What is a bedroom worth?

[kaylie]

I looked back through the listings in our area because there was an AWESOME three bedroom on the market when we were looking that had previously been a four bedroom. I compared it with two houses in the same neighborhood, same sq footage (3,000 sq feet), all have pools and finished basements, all have updated kitchens and need approximately the same amount of cosmetic updates inside (paint, wallpaper removal).

4 bedroom house #1: Listed at $490K, went under contract in one day, settled seven weeks later for $485K.

4 bedroom house #2: Listed at $550K (yeah, they were dreaming), two price changes brought it down to $495K, it went under contract two months after the last price adjustment and settled one month after that for $470K (7 months between listing and selling)

3 bedroom house: Listed for $490K, four priced adjustments got it to $450K, it went under contract two weeks after the last price adjustment and settled for $440K a month later. (8 months between listing and selling)

Based on that I'd guess ~$30K-$40K. Probably more in less desirable neighborhoods.

[auntie]

Hard to say.

To the right buyer, fewer bedrooms may be part of the appeal. Where I live- nice neighborhood, great schools, but not as desirable as the newer McMansionesque homes built in the last 10 years- the difference between a 3 and a 4 bedroom house is somewhere between $25K and $50K. But it's hard to say with certainty since most of the 4 BR homes have more square footage- so its more apples to oranges than in your situation.
When my parents built the house in which I now live, they built with 2 BR as a means to ward off my meddling grandmother and deadbeat sister moving in. We have since added a 3rd BR by reconfiguring walls. When I bought the house, it appraised at about $10K less than comparable square footage in the neighborhood.

That said, when my last house was destroyed in a flood in '99, the county appraised homes after the fact and bedrooms were figured at $10K each. They used a checklist with values assigned to all manner of things. I lost points for having 2 BR, but got most of that back for my sun porch. I also got additional consideration for having central A/C, a corner lot and 2 fireplaces.

[Cheerio]

I think it probably does depend on the area. In my area, when we bought our 4 BR home (although one has built-ins that make it more like an office), our REA told us it was worth about $25k.

[adhdfashion]

I'm hoping at least $25k. Because that's what the new bedroom is going to cost me.

[simpsongal]

Definitely depends on the area and the number of bedrooms. We took the 5th bedroom to create a master suite, laundry, and office area. Well, we've only put the laundry in so far, the rest is on the to do list. Based on our appraisal at 5 bedrooms and our appraisal at 4 bedrooms + improvements, I don't think it made a huge difference - maybe $10K. If anything, our house is more functional now.

[auntie]

Could be an estate being handled by someone unfamiliar with neighborhood comps or maybe is trying to maximize distribution among heirs. Does ti have some sort of kickass view?

The old kitchen is pretty awful. If it were on the back page of Glamour magazine, it would have a black bar over it's eyes.

[munkii]

Are they definitely in the same school district? What I learned while house hunting in Indy is that many sellers in Washington Twp think they can list/sell/settle for whatever they want. Also, certain agencies, at least teams within the agencies, encourage this behavior. I’ll be kind and not out them here.

To answer your question, I’m not sure a 3 bedroom is worth less than a 4 bedroom if the houses are similar in size and meet all the neighborhood/school requirements. Something my realtor was always quick to point out was the value in price per square foot when we would compare two similar houses where one lacked an extra bedroom. Maybe the 3 bedroom was on a larger or more private lot, had nicer finishes, or had better access to local amenities than a 4 bedroom for example. In this case where many updates must be made versus not as many in similar houses, the value probably isn’t there.

[simpsongal]

Did they list with an out of town realtor? Or a small company? That's what happened with our house. It festered on the market for a year b/c it was listed as if it were in pristine condition (no way!). They finally pulled the house, listed w/Long & Foster, and dropped the price by over $100K.

[boiler717]

Nov 27, 2012 13:44:23 GMT -5 munkii said:

Are they definitely in the same school district? What I learned while house hunting in Indy is that many sellers in Washington Twp think they can list/sell/settle for whatever they want. Also, certain agencies, at least teams within the agencies, encourage this behavior. IÂ’ll be kind and not out them here.

To answer your question, IÂ’m not sure a 3 bedroom is worth less than a 4 bedroom if the houses are similar in size and meet all the neighborhood/school requirements. Something my realtor was always quick to point out was the value in price per square foot when we would compare two similar houses where one lacked an extra bedroom. Maybe the 3 bedroom was on a larger or more private lot, had nicer finishes, or had better access to local amenities than a 4 bedroom for example. In this case where many updates must be made versus not as many in similar houses, the value probably isnÂ’t there.

This is good stuff