Is a room a bedroom without a closet?

By Chloe Ramirez

Is a room a bedroom without a closet?

In California, the residential code does not require that a bedroom have a closet. In newer built homes, buyers will expect you to have a closet in spaces like a master bedroom. If a room does not have a closet, the potential buyer may not want to put in the time and money into remodeling.

Is a room without a closet a bedroom in California?

A room can be considered a bedroom if it contains a closet, alcove, indentation or wing wall which creates an area greater than 12 inches in depth, and meets the following requirements. A bedroom shall be minimum of 70 square feet, and not less than 7 feet in any dimension.

What is legally classed as a bedroom?

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A single bedroom has to be 70 sq/ft or 6.5 sq/m to be classed as a full (1.0) bedroom. If you have a room which is under these requirements then it cannot be classed as a bedroom and you can legally challenge any under-occupancy judgement that says it is a bedroom.

What is required to call a room a bedroom?

In the real estate world, a space can be considered a bedroom if it has a door that can be closed, a window, and a closet. Fittingly, property assessors will follow the same bedroom definition when determining the number of bedrooms in a given home—that is, it must have a door, a closet, and an egress window.

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Can You List A bedroom without a closet?

If a room is legally considered a bedroom, but may not meet buyer expectations, consider how you want to market the house. For example, if you live in an area where closets are not required, but expected, you might choose to list a room without a closet, not as a bedroom, but as another type of room.

How big does a room have to be to have a closet?

County records will show how many bedrooms the house has been assessed for, which may or may not relate to closets. Whether or not you need a closet, a room often has to meet other requirements to be called a bedroom. These include: Minimum size requirements (often at least 70–80 square feet or at least 7 feet per horizontal direction)

Can a bedroom with no windows be called a bedroom?

Let’s say a bedroom with no windows has two doors- one leading to its private master bath, and leading to the hallway. If the state requires an exit to the exterior of the property, there are technically two entrances to the room, but no method of escape. If this describes your house, then… sorry- it’s not a bedroom.

Are there any exceptions to the closet rule?

There are exceptions to the closet rule, but it’s important to be clear about zoning laws and how they relate to bedroom requirements in your city, county, and state. If your clients ask if a room may be classified as a bedroom, don’t overstep your expertise.

Is it normal to have a closet in a bedroom?

Ultimately, it depends on the architecture of the home. In homes built in the last 50 years or so, it’s pretty common for bedrooms to have a closet, and it would be unusual to label a closet-less room a bedroom. If a property is more than 50 years old and has no closets in any of the bedrooms, does it technically have “0” bedrooms? Of course not.

Can You List A house with no closet?

A CRES client contacted our legal team because a seller wanted to list their house as a 4 bedroom. The seller insists it is a 4 bedroom home, because there is a fourth room upstairs that the sellers have used as a bedroom. This fourth room doesn’t have a closet, however.

Let’s say a bedroom with no windows has two doors- one leading to its private master bath, and leading to the hallway. If the state requires an exit to the exterior of the property, there are technically two entrances to the room, but no method of escape. If this describes your house, then… sorry- it’s not a bedroom.

There are exceptions to the closet rule, but it’s important to be clear about zoning laws and how they relate to bedroom requirements in your city, county, and state. If your clients ask if a room may be classified as a bedroom, don’t overstep your expertise.