Size of the master bedroom?

brianabrad · March 2012

DH and I are considering purchasing a new construction home in a very nice neighborhood. The only concern I really have is the size of the master bedroom. Its 14 x 12. Is that too small for a master? We have measured our furniture and everything would fit but I'm more concerned about the re-sale and if that would be a deal breaker for other people. We have seen homes with large masters and also homes with smaller masters.

What do you ladies think? I understand this might be a regional questions since in some areas of the country a 14x12 room is a dream. Smile

TIA!

lindyanne · March 2012

I wouldn't want one that small. Ours was about 12x12 in our old house and it felt like we were on top of each other. I would talk to a realtor in your area and also check some home listings. Is there any other model options? How does that size bedroom compare to other homes in the neighborhood?

EastCoastBride · March 2012

We used to have a pretty small master, and now we have a roomier one (I want to say it's 20 x 13...???). I like having the space, but at the same time, its not a dealbreaker for me.

I personally have never understood the huge MBs/ suites. I have an entire house to hang out in - I don't need to have a huge bedroom!

But, again, the space we have now is nice. We can move around w/ ease, we actually each have our own closet!

MNVegas · March 2012

We are awaiting start of a new construction home. Our MBR will be 14x14. I think we will be able to fit all of the bedroom furniture in that space, however, we won't be able to fit the sitting area furniture we also have in a current MBR which measures 20x17. Needless to say we are downsizing.

One of the floor plans we looked at, but decided against because of size, had a MBR that was 13'6"x12'10" and it was very tight. We would not have been able to fit all our bedroom furniture.

Personally a small MBR would be a concern for me, but many people would have no issue with it.

brianabrad · March 2012

Thanks for the thoughts ladies!

I think part of the problem for us is that currently in our townhome we have a HUGE master! It's the entire front of the unit so its about 13 x 20 or so. Its just hard to imagine going from that size master to something so much smaller.

lmdbww · March 2012

Ours is 15x11 and it's fine for us. The closet space matters more to me, I think.

brianabrad · March 2012

lmdbww:
Ours is 15x11 and it's fine for us. The closet space matters more to me, I think.

That's very true and the room does have a very large closet.

kaylie622 · March 2012

That doesn't sound that small to me, but I just looked up the house we're buying and two of the regular bedrooms are larger (15 x 12 and 15 x 14). If you're buying new construction I would go with something larger. Master suites are very "in" and I've seen a lot that are huge with adjoining sitting rooms.

brianabrad · March 2012

kaylie622:
That doesn't sound that small to me, but I just looked up the house we're buying and two of the regular bedrooms are larger (15 x 12 and 15 x 14). If you're buying new construction I would go with something larger. Master suites are very "in" and I've seen a lot that are huge with adjoining sitting rooms.

Makes sense. I guess maybe I should have said this is a starter home. Do you think that makes a difference? We have looked at other homes in the same neighborhood and they had master bedrooms that were 12x12.

kaylie622 · March 2012

brianabrad:
kaylie622:
That doesn't sound that small to me, but I just looked up the house we're buying and two of the regular bedrooms are larger (15 x 12 and 15 x 14). If you're buying new construction I would go with something larger. Master suites are very "in" and I've seen a lot that are huge with adjoining sitting rooms.
Makes sense. I guess maybe I should have said this is a starter home. Do you think that makes a difference? We have looked at other homes in the same neighborhood and they had master bedrooms that were 12x12.

That's fine then - resale value would be my main concern. New construction where we are starts at $600K, and that's for a townhouse. A small master would be kind of crazy at that price point. For some reason it didn't occur to me that some places have reasonably priced houses!

NextChapter · March 2012

My current master bedroom is 11x13 and it's fine, because I have a huge walk-in closet. The houses I'm looking at all have tiny closets, so having a room big enough for my dressers is more important.

brianabrad · March 2012

kaylie622:
brianabrad:
kaylie622:
That doesn't sound that small to me, but I just looked up the house we're buying and two of the regular bedrooms are larger (15 x 12 and 15 x 14). If you're buying new construction I would go with something larger. Master suites are very "in" and I've seen a lot that are huge with adjoining sitting rooms.
Makes sense. I guess maybe I should have said this is a starter home. Do you think that makes a difference? We have looked at other homes in the same neighborhood and they had master bedrooms that were 12x12.
That's fine then - resale value would be my main concern. New construction where we are starts at $600K, and that's for a townhouse. A small master would be kind of crazy at that price point. For some reason it didn't occur to me that some places have reasonably priced houses!

Ouch! No, this home is 1500 sq ft for $155,000.

brianabrad · March 2012

NextChapter:
My current master bedroom is 11x13 and it's fine, because I have a huge walk-in closet. The houses I'm looking at all have tiny closets, so having a room big enough for my dressers is more important.

That makes a lot of sense. Technically, with the size of the master closet we could have our dresser in the closet and it wouldn't have to take up room in the room.

steamboat185 · March 2012

The master in our current home is about 14x12 and our condo the master was much larger. Honestly I like the smaller space. I don't spend time in there hanging out and our old space just seemed wasteful. Having a decent size closet really helps.

dapotato · March 2012

it depends. we were fine with a smaller master if the other areas were large enough. we don't have a tv in the master, have our desks/computers in the office, and pretty much just sleep in there. as long as the living room and bedroom we were planning on using as an office were sufficient for our stuff, we were fine with a smaller master (but passed on a 10x11 one because of concern for resale).

Juris11 · March 2012

I guess I will go against the grain and say that I really wanted a large master, because our current bedroom is very tight with our furniture and I hate feeling cramped. I like to be able to spread out. The house we are buying has a 20 by 14 master.

I think a smaller master does hurt resale value, but if you have more of a starter home, the effect will be much less. And the larger closet will for sure help.

BriGiboo · March 2012

That size master sounds great for a starter home.

LaPiscine · March 2012

I know you didn't ask, but I wouldn't buy new construction as anything other than a forever home.

And yes, I think that is too small for a master.

brianabrad · March 2012

LaPiscine:
I know you didn't ask, but I wouldn't buy new construction as anything other than a forever home.
And yes, I think that is too small for a master.

Do you mind if I ask why?

lmspharmd · March 2012

That's about what we have now. If you are okay with a queen sized bed and one dresser it should be fine.

EMWindy · March 2012

If you don't have/want a King bed, I think that room is fine. For a 1500 sq ft house, I wouldn't expect a giant master (I'm thinking resale with that sentence).

My old bedroom was 15 x 12 in our start home (1700 sq ft), and it was fine for us (with a big master bathroom and closet), but we couldn't fit a king bed.

Our new room is 19x16, but its not a starter home - and that size room fits a king bed and large furniture better.

d0ri · March 2012

I think 14x12 is a good size considering the total square footage of the house.

oneplusoneistwo · March 2012

I actually think it depends more on the layout of the room (windows, wall space, closet placement) because we have a 15X12 and have a king sized bed (large bed with posts), a huge dresser for me with mirror, and one of the tall dressers for DH as well as 2 night stands, plus plenty of room to get around. We actually fit that furniture in a 12X12 before we bought our house, so I don't think a king size bed is out of the question if the layout is right.

msmerymac · March 2012

My current "master" is about 10x10. I'd love a king sized bed, but a smallish master bedroom wouldn't be a dealbreaker. Like PP said, I only really sleep in there. BUT I have a very large walk in closet where I keep my dresser. Our bedroom currently contains a nightstand, a queen sized bed, and my H's dresser. It's still a tight fit.

I don't know if most people feel that way. House Hunters seems to imply otherwise. But I'm assuming the house is 1500 sf, 3/2? I wouldn't expect a 14x20 master suite. Would there be a way to add on to the house later and have an additional, real master suite if you decided to expand rather than sell?

MisfitMe · March 2012

The house were looking at has a 14x14 master. It's small to me, but I figure we can add on later.

LaPiscine · March 2012

brianabrad:
LaPiscine:
I know you didn't ask, but I wouldn't buy new construction as anything other than a forever home.
And yes, I think that is too small for a master.
Do you mind if I ask why?

Just replied to this in the PM. Sorry I didn't see it earlier. But I would be nervous about buying new construction as a starter home because if you only live in it for a few years, you might be trying to sell when there are still brand new houses going up and who would buy a home that was 5 years old, when they could pick out all the finishes on a brand new home in the same community. Even if not the exact same development, you might be dealing with a situation where houses are going up across the way that you would have to compete with.

Also someone mention the possibility of this being a 3/2 house and I think that, in general, "starter homes" are on the demise because of the bursting of the housing bubble - fewer people are buying starter homes because of the realization that you have to live in a house for probably 7-10 years to recoup your costs when selling.

So you compound the problem by not only buying a "starter home" but by building it such that you might have virtually identical brand new homes to compete with when you're trying to sell.

brianabrad · March 2012

LaPiscine:
brianabrad:
LaPiscine:
I know you didn't ask, but I wouldn't buy new construction as anything other than a forever home.
And yes, I think that is too small for a master.
Do you mind if I ask why?
Just replied to this in the PM. Sorry I didn't see it earlier. But I would be nervous about buying new construction as a starter home because if you only live in it for a few years, you might be trying to sell when there are still brand new houses going up and who would buy a home that was 5 years old, when they could pick out all the finishes on a brand new home in the same community. Even if not the exact same development, you might be dealing with a situation where houses are going up across the way that you would have to compete with.
Also someone mention the possibility of this being a 3/2 house and I think that, in general, "starter homes" are on the demise because of the bursting of the housing bubble - fewer people are buying starter homes because of the realization that you have to live in a house for probably 7-10 years to recoup your costs when selling.
So you compound the problem by not only buying a "starter home" but by building it such that you might have virtually identical brand new homes to compete with when you're trying to sell.

Thanks for the reply! You make some great points. However, I don't really think that 3/2 starter homes are going out, at least not here, in this community alone they are building a majority of the homes as 3/2 homes. The nice thing about this development is that it has been in construction for several years and will be completed in the next two (at the speed they are going, looks like it might even be less time than that).

Photo5kCupcakes · March 2012

It would not be a deal breaker for me. As someone else stated, closet space is something that would matter more and making sure everything you currently own fits.

Mrs.G123 · April 2012

Ours is smaller but our house was built in 1914. GL!

aokon · April 2012

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Size of the master bedroom?

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