It's the Rule - February 2006

by: President & CEO Terese (Terry) Penza, CAE, RCE, e-Pro

There has been some discussion as of late regarding what constitutes a bedroom/room for listing inputs. We felt now would be a good time for a little refresher on what you can and cannot count as rooms and bedrooms.

Effective 4/1/97 (revised 5-2-01 from MLSNI 1997 rules) An article from Sept. 2003 MLSNI's Multiple Solutions Interpreted by the North Shore-Barrington Association of REALTORS®

*What you can count as rooms*	*What you can NOT count as rooms*
Bedroom without a closet	Bathrooms
	Utility room/space
Heated unfinished area	Unheated porches
Open concept rooms that lack 1 or more walls	Unheated breezeways
Tandem rooms	Unheated sun rooms
Combined rooms allow 1 room-count that serves or can serve a purpose distinctly different from other areas	Unheated attics
Heated porch	Laundry rooms- regardless of size
Heated breezeway	Mud rooms- regardless of size
Heated Sun room	Foyers/entry
Heated unfinished attic	Furnace Rooms- regardless of size
Sitting room (but not as a BR)	Screened porch
Tandem room counted as 2	Screened breezeway
Lofts	Unheated areas
	*Basement Bedroom can be counted in "total room" count, but NOT in the "total bedroom count"**

Definitions

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Heated:To qualify as heated, there must be a permanently attached, or ducted heating source within the room.3-13-97

Attic: to qualify as attic rooms, the attic must have permanent access (i.e. staircase). Attics with "pull down" staircase do NOT qualify.

Room: can be open on 1, 2, or 3 sides; does NOT have to have minimum square foot qualification.

Bedroom: private room capable of being closed off from other living space that does not have its only entrance from another bedroom. Basement bedrooms may NOT be counted in total bedroom count, but it still must be entered as bedrooms in listing input.

Combined room: Living room/dining room combination may be counted as 2 separate rooms

Bathroom: Can NOT be counted in total rooms. Basement or lower level bathrooms may be counted in the total bath ( BTH ) field.

Fullbath= must have 3 of the following components: a bath, a shower (shower head or shower stall), a sink, a toilet.

Halfbath= must have 2 of the components listed in "Fullbath", there is no specification as to the type of sink. Therefore, if a laundry sink is one of the two components of a half-bath, it may be counted.

Tandem rooms: used as bedrooms, while countable as 2 separate rooms are countable as only 1 bedroom.

Minimum square: feet qualifications should be used in tandem with any local building code standards

Level Definitions

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Basement (B): an area whose floor is located more than 50% below adjacent grade level Lower Level (L): an area not more than 50% below adjacent grade level Walk Out Basement (W): a basement with at least 1 side whose floor is at grade level with access to grade level, and floor level shall be defined a W (walkout) English Basement (L): not more than 50% below adjacent grade level Main Level (1): Entry level to the property Attic Level (A): a level immediately below the eaves of a roof Not Applicable (N): AN@ shall be entered in the Level field for which there is no corresponding room

ALL ROOM COUNTING GUIDELINES/DEFINITIONS GIVEN BELOW ARE SUPERCEDED BY LOCAL MUNICIPALITY BUILDING CODES AND STANDARDS. THE ROOM COUNTING GUIDELINES ARE INTENDED TO BE USED IN TANDEM WITH LOCAL BUILDING CODES AND STANDARDS.

ROOM DEFINITIONS

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A ROOM

* A room is defined as improved, heated living space, with the exception of bathrooms and utility space.

* This definition excludes unheated areas such as porches, breezeways, sunrooms, attics and utility areas such as laundry rooms, mud rooms, and foyers.

* It does include lofts, open concept rooms which lack one or more walls, tandem rooms, sitting rooms, and other heated rooms.

* A room can be open on one, two or three sides.

* A room does not have to have a minimum square foot qualification.

* Any room which meets ALL of these criteria may be counted in the room count regardless of grade level.

*Basement bedrooms may be counted in total room count but may NOT be included in total bedrooms count.

A BEDROOM:

* Basement bedrooms may NOT be counted in total bedrooms count.

* A bedroom is defined as a private room capable of being closed off from other living space which does not have its only entrance from another bedroom. This definition will meet appraiser standards for bedrooms and would exclude tandem rooms.

* A room without a closet can be countable as a bedroom.

FULL BATHROOM

To qualify as a full bathroom in the BTH field, the bathroom must comprise of at least three of the following components: a bath, a shower (shower head or shower stall), a sink, a toilet. Basement or lower level bathrooms may be counted in the total bath ( BTH ) field.

More information on room definitions and criteria can be found at http://www.nsbar.org/library/countrooms.asp