Can a Home Office be a Bedroom?

Don’t worry, this is not a tax deduction discussion related to whether you can expense your bedroom as a home office as far as the IRS is concerned. Instead of asking whether a bedroom can count as a home office, we want to know whether a home office can count as a bedroom!

As discussed in yesterday’s post, we are strictly enforcing our flex advertising policy to ensure trust and transparency for all customers searching for apartments for rent. A home office is an alcove or enclosed area or room, but does not qualify as a true bedroom because it does not meet the two basic requirements: a minimum width and length for a bedroom, and a window to natural light.


 *Example of a Broker Blast aka Landlord Sheet. Even though the landlord notes which units can be flexed, they still officially show only the original, true bedroom counts

Take a look from today’s broker blast from TF Cornerstone, describing available units at well-known 45 Wall Street. Many studios have a home office alcove, allowing the living room to be double flexed into a flex-2. In the most extreme case, there is somehow one unit that contains 3 home offices, AND 2 walk-in closets… but it is technically still a large studio that can be flexed into 5!

At RentHop, we require agents and landlords to list the true, original bedroom count. We will allow flexing at most 2 bedrooms, so a studio can become a Flex 2, or a 1 bedroom can become a Flex 3 (no studio Flex-5’s for now).

Lee Lin
Lee Lin
Lee is a data geek from MIT who spent years at quantitative hedge funds cranking out models to explain and predict financial markets. Real estate has always been a big part of Lee's life. He grew up helping out at his parents' Jersey Shore motels, became a landlord his first year out of college, analyzed mortgages on a fixed-income trading desk, and acquired a New York real estate license. At RentHop, he combines his nerd talents and real estate knowledge to constantly tweak the secret HopScore. He currently lives near Bryant Park and his favorite restaurant was Cafe Zaiya (now known as Tomiz).

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