By Melissa 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.
Melissa Dorman
Broker | OR & WA
She/Her
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.
It was there she discovered her passion for financial education as a means of empowering people to move out of poverty. After graduating from UCLA with a Masters, Melissa spent 5 years working as a Social Worker; assisting clients facing homelessness, in jail, or at a psychiatric facility.
As much as she loved the work, imagining saving for retirement on the meager salary of a social worker was becoming grim. That's when Melissa discovered "passive income." In no time, she fell in LOVE with real estate as a vehicle for wealth. Soon after, Melissa began locating off-market multi-family properties to purchase through creative financing strategies and win-win opportunities. Two years into investing, Melissa quit her day job as a Social Worker to become a full-time broker and investor. Initially, she was drawn to people in difficult circumstances, so she developed extensive experience assisting families facing foreclosure, short sales, and probate. Melissa is well versed in helping her clients overcome complex real estate challenges.
Currently, Melissa is teamed up with Super Broker, Yascha Noonberg at Living Room Realty. Together they assist clients to achieve their real estate dreams, including how to strategically buy and sell a personal residence to maximize profits. Far from the slums of Kolkata, her greatest passion now is empowering other working professionals to develop passive forms of income through buying multi-family properties in Portland.
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- T: 503-567-4697
- melissa@livingroomre.com
