[Rich Lee]

Dockside,

This is regarding your question posed in the other thread which has been closed.

Square footage is supposed to be "all livable space." Finished rooms in basements are typically not included in the overall square footage unless there's a disclaimer in the "Remarks" section of the listing. With that being said, sometimes finished space in basements is included if the windows are as low as the waist, and it's a walk-out basement.

Garages, because their not livable space, are always excluded from square footage in Connecticut. It's the same for bathrooms.

Now...an exception to the above: agents will take the square footage directly from the street (or assessor's) card. (By the way, the MLS requires us to provide the "source" of data.) Depending on the town/city, square footage is sometimes calculated as the "length times the width" of the basement. This is doubled for 2-story structures or multiplied by 1.5 for Capes. Savvy buyer's agents often spot this immediately. For example, 960 is a common square footage for Ranches (24 x 40 foundation)

If you are in the market to buy, don't necessarily rule out a property because the square footage seems low. Look at the total number of rooms and sizes for bedrooms and kitchen.

The doubling of the size of the garage will show on the assessor's card in a separate section because this is how the assessed value is determined (dwelling square footage, additional dwellings, their square footage, pool, deck, garage(s), lot size, etc.)

[Dockside]

Originally Posted by Rich Lee

Now...an exception to the above

Hi Rich,

Will these exceptions show up in the listings I look at on-line, or is it info available to you on a professional level?

And thank you for answering my question, I appreciate that very much.

[JViello]

Interesting for sure. Thanks for the info Rich. My home has the entire back half of the home as a two story. A walkout basement with multiple windows and door in the rear with the entire rear 50% of the structure being ground level yet it's not included in the SF...plus my SF always seemed small for the house - the basement measurement makes total sense now as the home has some "overhangs" from the foundation.

We are in the process of turning the entire downstairs into a large family room, mud/laundry room, theater and perhaps another "game" room with a smaller ish area for basement and mechancals. There's another 1500sf down there at least.

I assume if we decide to sell in the future I can get the SF updated to reflect actual livable space?

Thanks again for the info.

[Audry524]

Even though this wasn't directed to me, thank you for taking the time to explain this I've forever been boggled by how square footage is determined in a listing. Our house is listed with the town as 1200 sq feet. Our "basement" family room (split level-3 levels) is a walk out, waist high windows, fully finished very usable room (the room we live in!) of almost 600 square feet.

I was hoping to have the agent list the house as 1800 square feet. Are you saying that we can do that as long as the agent notes it in their remarks?

[Rich Lee]

Originally Posted by Audry524

Even though this wasn't directed to me, thank you for taking the time to explain this I've forever been boggled by how square footage is determined in a listing. Our house is listed with the town as 1200 sq feet. Our "basement" family room (split level-3 levels) is a walk out, waist high windows, fully finished very usable room (the room we live in!) of almost 600 square feet.

I was hoping to have the agent list the house as 1800 square feet. Are you saying that we can do that as long as the agent notes it in their remarks?

Absolutely. For the "source" of the square footage, the listing agent has the following options: Agent, Owner, or Town. The listing agent should explain the additional square footage in the "Remarks" section especially if the property has closed in the past 6 years (oldest archives on the Statewide MLS). If your property has closed within this period, agents will see the prior listing and the prior square footage (provided the property wasn't a FSBO) and might wonder if an addition was done.

[Audry524]

Originally Posted by Rich Lee

Absolutely. For the "source" of the square footage, the listing agent has the following options: Agent, Owner, or Town. The listing agent should explain the additional square footage in the "Remarks" section especially if the property has closed in the past 6 years (oldest archives on the Statewide MLS). If your property has closed within this period, agents will see the prior listing and the prior square footage (provided the property wasn't a FSBO) and might wonder if an addition was done.

Thank you!

[Rich Lee]

I saw this message on the CMLS - a regional MLS in Connecticut servicing most of the southwest corner - and thought that I'd share it with you since it's relevant:

Over the last few weeks several members have expressed concerns that an increasing number of listings contain significantly incorrect or inflated Square Feet information.

The concerns often involve the inclusion of finished basement living area and the suspicion that listing agents are doing so to gain an unfair advantage over competing listings.

While the CMLS does not currently have specific rules governing the calculation of Square Feet, common practice has limited including basement living area to Raised Ranches and certain types of Split Levels.

Rich

[jdhall1]

Originally Posted by Rich Lee

I saw this message on the CMLS - a regional MLS in Connecticut servicing most of the southwest corner - and thought that I'd share it with you since it's relevant:

Over the last few weeks several members have expressed concerns that an increasing number of listings contain significantly incorrect or inflated Square Feet information.

The concerns often involve the inclusion of finished basement living area and the suspicion that listing agents are doing so to gain an unfair advantage over competing listings.

While the CMLS does not currently have specific rules governing the calculation of Square Feet, common practice has limited including basement living area to Raised Ranches and certain types of Split Levels.

Rich

I see that everytime I log into the MLS. A current listing I am looking at now is labled as 3600 with about 1100 of it being the lower level!

[Rich Lee]

Originally Posted by jdhall1

I see that everytime I log into the MLS. A current listing I am looking at now is labled as 3600 with about 1100 of it being the lower level!

I should've added the footnote to the text regarding the reporting of square footage: ( Posted on 6/25/2007 8:58:17 AM ) I've been a member (6537) of the CMLS for almost four (4) years, and today was the first time that I've seen this.

jdhall1, was this previously located in a different place?

[jdhall1]

It has just been in the last few days. I think they put it up Friday or sometime not too far ago.