If the owner removes the closet, can it still be counted as a bedroom? I’ve had this question a few times this month, so let’s talk about it. I’ve written before about closets and the definition of a bedroom, but today I want to just focus on eliminating the closet. I’d love to hear your take in the comments.
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10/2/26 PCAR
IS IT STILL A BEDROOM IF THE CLOSET IS REMOVED?
This can be a tricky question because there are so many different scenarios, and each situation might not perfectly fit my answer. In short, if all an owner does is remove a closet, I lean toward saying it is still a bedroom. Let’s be logical. Imagine if you had a four-bedroom home and took out the closets. Is it now a zero-bedroom home? Absolutely not. That sounds absurd because it still has four rooms intended as bedrooms. Yet, it does now have some functional issues since buyers walk through thinking, “Where the heck are the closets?” We just wouldn’t go so far as to say bedrooms no longer exist, right?
If the cost-to-cure is minimal to add a closet, let’s not overthink this issue because it’s unlikely that buyers would deduct a significant amount in value when the cost-to-cure is so small. What we don’t want to do is get so caught up on a closet technicality that we fail to think logically. So, if we now compare a three-bedroom home to two-bedroom comps, we could be choosing the wrong comps and missing the way buyers actually perceive the home. Don’t get me wrong. There could be a big difference in value sometimes between a two-bedroom and three-bedroom home, but if the only difference is literally a closet, that’s not the same thing as comparing a three-bedroom and a traditional two-bedroom that doesn’t have any extra bedroom potential. However, if an owner removes a closet by expanding an adjacent bathroom into that space, there could be a functional problem in an older home with smaller rooms already. This is where it can get weird if adding a closet would mean the bedroom is now tiny, so I get when real estate professionals use good professional judgement at times when deciding if an area is a bedroom or not.
Ultimately, many people say closets are required because that’s what they’ve always been told, but there really isn’t an overarching rule that says so. However, it’s likely the market requires them (or local code). So, on one hand we don’t want to minimize the importance of a closet because it’s normative and expected among buyers. On the other hand, let’s not go to the extreme of being unable to think like buyers who would use logic and find the path of least resistance by spending a minor amount of money to add a closet.
All that said, I wouldn’t split hairs if a colleague wanted to call it something else besides a bedroom because this feels like a gray area where there is room for interpretation. In real estate, we often want things to be black and white and clearly defined, but that’s not always possible. I think the most important issue here is that we’re considering comps with the same room count and functionality (and not being too rigid about removing a closet). No matter what, it’s really important in appraisals and real estate listings to explain what is at the house and be as clear as possible.
Here’s a reel I made on Instagram to talk about this post.
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ADVICE TO OWNERS
Don’t remove closets. It makes it awkward, and in today’s market buyers are very picky about everything. If a home has too many oddities, it creates roadblocks for buyers to say yes. Look, do whatever you want. It’s your palace. I’m just saying keeping the closets is a good move. On a related note, people sometimes convert a three-bedroom home into a two-bedroom home by combining bedrooms. That’s not something I advise either from a resale perspective (but do as you wish).
WHAT ABOUT A BUILDER DEN OPTION?
If a home was built with a den, can we consider that a bedroom? Well, we just called it a den, and that signifies it’s something else besides a bedroom. That’s sort of like when someone wants to include a Sun Room as square footage. Bro, you just called it a Sun Room, which tells me it’s something else and probably not square footage. Anyway, the den option almost feels like a bedroom because it has space for a closet and a window to the exterior, but being open to the rest of the house with no privacy makes it a den instead of a bedroom. In this situation, buyers might recognize the potential to convert the area to a bedroom, but it’s also not as cheap as adding a closet since now we have to build an entire wall including a door. In short, I definitely wouldn’t count a den as a bedroom with a situation like this because it doesn’t feel like a bedroom (and buyers wouldn’t call it a bedroom).
EWW, YOU SOUND SO SUBJECTIVE TODAY
I realize my post today feels a bit subjective, but this is what it’s like in the trenches of real estate where we have to use good professional judgement and make subjective calls supported by reason and market perception. I find it’s easy to want to impose one rigid definition on every property, but that just doesn’t work.
DON’T GET TALKED INTO SAYING IT’S A BEDROOM
One final thing. Be careful about being talked into considering an area as a bedroom when the space clearly doesn’t feel like a bedroom or meet the general requirements. At times, sellers will add a closet to an attic and say it’s a bedroom, but it really isn’t permitted square footage. Or imagine an owner converts a den to a full bedroom, but the septic tank is not big enough for an extra bedroom (yikes). Or an owner might add a closet to an office in the interior of the layout, but it doesn’t work as a bedroom since a bedroom needs direct egress to the exterior of the house.
Thanks for being here. I hope this was helpful.
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