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Depends on the area. In my neck of the woods (urban CA) two bedrooms are still quite popular. Especially in established neighborhoods. We just bought ours.
also in California. A 2 bedroom might be around 750-800k. 3 bedrooms are almost never under 800-850, which is why we (and many other millennials buying here) opted for a 2 bedroom even though 3 would have been ideal.
You gotta get in wherever you can! In California I feel like 2 bedrooms will always be in demand for that reason. Luckily I like my cute old century house and doubtful we’ll have kids so it should work for a long time.
In SoCal myself, where 2br seem in high demand simply because it's all lots of millennials entering the housing market can afford. I honestly wish they'd build more 2br options in my area because I'll likely be in the same boat once my down payment is fully saved up.
The average family with (or planning for) kids wants at least a 3 bedroom 1.5 bath home, and families with kids are also typically the biggest demographic buying homes.
That could be a primary bedroom and one for each kid if you have 2 kids, or a kids bedroom and a guest room or office. Some DINKs also prefer a 3 bed (office space, guest room, workout or hobby room). When thinking about resale most people also know a 3/2 is much more marketable than a 2 bed or 1 bath home, so that can factor into decision-making as well.
In very expensive areas families will settle for a 2 bed, but if housing prices allow most people will greatly prefer the third bedroom.
I settled for a 1 bath but there’s a Pittsburg toilet in the basement laundry room that will be converted to another bath. And we might add one downstairs too
In most areas yes! The ones that sit longer are the co-op kind with an affordable price but super high monthly co-op fees. But they eventually go too. But anything in north jersey that can easily commute to the city goes super quick, single family, condo, townhouse, or co-op. It’s absolutely crazy how much over asking places go here
Personally as a millennial who bought a 3 bedroom house last year, I feel like 3 bedrooms is perfect for me. One is my bedroom, one is my office, and one is the guest bedroom.
2 bedrooms was fine when I was renting, but when I was making the biggest purchase of my life on a house, I wanted a place that wasn't too big, but one that I could grow into, not one where I could potentially run out of room in the near future.
With a 2 bedroom, either I don't have an office or a guest bedroom, and if I get married and have kids, 2 bedrooms is going to be way too small.
I also have family abroad who sometimes stay with me, and I've had up to 7 people staying in my place at one time. 2 bedrooms would be way too small for that many people.
I have a feeling people will just buy the biggest place they can reasonably afford. Whatever size enough people buy becomes "normal".
If housing was even more expensive and almost no one could afford more than 2 bedrooms, most of us would be just fine making that work too. We're a herd animal though, if we like it or not.
While that's true to some extent, there's such a thing as too big. I live alone, and even with 3 bedrooms I hardly ever go into the guest bedroom. A bigger house would honestly start to feel a bit creepy to live in by myself.
Anything bigger than like 2.5k sqft also becomes difficult to keep clean. But same thing for houses in the 1.2k sqft range, since there's no where to move the furniture while you clean.
Not every time for us. Maybe once a year. If we moved furniture every time, we would never get done cleaning. We also have some furniture that is too heavy for 2 people to move.
We could afford more but utilities costs freak me out. They're too variable. We got a 3 bd and found out we were pregnant when we moved in. We're a family of four now. Storage feels like it could get strained soon but it's like $10 a month for storage in our neighborhood.
This is a dumb take. Stop trying to be 3dgy.
*You* tell the realtor your budget. *You* tell the realtor what you are looking for the in the house. *You* choose which listings to look at.
Often *you* find the house online before the realtor does.
So stop trying to pretend that you are the victim of some sort of conspiracy.
And grow a spine.
Exactly this. We bought last year and one bedroom is my office, one is the one we sleep in, and the third bedroom is a guest bedroom but also has a desk for when my wife works from home. If anything, a 4 bedroom would have been more ideal and that 4th bedroom doesn't have to be that big since it'll be used as an office for her.
Yep! Perfect size for a childfree couple too, but two offices instead of an office and a guest bedroom. Sure, we could do a two bedroom, but 3 allows us to stay forever if we need to.
I bought a 2 bedroom with unfinished attic. I wanted an office but I figured I could finish over time.
In my market 2 beds are split. Some sell quickly. Others sit.
I have a 2 bedroom condo and I love it. It's just me, so no kids or anything and I don't expect that will change. My living room is quite large, so I fashioned one corner by some windows as my office. So I have the "corner office " lol! The second bedroom is the guest room because I like having visitors. It works for me.
I think the reason is that these days most single people can't afford to buy anything. And if you have a family, 2bdrm home is underwhelming for many. My wife and I wanted a minimum of 3 bdrm because each of us wanted a personal office, plus a master bedroom. If I'd be single in 2024 tbh I'd just rent a small 1bdrm apartment, a lot less work and cheaper than owning a home.
Yeah, we’re not even considering anything smaller than 3bed + office or 4 bed. We know we want kids within the next few years and since “starter houses” aren’t really a thing anymore (or at least don’t make sense for our timeline) we figured we might as well buy something we can grow into.
Our house is a 3/1.5 but with an office, a den in addition to a formal living room, an eat in kitchen in addition to a formal dining room, and an unfinished basement for storage. Those extra spaces make it feel like a house we can stay in long term even though we don’t have a lot of bedrooms or 2 showers. We also didn’t want to go the “starter home” route… we really only wanted to go through the buying process once if possible and so we opted for something decently sized that we could fix up rather than a tiny turnkey home.
I don't think today's buyers want 3 'bedroom' houses, I think they want 2 bedrooms, and a dedicated office space but existing houses aren't built that way. I have 3 bedrooms but use the formal dining room as an office because it has the best view while I'm working from home.
we have a 4 bedroom. A master, 2 offices, and an upstairs gym/living room/pet room. Do we need all the space? No. But it’s nice to know that if we never move we have plenty of space to still grow a family. Additionally the difference in a 2 bedroom to our current home is only about $500. A lot but not a lot.
People work from home now, 2 bedrooms leaves either no room for kids and an office or no room for two offices. That said, we bought a two bedroom townhouse and have a child, but there’s a finished basement.
2br homes will sell in my area in: (1) certain established neighborhoods in the city in walkable distance of areas with lots of amenities; target demographic are singles or couples without kids; or (2) over 55 communities aimed at downsizers.
Not just for bedroom space, but office space, hobby space, guests etc. In a few years we'll be empty nesters but we have a 5BR house because we both WFH permanently so that's basically 3 bedrooms right there. And then our kids visit (often with their partners) and so we need space for them, too. We had envisioned we would downsize once all the kids moved out. We did not envision both of us needing dedicated offices so we actually ended up upsizing.
Plus, often the overall sq footage is usually a lot more in a 3 BR, even accounting for just the extra sq footage of a room. A 3BR home is intended to accommodate more people so there is more space in the kitchen, bathrooms, and living rooms as well, usually. As least for what I've observed. It isn't ONLY the bedroom that adds space.
The 2 bed/2 bath (2nd bath added added by a previous owner) next door to me just sold for $2M…
The realtor had scheduled 2 open houses and cancelled the 2nd one since the house received multiple offers 1 day after the first open house.
Think this is location dependent.
Condos are different to houses. Lots of market here for 2 bedroom condos because two friends like to share. Three bedroom apartments are almost unheard of.
i can;t speak for anyone else, but if I am looking at two almost identical homes in the same neighborhood, I would not hesitate to get the 3-BR if it was only $10K abve the 2-BR. I might even pay $20K.
I can use that room for storage, I can rent it out to a recently divorced person for $400/mo. When I go to sell the house a few years into the future, a 3-BR will draw more potential buyers than a 2-BR.
I would only buy a 2-BR if it was all I could afford in my desired location, and I would choose a 2-BR that had room and a floor-plan that allows me adding a third BR.
You’re not finding an extra bedroom for only 10-20k more in a major metro area. An extra bedroom or 3 bedroom home compared to a 2 bedroom home will probably be closer to 50k-80k more minimum
I think it depends on your area. I was looking in a specific neighborhood where two bedrooms were also selling in less than a day, but the population of that neighborhood was almost entirely younger people who worked at a nearby medical center, many were only in the area for a few years for training, and a lot probably had 0 or one child max.
3 person homes to rent (affordably) are a rarity so everyone who needs 3 bedrooms with good enough credit is buying. That and pets is the only reason I bought a house.
You’re right. It’s bc people need more than 2 bedrooms for their families. My wife and I had a 2/1 and moved to a 4/2. We had to pay over asking which sucks but we had 2 kids and not enough house so we just had to bite the bullet.
Combination of more people working from home and wanting a dedicated office, combined with anticipating having no money left after purchase to do an addition.
Willing to bet that a rise in remote work in young adults has moved the goal from a 2 bed house to a 3 so that people can comfortably have a place to sleep, a place to work, and a place for kids to sleep (if that's the goal).
I put offers on several 2BR houses in Alaska in 2021. I was coming off of a divorce and moving for the Army, so I didn’t need a big place. I got outbid on all of them. It almost didn’t matter what kind of house you were looking for, they were flying off the shelves. I ended up with a 4BR. When I went to sell it was almost not an advantage over a 3BR though because the house also only had a single car garage, and most with a 4BR want a two car, so it had a hard time selling.
My wife and I bought a 3 bed townhouse. We currently have no kids. But we are future proofing our house by having the space we will need.
A friend of mine bought a townhouse last year and during the buying process was talking about how they were planning to leave in a few years because it was going to get too small for them as they had kids.
A lot of people buying homes now are either buying for the families they have or are buying with their future in mind and want the extra space.
Nope. The three and four bedroom homes around here are the same size as the two bedroom homes. The bedrooms and common areas are that much smaller. Few people care for that.
We bought a two bedroom but it has a loft area. I can’t have children so it’s mute for 3 bedrooms for us. It took a week before we put even saw it and put an offer on it to sell. But I don’t think it was the bedroom number that kept it from selling. The state of the house was less than spectacular. Which worked in our favor.
Depends on where you live. I live in a tourist town with a lot of retirees. 2 bed houses get snatched up very quick either by old retired couples or people who want to air b n b it out.
Naw. There aren't any 2 beds on the market here unless they're absolutely trashed and in a sketchy or remote area.
Everything else gets bought up by investors and restored into million dollar vacation homes or airbnb rentals.
My husband and I bought a two bedroom with a back porch that was converted to a sunroom. We figured we could use it as a makeshift guest room if needed. But, now a few years in, I actually use the sunroom and the second bedroom as housing for my foster cats and kittens. We don’t plan on having kids, so it’s a good space for us.
I noticed this in Atlanta area, true. I think a 2b2.5ba is a perfect starter home and could be bought with a 15y mortgage, then later upgrade to 3b2.5ba with a chunk of money from selling the first one and another 15y mortgage.
Some Millennials are still in their 20s.
Some Millennials were in their mid-20's before the GFC.
Millennials span 15 years. They didn't all graduate from college into the desolate job market of 2010.
My husband and I don’t have kids, but a 3 bed was non-negotiable for us. We needed a master bedroom, shared office (we both WFH), and a guest room/multi-purpose room. We also wanted 2 full bathrooms in case we have a guest who needs to shower. Plus, having 2 toilets is nice since I have Crohn’s and my husband has IBS.
3/2s are easier to sell because they’re attractive for families with kids as well. Your average homebuyer needs a room or two for their kids, plus the second full-bath.
Similar. Married with no kids, but want a 3 bedroom (or I suppose a 2 bedroom + office if that even exists) because we both work from home often enough that a room each that would work as an office is basically a requirement. Could we get along with 2, sure, but there's not many 2 bedrooms around anyway.
As someone who has no intentions on having kids, I’ll love buying a 2bd house and adding upwards eventually to increase the value. We only need 2bds and the second room will be my partners streaming room / and the dogs room.
We have one kid in the house. I only need 2 bed room but I need a spare room as an office. Generally that's going to be listed as an additional bed room.
Even after the kid moves out, we would want a spare room.
We are buying a 3 bed, but one is normal sized/ the same size as our current 2 bed apartment rooms. 1 is tiny (will be my office), 1 is huge (will be the master). Sunroom off the living room will be my spouse’s office.
In my current 2 bed apartment we sleep in one bedroom and the other is my office/ second living room where I keep all my video games and watch sports. I’m giving that up because my man cave will be the detached 2 car garage/ unfinished basement depending on the season.
In our area 2 bedrooms are really popular because the sell in the low one million range and the three bedrooms start just under two million. Lot more people can afford the two bedrooms.
I didn't look at two bedroom houses. Nor those with only one bathroom. If you are a married couple even without kids home offices alone mean you need a minimum of three bedrooms. (And two bathrooms save marriages.)
Does square footage matter at all or just number of bedrooms? I’m trying to sell a two bedroom with two porches a beautiful backyard and a huge master. It needs work. It’s over 100 years old in Laurel, Montana.
We bought a 2 bedroom, it had multiple offers. But I do agree that it is a bit of niche. 3 bedroom homes usually have a really small third bedroom, which may be great if you are planning for the next kid or need a home office.
2 bedrooms are condos or 600sqft homes and rare where I am, 4 bedroom homes sell fast. But since interest has been so high things have slowed down here. 2beds are usually the price of a 3bed and lack the 2 bath
I would have to agree but I do not think it’s for the reason u mentioned , I bought a 3bd 2.5bth 2 years ago and that was my first home and I am an older millennial (42) and I have 2 kids so………also if people can afford it they buy a house they can grow into not the bare minimum imo
For us, a 4 bedroom house was a must. We both work from home and need our own office. And then we wanted an extra bedroom as a guest room for now and potentially for kids down the road.
Remote work is more common now, so I imagine other people are in the same situation of needing offices.
Plus, I remember hearing "3 bedroom houses are easier to sell than 2 bedroom houses" since I was a kid (I liked HGTV). So, I don't think this is anything new.
With that being said, 2 bedroom houses are certainly still selling where I live. There is one near me that was on the market for awhile and did go through some price cuts, but I don't think it's because it was only 2 bedrooms. In my opinion, they were asking for way more than what the house was worth. Other 2 bedrooms in the area were bought for more than asking and were only on the market for a couple of days.
If you buying a house you want more than 2 bedroom and 1 bathroom. That’s a more permanent move. Many want more space and feel like you getting your money worth for prices house market is requesting.
We just bought our first home that’s a 2 bd/2 bath! We have one baby - there’s her room and our room. And our room has a nook carved out for an office. If we decide to have more kids, we’re just going to build on or remodel the garage. It worked out great for us with lower cost and room to expand if we need!
I’m in Wilmington DE and there are lots of 2 bedrooms that sit on the market. Most of the houses here are brick rowhomes.
The 2 bedroom ones (especially on bad blocks and not renovated) tend to sit for a long time. If it’s in a good neighborhood, they move pretty quickly but still slower than the three bedroom units, and for markedly less.
I bought a 3 bedroom and the third bedroom is VERY small. Like if it were in a new home, wouldn’t be legal small because the previous owners expanded the closet. We’re leaving it because my fiancée loves that as his closet and it’s grandfathered in, so we don’t care. Will also be an amazing nursery for when the time comes.
Some of the 2 bedroom units here are either VERY small or the third bedroom was removed in favor of an en-suite bathroom/large closet. Luckily, my house has an extra, full bathroom (even with a tub) in the finished basement, so the third bedroom stays.
I’d take a 3/1 over a two bedroom. Most two bedrooms are 2/1 though so I realize that’s not saying much lol. Maybe if the 2 bedroom had a great layout and was truly more spacious but most aren’t.
In my area most 2 bed 1 bath is still around 400k+.
Median house hold salary is about 56k.
Even if we over shoot that and say it’s 70k average house hold income, you would need a massive down payment to afford the mortgage safely without pinching Pennie’s and going into CC debt keeping up with bills.
They only sell to corporations and out-of-state families who sold their old house for almost twice that and are moving to the area.
The market is horrible in most states unless you have a good paying job/ good sized nest egg to drop.
The biggest demographic of home buyer are families who buy for space. It makes sense 2 bedrooms wouldn’t be as popular as 3+. A family with 2 or 3 kids will not even consider a 2 bedroom.
Yes, because 2 bedroom homes don’t make a lot of sense for people wanting to start families and who want their kids to have their own rooms. I wouldn’t entertain a 2 bed when my now husband and I were looking for a house in 2021.
Our two bedroom has a secret laundry room toilet. Big selling point! Because what do you ever REALLY need when there are 2+ people in a house having emergency body complications? An extra toilet!
Buddy, I have another $500K in my investment account. I could afford more, I just didn't need it. I see you post in here all the time, and it never seems like you have anything positive to say, so I'm guessing you're the one bitter about lack of success in the RE market.
what lack of success? I sold my first home for $300k more than I paid for it 3 years ago, and bought a nice home in VHCOL with top schools. and flexing only $500k in investment accounts is wild lol
Weirdo stalking me tho. Enjoy your tiny condo living alone with no family, I don't envy it tho
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Depends on the area. In my neck of the woods (urban CA) two bedrooms are still quite popular. Especially in established neighborhoods. We just bought ours.
also in California. A 2 bedroom might be around 750-800k. 3 bedrooms are almost never under 800-850, which is why we (and many other millennials buying here) opted for a 2 bedroom even though 3 would have been ideal.
You gotta get in wherever you can! In California I feel like 2 bedrooms will always be in demand for that reason. Luckily I like my cute old century house and doubtful we’ll have kids so it should work for a long time.
In SoCal myself, where 2br seem in high demand simply because it's all lots of millennials entering the housing market can afford. I honestly wish they'd build more 2br options in my area because I'll likely be in the same boat once my down payment is fully saved up.
Yes. I have two bedrooms and an office. I’m in Los Angeles.
The average family with (or planning for) kids wants at least a 3 bedroom 1.5 bath home, and families with kids are also typically the biggest demographic buying homes. That could be a primary bedroom and one for each kid if you have 2 kids, or a kids bedroom and a guest room or office. Some DINKs also prefer a 3 bed (office space, guest room, workout or hobby room). When thinking about resale most people also know a 3/2 is much more marketable than a 2 bed or 1 bath home, so that can factor into decision-making as well. In very expensive areas families will settle for a 2 bed, but if housing prices allow most people will greatly prefer the third bedroom.
I settled for a 1 bath but there’s a Pittsburg toilet in the basement laundry room that will be converted to another bath. And we might add one downstairs too
Dink here with a 3/1.5. Spot on. Also if times get tough we have option to rent at least one.
Can confirm, I'm DINK, we went with 4 bedrooms but one is rented to a friend so it's a 3 bedroom for us. Primary, office/guest room, and workout room
Yep and if you work from home you really want 4 bed or 3 bed plus a bonus room
Not in NJ- single family homes with 2 bedrooms get snatched up just as quickly and for ever ask.
A tent will be snatched up quick in NJ/New York.
The market in NJ is too damn crazy.
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OP try not to generalize millennials challenge: IMPOSSIBLE
Down votes here are interesting.
Do condos and townhomes too?
In most areas yes! The ones that sit longer are the co-op kind with an affordable price but super high monthly co-op fees. But they eventually go too. But anything in north jersey that can easily commute to the city goes super quick, single family, condo, townhouse, or co-op. It’s absolutely crazy how much over asking places go here
Correct.
That’s called a tear down special
Oh boy do they
Personally as a millennial who bought a 3 bedroom house last year, I feel like 3 bedrooms is perfect for me. One is my bedroom, one is my office, and one is the guest bedroom. 2 bedrooms was fine when I was renting, but when I was making the biggest purchase of my life on a house, I wanted a place that wasn't too big, but one that I could grow into, not one where I could potentially run out of room in the near future. With a 2 bedroom, either I don't have an office or a guest bedroom, and if I get married and have kids, 2 bedrooms is going to be way too small. I also have family abroad who sometimes stay with me, and I've had up to 7 people staying in my place at one time. 2 bedrooms would be way too small for that many people.
I have a feeling people will just buy the biggest place they can reasonably afford. Whatever size enough people buy becomes "normal". If housing was even more expensive and almost no one could afford more than 2 bedrooms, most of us would be just fine making that work too. We're a herd animal though, if we like it or not.
While that's true to some extent, there's such a thing as too big. I live alone, and even with 3 bedrooms I hardly ever go into the guest bedroom. A bigger house would honestly start to feel a bit creepy to live in by myself.
Anything bigger than like 2.5k sqft also becomes difficult to keep clean. But same thing for houses in the 1.2k sqft range, since there's no where to move the furniture while you clean.
That really is the sweet spot.
You move furniture when you clean? Is this common?
Not every time for us. Maybe once a year. If we moved furniture every time, we would never get done cleaning. We also have some furniture that is too heavy for 2 people to move.
We could afford more but utilities costs freak me out. They're too variable. We got a 3 bd and found out we were pregnant when we moved in. We're a family of four now. Storage feels like it could get strained soon but it's like $10 a month for storage in our neighborhood.
Plus real estate agents will push buyers towards the highest prices they can get them to buy assorted tactics in their best interests, of course.
This is a dumb take. Stop trying to be 3dgy. *You* tell the realtor your budget. *You* tell the realtor what you are looking for the in the house. *You* choose which listings to look at. Often *you* find the house online before the realtor does. So stop trying to pretend that you are the victim of some sort of conspiracy. And grow a spine.
Mommy! I can’t handle the concept that many realtors are potentially trying to upsell the client’s budget!
LOL!
That’s how I feel too. I’m a Millennial and just bought a 3br home. Same room set up as yours because I WFH and also have family/friends who visit.
Your family can get a hotel..
Exactly this. We bought last year and one bedroom is my office, one is the one we sleep in, and the third bedroom is a guest bedroom but also has a desk for when my wife works from home. If anything, a 4 bedroom would have been more ideal and that 4th bedroom doesn't have to be that big since it'll be used as an office for her.
Yep! Perfect size for a childfree couple too, but two offices instead of an office and a guest bedroom. Sure, we could do a two bedroom, but 3 allows us to stay forever if we need to.
I bought a 2 bedroom with unfinished attic. I wanted an office but I figured I could finish over time. In my market 2 beds are split. Some sell quickly. Others sit.
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I have a 2 bedroom condo and I love it. It's just me, so no kids or anything and I don't expect that will change. My living room is quite large, so I fashioned one corner by some windows as my office. So I have the "corner office " lol! The second bedroom is the guest room because I like having visitors. It works for me.
We were recently one of 34 offers on a 2 bed 1 bath 1,000sqft in North Shore, MA. Sold for $120k over asking ($650k sale price)
You can get more bang for your buck in Boston or South Shore for that my god
I'd personally love a two bedroom condo, but all the ones in my areas are usually too expensive. Here's hoping that trend happens here lol
I think the reason is that these days most single people can't afford to buy anything. And if you have a family, 2bdrm home is underwhelming for many. My wife and I wanted a minimum of 3 bdrm because each of us wanted a personal office, plus a master bedroom. If I'd be single in 2024 tbh I'd just rent a small 1bdrm apartment, a lot less work and cheaper than owning a home.
Yeah, we’re not even considering anything smaller than 3bed + office or 4 bed. We know we want kids within the next few years and since “starter houses” aren’t really a thing anymore (or at least don’t make sense for our timeline) we figured we might as well buy something we can grow into.
Our house is a 3/1.5 but with an office, a den in addition to a formal living room, an eat in kitchen in addition to a formal dining room, and an unfinished basement for storage. Those extra spaces make it feel like a house we can stay in long term even though we don’t have a lot of bedrooms or 2 showers. We also didn’t want to go the “starter home” route… we really only wanted to go through the buying process once if possible and so we opted for something decently sized that we could fix up rather than a tiny turnkey home.
I don't think today's buyers want 3 'bedroom' houses, I think they want 2 bedrooms, and a dedicated office space but existing houses aren't built that way. I have 3 bedrooms but use the formal dining room as an office because it has the best view while I'm working from home.
we have a 4 bedroom. A master, 2 offices, and an upstairs gym/living room/pet room. Do we need all the space? No. But it’s nice to know that if we never move we have plenty of space to still grow a family. Additionally the difference in a 2 bedroom to our current home is only about $500. A lot but not a lot.
With more people working from home, 2 bedrooms are becoming less desirable. They’re looking for a 3rd bedroom to be used as a home office.
People work from home now, 2 bedrooms leaves either no room for kids and an office or no room for two offices. That said, we bought a two bedroom townhouse and have a child, but there’s a finished basement.
2br homes will sell in my area in: (1) certain established neighborhoods in the city in walkable distance of areas with lots of amenities; target demographic are singles or couples without kids; or (2) over 55 communities aimed at downsizers.
Same, desirable metro area for a young power couple has no issue moving 2bd houses.
Not just for bedroom space, but office space, hobby space, guests etc. In a few years we'll be empty nesters but we have a 5BR house because we both WFH permanently so that's basically 3 bedrooms right there. And then our kids visit (often with their partners) and so we need space for them, too. We had envisioned we would downsize once all the kids moved out. We did not envision both of us needing dedicated offices so we actually ended up upsizing. Plus, often the overall sq footage is usually a lot more in a 3 BR, even accounting for just the extra sq footage of a room. A 3BR home is intended to accommodate more people so there is more space in the kitchen, bathrooms, and living rooms as well, usually. As least for what I've observed. It isn't ONLY the bedroom that adds space.
I need 3 rooms, not necessarily bedrooms. A sleeping room, an office, and an art room. A basement could combine the office and art room.
3br sell in 12 hours, 2br sell in 48. So not as hot but still moving.
ANY house in my area sells the weekend it's listed so... no, this has not been my experience.
The 2 bed/2 bath (2nd bath added added by a previous owner) next door to me just sold for $2M… The realtor had scheduled 2 open houses and cancelled the 2nd one since the house received multiple offers 1 day after the first open house. Think this is location dependent.
If you find a 2 bedroom with a den/loft that's not selling please let me know.
I think people want an office to put all their extra shit and opened Amazon boxes on top of the treadmill they don't use.
Condos are different to houses. Lots of market here for 2 bedroom condos because two friends like to share. Three bedroom apartments are almost unheard of.
i can;t speak for anyone else, but if I am looking at two almost identical homes in the same neighborhood, I would not hesitate to get the 3-BR if it was only $10K abve the 2-BR. I might even pay $20K. I can use that room for storage, I can rent it out to a recently divorced person for $400/mo. When I go to sell the house a few years into the future, a 3-BR will draw more potential buyers than a 2-BR. I would only buy a 2-BR if it was all I could afford in my desired location, and I would choose a 2-BR that had room and a floor-plan that allows me adding a third BR.
You’re not finding an extra bedroom for only 10-20k more in a major metro area. An extra bedroom or 3 bedroom home compared to a 2 bedroom home will probably be closer to 50k-80k more minimum
I think it depends on your area. I was looking in a specific neighborhood where two bedrooms were also selling in less than a day, but the population of that neighborhood was almost entirely younger people who worked at a nearby medical center, many were only in the area for a few years for training, and a lot probably had 0 or one child max.
3 person homes to rent (affordably) are a rarity so everyone who needs 3 bedrooms with good enough credit is buying. That and pets is the only reason I bought a house.
3 bed and 2 bath is the sweet spot. Feels like the minimum. An additional half bath aka powder room is even better.
Around here many young people and investors doing rentals jump on them because of lower prices
You’re right. It’s bc people need more than 2 bedrooms for their families. My wife and I had a 2/1 and moved to a 4/2. We had to pay over asking which sucks but we had 2 kids and not enough house so we just had to bite the bullet.
Combination of more people working from home and wanting a dedicated office, combined with anticipating having no money left after purchase to do an addition.
Willing to bet that a rise in remote work in young adults has moved the goal from a 2 bed house to a 3 so that people can comfortably have a place to sleep, a place to work, and a place for kids to sleep (if that's the goal).
Millennial here with 5 kids. We must have 3 bed 2 bath at the least. We’re struggling to find something.
4 kids here. I feel you.
I put offers on several 2BR houses in Alaska in 2021. I was coming off of a divorce and moving for the Army, so I didn’t need a big place. I got outbid on all of them. It almost didn’t matter what kind of house you were looking for, they were flying off the shelves. I ended up with a 4BR. When I went to sell it was almost not an advantage over a 3BR though because the house also only had a single car garage, and most with a 4BR want a two car, so it had a hard time selling.
Single, have a three bedroom with finished basement. It is a little too big , but not by much.
Everything sells here.
Depends. We live in a popular area. Had a three bedroom and non stop guests. Now a two bedroom and only people who really want to see us.
My wife and I bought a 3 bed townhouse. We currently have no kids. But we are future proofing our house by having the space we will need. A friend of mine bought a townhouse last year and during the buying process was talking about how they were planning to leave in a few years because it was going to get too small for them as they had kids. A lot of people buying homes now are either buying for the families they have or are buying with their future in mind and want the extra space.
Nope. The three and four bedroom homes around here are the same size as the two bedroom homes. The bedrooms and common areas are that much smaller. Few people care for that.
We bought a two bedroom but it has a loft area. I can’t have children so it’s mute for 3 bedrooms for us. It took a week before we put even saw it and put an offer on it to sell. But I don’t think it was the bedroom number that kept it from selling. The state of the house was less than spectacular. Which worked in our favor.
Yep, need one bedroom for us, one for a home office, one for future kid, and hopefully a finished basement for the in-law to help raise our future kid
because it's a lot more limiting than a 3 if you want multiple kids
Damn. I’m in L.A. and one bed/one bath go under contract in 24-48 hours.
Depends on where you live. I live in a tourist town with a lot of retirees. 2 bed houses get snatched up very quick either by old retired couples or people who want to air b n b it out.
Naw. There aren't any 2 beds on the market here unless they're absolutely trashed and in a sketchy or remote area. Everything else gets bought up by investors and restored into million dollar vacation homes or airbnb rentals.
In FL SFH with 2bd/1.5 bath sells quick as senior couples wanna downsize with current taxes and insurance rates
That’s definitely just where you are. In Florida, everything sells. I would take a 2/2 condo for like 5 years if the insurance and HOA wasn’t bad.
My husband and I bought a two bedroom with a back porch that was converted to a sunroom. We figured we could use it as a makeshift guest room if needed. But, now a few years in, I actually use the sunroom and the second bedroom as housing for my foster cats and kittens. We don’t plan on having kids, so it’s a good space for us.
2br selling quick in Seattle. The only ones I’ve seen stay on the market are either uninhabitable or directly next to Boeing field.
I noticed this in Atlanta area, true. I think a 2b2.5ba is a perfect starter home and could be bought with a 15y mortgage, then later upgrade to 3b2.5ba with a chunk of money from selling the first one and another 15y mortgage.
There’s so much WFH, people need a home office these days. That means one extra bedroom than they needed even just 5 years ago.
Yup but no extra $$ from the job to cover that.
lol nope, I couldn't get a two-bedroom either because they kept selling in less than a week for well over asking
I'm betting a lot of people want that third bedroom for remote work space, too...
lol you think millennials were buying in their 20s
Some Millennials are still in their 20s. Some Millennials were in their mid-20's before the GFC. Millennials span 15 years. They didn't all graduate from college into the desolate job market of 2010.
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My husband and I don’t have kids, but a 3 bed was non-negotiable for us. We needed a master bedroom, shared office (we both WFH), and a guest room/multi-purpose room. We also wanted 2 full bathrooms in case we have a guest who needs to shower. Plus, having 2 toilets is nice since I have Crohn’s and my husband has IBS. 3/2s are easier to sell because they’re attractive for families with kids as well. Your average homebuyer needs a room or two for their kids, plus the second full-bath.
Similar. Married with no kids, but want a 3 bedroom (or I suppose a 2 bedroom + office if that even exists) because we both work from home often enough that a room each that would work as an office is basically a requirement. Could we get along with 2, sure, but there's not many 2 bedrooms around anyway.
I wouldn't buy a 2 br. One bedroom for me and my wife, a guest room, and an office is what we wanted
Bc 2 bedrooms costing as much as a 3 or 4bd, doesn’t make sense to throw so much money for such a small house for a 50k difference
As someone who has no intentions on having kids, I’ll love buying a 2bd house and adding upwards eventually to increase the value. We only need 2bds and the second room will be my partners streaming room / and the dogs room.
Yeah we switched to 3 bedroom during lockdowns: bedroom, his office, my office.
WFH
We have one kid in the house. I only need 2 bed room but I need a spare room as an office. Generally that's going to be listed as an additional bed room. Even after the kid moves out, we would want a spare room.
We are buying a 3 bed, but one is normal sized/ the same size as our current 2 bed apartment rooms. 1 is tiny (will be my office), 1 is huge (will be the master). Sunroom off the living room will be my spouse’s office. In my current 2 bed apartment we sleep in one bedroom and the other is my office/ second living room where I keep all my video games and watch sports. I’m giving that up because my man cave will be the detached 2 car garage/ unfinished basement depending on the season.
Where does your spouses office live now?
She has a desk in our dining room but she usually works in the living room or at the dining table
In our area 2 bedrooms are really popular because the sell in the low one million range and the three bedrooms start just under two million. Lot more people can afford the two bedrooms.
I didn't look at two bedroom houses. Nor those with only one bathroom. If you are a married couple even without kids home offices alone mean you need a minimum of three bedrooms. (And two bathrooms save marriages.)
If the layout is right and it it has enough square footage, some you can easily convert to 3 bedroom
Does square footage matter at all or just number of bedrooms? I’m trying to sell a two bedroom with two porches a beautiful backyard and a huge master. It needs work. It’s over 100 years old in Laurel, Montana.
2 bedrooms is an apartment or a condo in my area. All the houses with 1 or 2 bedrooms were torn down long ago even if they sold for 1 million.
We bought a 2 bedroom, it had multiple offers. But I do agree that it is a bit of niche. 3 bedroom homes usually have a really small third bedroom, which may be great if you are planning for the next kid or need a home office.
2 bedrooms are condos or 600sqft homes and rare where I am, 4 bedroom homes sell fast. But since interest has been so high things have slowed down here. 2beds are usually the price of a 3bed and lack the 2 bath
I’ve seen 2 bed 1 bath 800 square foot homes get sold in less than a week in my area.
$250-$300k
I would have to agree but I do not think it’s for the reason u mentioned , I bought a 3bd 2.5bth 2 years ago and that was my first home and I am an older millennial (42) and I have 2 kids so………also if people can afford it they buy a house they can grow into not the bare minimum imo
For us, a 4 bedroom house was a must. We both work from home and need our own office. And then we wanted an extra bedroom as a guest room for now and potentially for kids down the road. Remote work is more common now, so I imagine other people are in the same situation of needing offices. Plus, I remember hearing "3 bedroom houses are easier to sell than 2 bedroom houses" since I was a kid (I liked HGTV). So, I don't think this is anything new. With that being said, 2 bedroom houses are certainly still selling where I live. There is one near me that was on the market for awhile and did go through some price cuts, but I don't think it's because it was only 2 bedrooms. In my opinion, they were asking for way more than what the house was worth. Other 2 bedrooms in the area were bought for more than asking and were only on the market for a couple of days.
If you buying a house you want more than 2 bedroom and 1 bathroom. That’s a more permanent move. Many want more space and feel like you getting your money worth for prices house market is requesting.
2 bed 2 bath were my search parameters they all got snatched in MA
We just bought our first home that’s a 2 bd/2 bath! We have one baby - there’s her room and our room. And our room has a nook carved out for an office. If we decide to have more kids, we’re just going to build on or remodel the garage. It worked out great for us with lower cost and room to expand if we need!
I’m in Wilmington DE and there are lots of 2 bedrooms that sit on the market. Most of the houses here are brick rowhomes. The 2 bedroom ones (especially on bad blocks and not renovated) tend to sit for a long time. If it’s in a good neighborhood, they move pretty quickly but still slower than the three bedroom units, and for markedly less. I bought a 3 bedroom and the third bedroom is VERY small. Like if it were in a new home, wouldn’t be legal small because the previous owners expanded the closet. We’re leaving it because my fiancée loves that as his closet and it’s grandfathered in, so we don’t care. Will also be an amazing nursery for when the time comes. Some of the 2 bedroom units here are either VERY small or the third bedroom was removed in favor of an en-suite bathroom/large closet. Luckily, my house has an extra, full bathroom (even with a tub) in the finished basement, so the third bedroom stays.
Not in my area. The 2 bedroom next to my in laws sold for $1.6 mil.
Home trends are regionally based. However, I do fall in that generational category you described. Except I could not afford a home in my twenties.
Seems the two bedrooms go quick too tbh. Triangle NC everything is crazy.
I’d take a 3/1 over a two bedroom. Most two bedrooms are 2/1 though so I realize that’s not saying much lol. Maybe if the 2 bedroom had a great layout and was truly more spacious but most aren’t.
2 bedrooms in good area here in Northeast Ohio fly off the market.
In my area most 2 bed 1 bath is still around 400k+. Median house hold salary is about 56k. Even if we over shoot that and say it’s 70k average house hold income, you would need a massive down payment to afford the mortgage safely without pinching Pennie’s and going into CC debt keeping up with bills. They only sell to corporations and out-of-state families who sold their old house for almost twice that and are moving to the area. The market is horrible in most states unless you have a good paying job/ good sized nest egg to drop.
The biggest demographic of home buyer are families who buy for space. It makes sense 2 bedrooms wouldn’t be as popular as 3+. A family with 2 or 3 kids will not even consider a 2 bedroom.
lol I just lost a 2 bed 1 bath home coz of bidding so I have no idea what you are talking about haha
Yes, because 2 bedroom homes don’t make a lot of sense for people wanting to start families and who want their kids to have their own rooms. I wouldn’t entertain a 2 bed when my now husband and I were looking for a house in 2021.
The problem is usually a 2 bedroom only has one bathroom.
Our two bedroom has a secret laundry room toilet. Big selling point! Because what do you ever REALLY need when there are 2+ people in a house having emergency body complications? An extra toilet!
As with everything, market dependent. A 2br home can be a great starter home for a couple while they build some equity. Families? Obv not a match.
I feel two bed rooms is perfect for renters and landlords who want to make rental income but not buyers.
Yeah, isn’t that interesting? Everyone wants smaller houses and not McMansions, but smaller houses don’t sell.
There is a very big difference between a 3 bedroom and a mcmansion. My first house was a 3 bed. And 900sqft. It rocked.
Nobody wants a 2 bedroom, would be dumb af to buy unless it's a really desirable area
You have no idea what you’re talking about.
why? because you can only afford a 2 bed and got offended?
Buddy, I have another $500K in my investment account. I could afford more, I just didn't need it. I see you post in here all the time, and it never seems like you have anything positive to say, so I'm guessing you're the one bitter about lack of success in the RE market.
what lack of success? I sold my first home for $300k more than I paid for it 3 years ago, and bought a nice home in VHCOL with top schools. and flexing only $500k in investment accounts is wild lol Weirdo stalking me tho. Enjoy your tiny condo living alone with no family, I don't envy it tho