For those who have sold or are planning to sell their homes, I’m sure that this question has come up at some point and frankly, the no-nonsense answer to this is: it depends. Allow me to discuss some factors that may or may not affect your decision you’re faced with this difficult question.
First, all things considered, with each additional bedroom, the added value tends to decline. The difference in value of a 1-bedroom home and a 2-bedroom home could be significantly more than the value between, say, a 2 and 3-bedroom home.
Secondly, the layout of a home is a key factor in determining the value of an additional room. A 1500 sq. ft. 3-bedroom home may sell the same as a 1500 sq. ft. 4-bedroom home mainly because of a superior layout. On paper, it might look like the 4-bedroom home may be more valuable but in reality, a stellar layout on a 3-bedroom home can more than compete in the market.
Thirdly, if appraisers adjust their comparable sales for both square footage and the number of bedrooms, then they might get more for their adjustments. Keep in mind though that typically, it’s enough to adjust one or the other instead of both, adjusting for both would be “double dipping”.
Moreover, the ratio of bedrooms vs. bathrooms should also be considered. An additional room in a 3-bedroom house with only 1 full bath won’t be worth as much as if the house had 2 full baths.
At the end of the day, trust your appraiser to find similar sales in your area and have those sales help determine if it’s a good idea to add or not to add a new room. However, in the spirit of being realistic, more bedrooms are usually a better thing for value because a home with more bedrooms is more marketable to buyers – that’s obvious. However, on the flip side, today’s buyer is interested in more rooms, not necessarily more bedrooms.Many people have offices in their home or hobby, workout rooms, etc, these rooms don’t have to be bedrooms to serve these needs.