How is square footage figured out? I know it's "livable space" but what does that mean exactly? I know basements don't count, but what is considered a basement as opposed to a fully finished family room? What about hallways, laundry rooms, and bathrooms? For instance, the numbers below are from a house in my 'hood that's for sale. Is this all that gets counted?:

Lower 1: Family Rm 18x14 - Does this even count? It's fully finished, walkout level, etc. but it's on the bottom floor.

Main: Kitchen 19x9
Main: Living Room 17x16

Upper 1: Bedroom-Master 17x11
Upper 1: Bedroom-Second 10x10
Upper 1: Bedroom-Third 9x9

It comes out to 811 w/o the lower level and 1063 with. Thanks.

 

Usually it's space that is heated and air conditioned.

 

^^ nod...

Everything that's heated/liveable counts, so a finished basement would count, but the garage doesn't.

People are known to "overestimate" the square footage in house listings, so you've got to be careful if you're shopping, and "liberal" if you're selling

 

Ok cool, I thought 1063 was kinda low Thanks.

 

Also note that it is usually figured from the outside dimensions of the house. Check for a local tax collector/assessor website. They usually have square footage figures for both living space and total under roof.

 

Be careful with that though... if you overestimate and the new buyers have an appraisal done and it doesn't match the square footage you sold it for, they can sue you. Obviously it would have to be a decent amount to affect the value of the home... but it can, and does happen.

My parents agent had a buyer who found the house to be 200 sq. feet smaller then it was sold for. The house was only 2000 sq. ft., but that means it was 10% smaller. The buyer sued the sellers and the buyer got $30k back.

 

Hmm. My garage is heated, so does that mean I can count it?

 

Climate controlled garages don't count.

If you turn it into a livable space (meaning you make it a room), then yes, you could count it then....

My garage is painted, with base and window molding, three full sized windows, window shades, and so on.. but it's still a garage and does not count towards the final square footage count...

 

Snob.

 

hahahha... not intended that way.. just making a point

 

Some good info

http://homebuying.about.com/od/reale...re_footage.htm

 

I guess there's no requirement that you get square footage checked then, huh? That seems kinda like it would be mandatory for some reason

 

Better check. In some states the garage is counted in the square footage.

 

I know, I was just joking... cuz I'm jealous.

 

No requirement... but if the buyer was smart... they'd check before completing the transaction, otherwise you're just taking the sellers word for it. We bought a new house (new construction) and we still hired our own surveyer to verify everything from the square footage to the lot measurements... and I would assume anyone who's buying would do the same....

 

Friends of ours had some remodeling and other work done on their house - front bay window, kitchen work etc. Added some doghouse windows in front..it is a cape. Did not add any significant square footage...1 foot deep window - thats it.

They got recently re-assessed and they get their Tax bill and it went up almost $2000! They are like yo are you kidding - we added a window and some kitchen cabinets and some doghouse windows? Turns out that the previous owner had the two upstairs rooms listed as storage not bedrooms - even though they were already bedrooms when our friends bought the house. And the upstairs bathroom was not even listed - but it too was already there.

Pretty shady.

 

I dont think a finished basement counts. As far as I know its calculated based on the perimeter of of the house (times 2 is if its a two story). So a 15 x 10 foyer that is open up to the second floor would be 15x10x2, even though the sq footage on the second floor isnt really livable.

 

depends. Here in WI (as an appraiser) we would list the basment if it had bsmt finish. But it would all be a broken down listing IE first floor Sq ft, bsmt Sq Ft, Fin bsmt Sq ft. ect... then there would be a listed total living area. The Sq ft is calculated by the exterior measurements. Garages arent considered living area and get priced differently than living quarters . If its a vaulted Celing up to the 2nd floor it only counts as 1story since the upper area isnt liveable the actual 2nd floor gets calculated seperatly of the first floor, unless its all useable like the 1st

 

My company doesn't count garages into the GLA (gross living area in square feet) unless it is legally converted to a bedroom. If the permit for conversion can't be provided, then we must know the cost to unconvert it back to a garage. If the cost is too high we can't count the room in the GLA. This screws up appraisals a lot when trying to find similar comparables. We lend in several states btw.

 

Finished basement counts in NY and NC. It's climate controlled living space, why wouldn't it count?

If it's not finished, then no, it's just storage... but once you finish it it is added to the square footage of the house. Our last place was ~1950 square feet with the unfinished basement. We finished the basement on our own (builder wanted way too much) and when we listed it for sale, it was listed at 2650 sq ft (yes, the basement was ~700 sq ft).... and by doing so we got a lot more money for the place....

We could even it for 2650 sq ft until we had the C/O... so it's definitely included and also taxable

 

One of the guys showing us a house said that some companies will measure the square footage by the outside dimensions of a house (excl. the garage), which can add up to a significant difference by the time everything is added up. If the perimeter of your house is 50' x 40', that equates to 180' of ~6" thick walls that they're counting, which is an extra 90 square feet (check my math, it's friday). Not sure if that's considered significant, but it can cause issues if you're considering two different places that have measured this differently.