Philadelphia Real Estate Blog

Now that is a really good question. Is that two bedroom unit- be it a loft or not, really a two bedroom unit, or is more like a one bedroom with a den, or even just a large open space, where a bedroom could go “here” and another bedroom ”there”?

As a long time Philadelphia realtor with Prudential Fox and Roach Realtors, I have seen a fair number of condos in Center City that really aren’t what they are advertised to be. Odd that realtors can be creative, and crafty, eh? Now I am no saint, and I am well aware of the fact that I may have stretched the limits of reality when I exclaim that my new “two bedroom” loft is either this or that…..

It seems that the laws governing the traits that constitute a bedroom vary from state to state. I have heard many things from many realtors across the country. Sometimes I hear that in order to be a true bedroom, a room must have a closet. Or to be a bedroom, it must have a window. Or a window and a closet. I am really not sure what does and does not constitute a bedroom in a condo in Philadelphia, but I pretty much do know a bedroom when I see one. Here is what I believe: If it looks like a bedroom, and operates as a bedroom, then I think it is fair to call it a bedroom. Although I will usually make a notation somewhere that “legally, this center city condominium may be a one bedroom, but it does play like a two bedroom.”

For instance, I have sold a number of units along Spruce Street and Clinton Street in Washington Square West in which the second bedroom does not have a window, rather that room is open ended- and the “second bedroom” overlooks the living room in a loft like fashion.  But it does have a door, and a closet, and I do find that a lot of buyers who are in the market for a 2 bedroom condo will find this arrangement acceptable. What I find objectionable, as do many of my buyers looking to purchase a condominium in Philadelphia is the open loft space that has NO defined bedrooms, but is advertised as a two bedroom unit.  Perhaps the listing agent of that loft condo thinks that we are so clueless that we will somehow miss the fact that there are no bedrooms. It hasn’t happened to me yet, but there is always a first time for everything.
In most cases of Philadelphia loft bedroom count issues, the question is a fairly simple one: Does a loft bedroom, open ended and not completely closed off constitute a bedroom? I think that it does, and I think that most of my Center City condo buyers agree.