Yes, it might matter when being assessed for a mortgage.

But for a real estate listing, in some states, its a legal bedroom (as long as there is also a window).

Thank you!

I think it generally matters more that there is a window and a closet. I had a similar situation in the first house I owned. The room at the front of the house had windows and a closet, but also had wood panelling and a wall of bookcases. I don't remember if it was listed as a 2BR/study or 3 BR -- maybe 2-3 BR. Our current house was listed as 3-4 BR because the gameroom has a closet, adjoins a jack and jill bath, but it has double french doors onto the hall overlooking the front door. I could see having a sleeper sofa and calling it a make-do guest room if changed the door, put curtains on the door or a screen in front of it, but not an actual bedroom. I can see the one above functioning as a Master/nursery and maybe a split room for kids -- but oh the potential for door battles. I do think it should impact the appraisal because it limit function and the number of people who would be looking at a 2 BR house or a house that, at least for them, would function as a 2 BR house. But maybe not a lot if you can move the closet to a different wall and open up a doorway. If that's the outer wall, the only way to make it an undisputed 3 BR would be to shrink the middle BR to create a hall and a closet inside the room.

Here, it would count as a bedroom because it has a window.

My friend’s house has bedrooms like this. I agree with bbstx, a bedroom requires a window and a closet.

Another friend has a bed room ober the garage but it doesnt have a closet. House is described as two bedrooms, not three.

Our house was listed as a three bedroom, but it was also originally a vacation home. The primary bedroom has a closet.

The second bedroom is in the loft. The loft suite has a separate bedroom, but the closet is in the open loft.

The third ”bedroom” is a flex room adjacent to the dining room with pocket doors. It is really more a den, but there is a little closet in the corner, which I guess qualifies it as a bedroom.

Thank you all! But based on this conversation, I think it just went from a 3 bedroom house to a one bedroom house. lol! Each of the rooms has a window, but it was built as a 2 bedroom house in the late 1930s, with room #1 and #2, when bedrooms didn't always have a closet. Room #1 does not have a closet. Room #3 was added to the original house at some point, and that's when they changed it to be on the tax rolls as a "3 bedroom" home. I own it and just got the tax bill... they haven't altered the assessed value, but they have increased the "market value" and I think you need a *real* 3 bedroom house to match/deserve the speculated price. Should I try to talk to the assessor or is the bedroom count one of those formally documented things that really doesn't matter? This is in a small village, so I can't imagine that being difficult to do.

eta: I do not consider it to be functional as a 3 bedroom house, unless that middle room is used for something like a nursery. Otherwise, there would be no privacy in room #2.

I’ve just learned that there is no longer a village assessor. They now set taxes based on the town’s assessment of the property value. That is the ”market value” on the bill, and it looks like the dollar amount came from zillow, or similar.

Zillow values are well-known to be incredibly inaccurate. If you look at sales of comparable houses, that should be more accurate for market value. Here, the property value is revised every time a house sells to the purchase price.

@party_music50, there has to be some way to challenge an assessment. If you cannot find the steps on the village’s website, I’d call the mayor’s office and ask for the steps for challenging the assessment.

P.S. you can go on Zillow and put in your own comments and description of your property, I think.

When we just moved in, I tried to change our house from 6 bedroom to 5 bedroom with the town since we use the bedroom on the 1st floor as a 2nd office. It didn’t work, they asked if that room had a closet. A bedroom has to be at least 70 sqft. By any chance is your 2nd bedroom smaller than 70 sqft?

Thank you all!

I did search for legal definitions of a bedroom for my state and I found that there is a minimum size requirement, but all of my rooms are well above that. I didn't find anything about closets or windows or *privacy* yet.... but I also found the information and forms on-line for protesting my assessment. I had to stop researching because I've had several other real life problems that I had/have to deal with. :p I think I'll phone the town assessor's office just to make an inquiry.

It is worth it to check with the assessor -- more than 60 years ago, my childhood home was assessed and my father had a fit, and followed up to prove the assessment was wrong. They had viewed the house only from the outside, said that four chimneys equaled eight working fireplaces, which was untrue. All fireplaces were originally meant only for wood burning stoves for heat, not real fireplaces. They had also assumed that a house that size (12 rooms) must have multiple bathrooms. HAH. It was built in 1820, before bathrooms were a "thing", and my father had installed the single bathroom when he bought the place. One bathroom, for a family of seven people, and that was the only one we ever had. What would today's folk with our present mindset of first-world necessities say about that?!!! LOL.

But the OP should check things as they pertain to what the town should know.

I'm quite familiar with assessments and protesting them. :0) They do use the number of bathrooms as part of the formula....if you only have one...that will lower your value. But....they use square footage, the zip code, if the place is run down....all that is reflected in the assessed value. In one protest I included notes that the place was unfinished & run down. They sent the assessor out to do a home tour and my value was reduced based on that, but only for one year. They assumed I'd put the place back together the following year. :0)

A bedroom is required to have it's own entrance...otherwise it's an extension of an existing room. ie: My walk-in closet has a door on it...but it's not considered a seperate room. If you frame in an entryway to it...then..."bedroom".

I just phoned the assessor's office and spoke to her assistant. She agreed that this is a "complex problem and there are codes involved".... she will convey my message to the assessor and I said I would email them a clear description with a sketch. :)

Thanks, everyone!

This discussion surprises me, as I was under the impression that a captive bedroom did not qualify as a bedroom at all.

One note about assessors. Years ago, when we owned our first house, we sucessfully fought our tax assessment including hiring outside experts. When we sold our home about 18 months later, the assessed value was used as a negotiating point in arriving at market value. YMMV, but I always say consider your horizon before you try to document that your home is worth less.

The reason that I wanted to finally take this up is that my house is appraised higher than my neighbors' houses. Theirs are 2-story 3 and 4 bedroom houses that are much larger than mine in square-footage. The assessor has replied to my phone and email inquiries by saying that she would change it to a 2 bedroom, but then she said that bedroom count doesn't factor in to the assessed value, and that she feels my house is assessed low, considering the current market. Now I'm really puzzled. lol!