Marketing 3 bed house as a 4 bed…

You have to be clear - otherwise, those viewing will definitely not making an offer as no one likes that kind of stuff or having their time down the toilet pan

I don't think an ensuite is necessary to make a downstairs room a bedroom.

I think a bedroom is any room with a window and room for a standard single bed, with some exceptions. Only accessible from another bedroom- not a bedroom. It should be accessible from a common area. Used as a throughfare- not a bedroom. There may be others, but simply downstairs is not one of them.

My friend did this. 4th "bedroom" is a room which runs between the landing and the bathroom so not usable at all. They use it as a study, but did plan to put a sofa bed in it for guests.

I advertised my old house as having 4 bedrooms one of which was downstairs. It had an en-suite bathroom with it and was used for accessibility purposes. It was a big selling point of the house.

Good point!

The thing is that a 4 bedroom house is generally going to be occupied by at least 5 people assuming 2 parents sharing one room and a child/teenager in each bedroom. In some families there could be 8 or more if there's a lot of kids sharing or grandparents in a multi-generation household.

If a downstairs bedroom is in addition to adequate sitting room and dining room space for 5-8 people plus occasional guests then that's fine. The issue is advertising it as "4 bedroom" when that means the only non-bedroom space is a single public room that cannot possibly accommodate the whole family as a combined kitchen-dining-living room (e.g. you can just about fit in a 2-seater sofa and a 4-person dining table but you could never have the whole family watching TV or eating a meal together.

I’m sure things piss you off that I couldn’t give a rat’s arse about 🤷🏻‍♀️

Why on earth does it piss you off? It makes absolutely no difference to you.
Nor does it matter to potential buyers. As long as there's a floor plan and the viewer can see where each of the rooms are in the house they can decide whether or not the layout suits them.
What a bizzare thing to get pissed off about!

Downstairs rooms weren't a bother - you look at floor plans or consider if it works for you.

One I hated were rooms to small to get a single bed in marketed as a three bed. Wasn't always clear from the pictures.

Complained to estate agent once as there was an entire estate full of them and it wasn't always clear from photos - 3rd one that morning I did say what's the point - she said oh you could use it as a dressing room - I said I'm stood here with two kids of opposite sex I clearly need three bedrooms - she shrugged. DH and I canceled rest of viewing for those style of housing that day and only did the remaining appointments with different style houses - estate agent did get a bit miffed with us.

I have 3 kids and another downstairs reception room is more valuable to me than a 5th bedroom that isn’t a bedroom.

We currently have same a 4 bed with 3 reception rooms and first thing male estate agent said was oh you can knock two of them though - last thing we wanted but kept bloody pushing it - till DH said room we can close door sperate the kids and/or use as a home office why would we want to knock it though.

yabu/yanbu

I find the obsession with bedrooms in the uk weird. as long as a room has a window and door and can fit a bed it's a room to be used for whatever...

Yeah it pisses me off too. We have a 4 bed, 3 reception room house. Many on our street are marketing as a 5 bed, with one of the bedrooms downstairs. I have 3 kids and another downstairs reception room is more valuable to me than a 5th bedroom that isn’t a bedroom.

Ah yes the clever marketing of properties. We looked at a three bed and the third bed as a MURPHY BED. I ignore estate agents they are only there to sell and many are very silly in trying to convince you about the listing price and value because they represent the seller. A Murphy bed.

It's not really slimy I guess it's just what a market you're willing to aim from really .So you can say you have a three B/room house rather than a genuine four/room house .If you really care focus layout .

When I was trying to buy my house, we were looking at 3 beds. Found one which seemed absolutely perfect, except for the third bedroom was up a pull down ladder in the middle of the second bedroom.
That's a loft conversion, not a bedroom.

Our house was marketed as a five bed because it has four upstairs bedrooms and a downstairs bedroom with it's own ensuite. Which would be completely reasonable if it wasn't for the fact that the listing explicitly said it had three reception rooms - which turned out to be the sitting room, the dining room and, you guessed it, the downstairs bedroom! It was obvious from the floor plan and so no ones time was wasted, but I remember thinking it was pretty disingenuous of the EA, who was a particularly sleezy bastard.

And this is really worth complaining about? Clicking on a property online and looking at the floor plan? 30 seconds of your time? 🙄

I think it's a perfectly reasonable way of advertising a property. As a PP has said, buyers may be looking for 2 beds plus study, so might use 3 bed filter rather than 2 and miss properties that suit. What's wrong with a bedroom downstairs? Depends on how the potential buyer wants to use the house.

It doesn't annoy me. It helps me find what I need. I need four spaces beyond the core living space and kitchen. I may want a downstairs bedroom for an elderly relative. Or the option of converting something to an office etc.... 4 bedrooms tell me how many rooms are available, to configure however I like.

I actually get frustrated by the opposite. I'm house searching at the moment, and need a standalone office space plus three bedrooms. The fourth space could be a convertible garage or a fourth bedroom' on ground floor, or a substantial summerhouse in a garden..... I wish I could search for 'number of useable spaces' versus bedrooms.

But with the bedroom system, I miss three bed places which actually do have a fourth space.... and I have to filter through lots of four bed places, which don't fit the need for a ground floor space.

That’s why the thing the OP works for me though, because if I want a three bed and study, and it’s marketed as a four bed, then that’s right. If I search for a three bed then 90% are not right.

I think it depends on how many people are looking for a study! Maybe in an ideal world you’d have options for both on RM.

I’ve got a garden office (converted detached garage) that I could fit a sofa bed in but would still feel dishonest advertising my house as four bedroom!

Not if you want a downstairs study though?

I do get it as removing a reception room designed for a 3 bed really reduces the living space for the larger family that would need a 4 bed. But rooms can be used for whatever you like so I think I would prefer them marketed as eg x number of rooms on the first floor and on the second floor (not including kitchens and bathrooms).
Our house is very old and has 4 reception rooms downstairs. They've kept their purpose except for one which has been a snug, teens gaming room and office with sofabed as it is now. I would never call any of the downstairs room a bedroom though.

But how do you search for a three bed with study? You search for a four bed.

Yes this really annoys me! We have 4DC, often we see houses advertised as 5 bed when it's really another downstairs reception room or room above garage not joined to main house or a tiny box room which you'd only just about get a single bed in and nothing else.
I suppose sellers take EA advice on marketing but a quick look at the floor plan rules it out if you really need a certain amount of bedrooms. They used to say 4/5 beds which you knew actually meant 4 beds.
Also annoying are houses advertised as 5beds but they are currently student let's where every room except for kitchen and bathroom is a ' bedroom' living in a uni town that also screws up my search results!