Stylish Bedroom Designs, a Tips and Guide

If I combine 2 bedrooms, then build a bedroom in our finished basement will it lower our home value?

We want to make our master bedroom bigger. Instead of building on, we can knock down a wall to combine the master bedroom with a second bedroom. The bedroom we use for our master bedroom extension can be moved downstairs in our finished basement. The number of bedrooms in the house will be the same that we started with, will this still lower our home value?

Public Comments

1. Maybe or maybe not. While a larger master bedroom is a plus, basement bedrooms are not always desirable if the buyer has small children and doesn't want them away from the parents' room. Also the basement redo has the ever present problem of light for the room (windows). What about a bathroom down there with tub/shower ability? If the basement has any humidity problem, who wants their children or clothes down there? Still, if done well the change may be fine. In my childhood in our neighborhood nearly everyone had at least one basement bedroom. Just the way it was.
2. It should not. If you do not have a master ensuite, you would be better off using part of the room for that and part for the bedroom extension...people want ensuites and without one, your value will be lower. The bedroom in the basement should not lower the value as long as it is a guest room. If you have a say three bedroom home and one is located in the basement (not the master), then people don't like that..but a four bedroom and up ... it will make no difference. Of course this is for our area...your best bet would be to talk to your local real estate and make it sound like you are doing this to sell in the near future...then they are happy to answer and resale value questions.
3. You are removing one bedroom upstairs to make one large bedroom and adding another bedroom downstairs. It sounds like a better than even trade to me. One large bedroom and another private one downstairs. The only thing I would be concerned with is, is the basement bedroom very dark and dank and it the rest of the area finished off with quality materials or just hacked together? If quality of materials and living is an issue in the basement, then I think it would be a downgrade. However if all is nicely finished and not basement feeling, then go for it. If you use light colors and upgraded materials, then it would be an asset, in my opinion. But, depending on if there are other bedrooms upstairs, it may limit future potential buyers. If it is a family with a small child, would they want to have the child in the basement? I would not want that. But, if I had a teenager, hell yes.
4. Yes, it could lower the value of your house...at least as far as the listing. My mother was a real estate agent. She told me you can't list any bedroom or bathrooms that are in a basement. At least that was true a few decades ago. I'm not sure if it's still true or not. You might call a real estate agent and ask them. If you do call an agent, I would pretend you are interested in selling the house now and ask if you can list a basement bedroom. I would NOT tell them you are simply asking prior to remodeling. They won't waste their time on you if you say that. Assuming you can't list basement bedrooms, your house would basically lose a bedroom in its listing should you try to sell it. Then again, people looking at your house would see the new bedroom in the basement and realize the house had more bedrooms than the listing showed. Personally? I would do what makes you comfortable living in the house now and worry about selling it later, but that's just me.