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If a home that is on the market features a FROG is it counted in the square footage that's posted with the listing or is it additional space - similar to a finished basement?
Location: Mokelumne Hill, CA & El Pescadero, BCS MX.
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Originally Posted by surfingatwork
If a home that is on the market features a FROG is it counted in the square footage that's posted with the listing or is it additional space - similar to a finished basement?
Here in Calaveras County we are considerable acquainted with them hopping things. We've been makin' money 'round these parts fer years. Wayfarers come from near and far and pays money just to see 'em jump in a contest! It's the durndest thing you ever did see! (apologies to Mark Twain).
I have no idea what a FROG is, so I'm going to guess
Front/Rear Opening Garage?
Floating Refrigerator Over Garden?
Freezer Range Oven Garbage disposal?
Fixed Retractable Olive Garden?
Fully Reclining Overstuffed Gear?
Sorry all. I've never heard of a FROG myself until i started looking at homes in NC. Finished room over garage (guessing they're heated). DMenscha it took me a minute to figure out your post. LOL! Liz since you're the closest to NC i'm guessing NC considered it countable sq ft as well. thanks all.
Liz since you're the closest to NC i'm guessing NC considered it countable sq ft as well.
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It was when we lived in Wilmington, NC. That is the only place I've ever heard the term FROG. I think it is a local term. Here in Greenville, SC, it's called a bonus room. Same thing.
Liz
PS. I heard FROG's stood for a finished room over the garage, or a fourth room over the garage. Not sure, which is actually correct.
In North Carolina real estate, a FROG stands for a Finished Room Over Garage. Since eastern NC in particular has a high water table, few homes have basements (or they'd be swimming pools!), and many of the homes are built one-story. So builders build a bonus room on top of the garage. Some buyers don't like bedrooms over garages because of the perception that they will be colder or noisier (for all those times the garage door goes up and down), so "bonus room" over the garage sounds better. If the room is unfinished, it's called a UFROG (UnFinished Room Over Garage). FROGs are often bigger than normal bedrooms (or longer/ narrower because garages are typically at least 20 feet wide), and are thus more likely to utilized as an upstairs play room rec room, or office, but not always.
If they put the stairs to access this bonus room inside the house, and add heating and AC, it can be considered additional square footage on the house. To be considered a bedroom, a FROG must meet certain criteria. From what I’ve gathered from multiple sources, the definition of a bedroom can vary from county to county. Under the North Carolina Residential Building Code, if a room has at least 100 square feet--and in some places also a minimum width 9 feet-- and at least 50% of the room has a ceiling height of greater than 7’, it can be called a bedroom. The NCRBC also requires a bedroom to have a window or door meeting egress requirements that leads directly to the outside in case of an emergency. Other references state that a bedroom must be heated and cooled-- some localities may say it must also be accessible from inside the house, not just stairs in the garage--and have a working smoke detector. If the room in question meets all these guidelines, it could be advertised as a bedroom in NC, and probably in many other states as well.
In my parents' NC house, they have a FROG to which they added closets and then added a full bath. It's become the most desirable guest suite when my siblings and I come down with our families to visit, because the room is so large and spacious and away from the rest that it gets a lot of privacy. FROGS are great!
In North Carolina real estate, a FROG stands for a Finished Room Over Garage. Since eastern NC in particular has a high water table, few homes have basements (or they'd be swimming pools!), and many of the homes are built one-story. So builders build a bonus room on top of the garage. Some buyers don't like bedrooms over garages because of the perception that they will be colder or noisier (for all those times the garage door goes up and down), so "bonus room" over the garage sounds better. If the room is unfinished, it's called a UFROG (UnFinished Room Over Garage). FROGs are often bigger than normal bedrooms (or longer/ narrower because garages are typically at least 20 feet wide), and are thus more likely to utilized as an upstairs play room rec room, or office, but not always.
If they put the stairs to access this bonus room inside the house, and add heating and AC, it can be considered additional square footage on the house. To be considered a bedroom, a FROG must meet certain criteria. From what I’ve gathered from multiple sources, the definition of a bedroom can vary from county to county. Under the North Carolina Residential Building Code, if a room has at least 100 square feet--and in some places also a minimum width 9 feet-- and at least 50% of the room has a ceiling height of greater than 7’, it can be called a bedroom. The NCRBC also requires a bedroom to have a window or door meeting egress requirements that leads directly to the outside in case of an emergency. Other references state that a bedroom must be heated and cooled-- some localities may say it must also be accessible from inside the house, not just stairs in the garage--and have a working smoke detector. If the room in question meets all these guidelines, it could be advertised as a bedroom in NC, and probably in many other states as well.
In my parents' NC house, they have a FROG to which they added closets and then added a full bath. It's become the most desirable guest suite when my siblings and I come down with our families to visit, because the room is so large and spacious and away from the rest that it gets a lot of privacy. FROGS are great!
Hi UrlGirl, You are right on some accounts. Never does any home have to be air conditioned to be considered square footage in North Carolina though. To be considered in Total Heated Living Area, the square footage must be accessed from square footage that is finished and heated. There is no real consideration of minimum square footage but is dependent on "like homes" to be considered a bedroom. Usually, an appraiser considers whether a twin sized bed can fit in the room. Does there have to be a closet? Only if other similar homes' bedrooms have closets as well. 1920's bedrooms may not have closets and if that was the norm for the time, then an appraiser would consider it a bedroom. You are correct on egress (and the window has to be at a height that would allow a man to crawl out of it in case of a fire - a minimum of 24" high and a minimum of 20" wide and at most 44" above ground level). And you were correct about the 50% ceiling height being over 7 feet. The smoke detector is a building code and only required if it was required at the time of build. IF a home is being remodeled, and depending on how much of the home is being remodeled, your permitting office may make you add hard-wired smoke detectors. Not only does noise come into play in a F.R.O.G., but carbon monoxide as well. Hope that helps! - Jennifer Goodier, Broker In Charge, Divitia Realty, Asheville NC.
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