making a similar change to the basement?

Might be better to sell and find a place which suits your needs.

I'd get some opinions from real estate agents in your area on which would be more desirable on resale.

IMO we need to know what the basement bedrooms are like for sure but I agree if you are planning on staying for the few years do what you like and not for some imaginary buyer down th road. If really worried ask a realtor in your area and if you really want help here post pictures especailly of the basement .

is the basement all below grade or a walk-out? For some reason I think if they are all below grade they might not count towrds room count/living space when you sell and buyers need a mortgage. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong. :)

In my neck of the woods basements count towards the total sq footage and worth more depending on how much is finished. Bedrooms must have a proper egress to be considered a bedrooms for FHA loans. For conventional loans it doesn't matter. Just needs a window. Was told this by an appraiser when we sold our home in 2017 since we had a basement bedroom without proper egress but luckily a conventional loan buyer.

aziline, are you 100% certain you don't need an egress window in your bedrooms for conventional loans? I don't think that's accurate. Here they are required by building code. Where are you located that only one exit, the door to the bedroom, is required?

The appraiser said it counted as a bedroom. I have no reason to think he was lying to me.

It would be nice to have some more input from the OP . As for the bedrooms I guess rules are different in different places but I would never have a bedroom without an egress window no matter what some appraiser said.

I would check with whatever your codes administration is called about egress windows rather than relying on an appraiser.

The appraiser said it counted as a bedroom. I have no reason to think he was lying to me.

Or he could just be wrong...

Every state has adopted either the IRC or the IFC (which just says that single family homes shall be constructed in accordance with the IRC).

Basements, habitable attics and every sleeping room shall have not less than one operable emergency escape and rescue opening. Where basements contain one or more sleeping rooms, an emergency escape and rescue opening shall be required in each sleeping room. Emergency escape and rescue openings shall open directly into a public way, or to a yard or court that opens to a public way.

R310.2.1 Minimum Opening Area.

Emergency and escape rescue openings shall have a net clear opening of not less than 5.7 square feet (0.530 m2). The net clear opening dimensions required by this section shall be obtained by the normal operation of the emergency escape and rescue opening from the inside. The net clear height opening shall be not less than 24 inches (610 mm) and the net clear width shall be not less than 20 inches (508 mm).

Exception: Grade floor or below grade openings shall have a net clear opening of not less than 5 square feet (0.465 m2).

R310.2.2 Window Sill Height.

Where a window is provided as the emergency escape and rescue opening, it shall have a sill height of not more than 44 inches (1118 mm) above the floor; where the sill height is below grade, it shall be provided with a window well in accordance with Section R310.2.3.

The question is how important is resale vs. functionality for the OP, and the answer to that question largely depends on how likely the OP is to resale the home and how quickly they may need the home to resale. It depends on work, family, and financial situation... which we can't answer. If this is a home that you are unlikely to sell and your finances are unlikely to require a fast sell, then I wouldn't be overly worried about resale. On the other hand if there are family, work or financial constraints that require some financial flexibility keeping an eye on resale is important.

The further question seems to be on the value of three basement bedrooms. Being objective, how would you personally appraise their value? Whether they can be legally counted as bedrooms is a fair question but not every legal bedroom will attract buyers. If these are small musty spaces with low ceilings then they will probably not be attractive to home buyers even if they are legal bedrooms. All things being equal, better spaces and five bedrooms will probably add resale over six bedrooms. So are those basement bedrooms as good as the upper floor bedrooms?

@aziline - I didn't think the appraiser was lying to you. I thought s/he might not be aware of the local building code or the IRC. Like any profession, each appraiser has different skillsets and not all are trained well. I don't want to have the OP have a misunderstanding about what is considered a bedroom. The OP will need to check into his own area building codes and make an informed decision.