By Mel Dorman, May 6, 2021
If you’re buying a home, the listing likely includes the square footage, a key selling point. But if you make an offer that’s accepted and you’ve moved onto reviewing the appraisal, you may find that the appraiser’s square footage is different from what’s on the listing. You maybe asking yourself why this happens.
Square footage, is calculated when you measure how much floor space there is in a home. At its simplest, you multiply the length of a room by its width, then total the rooms together. So how can two different pros come up with different numbers?
The difference often comes down to official “living space” versus the total space of the house, says Harold Huggins, a real estate agent with Harold H. Huggins Realty in Burtonsville, MD.
An agent may calculate square footage based on how much living space there is—in other words, areas of the home that are heated such as the kitchen, bathrooms, bedrooms, and so on.
The appraiser, on the other hand, evaluates the total value of a home. That means calculating square footage that includes everything, even an unheated basement, attic, and other nonliving spaces.
This inclusive number should have been recorded by the local municipality when the home was built, says Sandy Straley, an agent in Layton, UT. That’s because it’s used for tax purposes.
In todays crazy market little inconsistencies like this may seem trivial. However it’s an important part of understand your home and it’s value.
Mel Dorman
Broker | OR & WA
She/They
Ten years ago, Melissa was living in a slum in Kolkata, India, helping over 200 women escape sex trafficking by providing alternative work at a social business...
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