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When I bought my last few houses, the appraiser/suveyor/realtor measured them the same. (FL & NC) He measured the outside walls then measured each room, including closets/laundry rooms. He noted the overall square footage and liveable square footage.
How were yours measured personally when you purchased or was purchasing your home? ? Also here it's all about price per Sq ft too so it's important to be accurate here and in FL.
Edited to add: I'm talking about personal experiences, not general experiences.
Last edited by momtothree; 03-18-2015 at 10:14 AM..
Gross Livable Area -- County Assessor. Frequently includes enclosed patios, permitted garage enclosures, basements, and anything else that provides a basis of valuation for tax purposes.
Gross Living Area -- Appraisers. Calculations of above grade finished areas using exterior dimensions (with exceptions) in accordance with either ANSI or AMS standards of measure. Fannie Mae also has some input on measuring for mortgages going to the secondary market.
There is another active thread on this topic that talks to discrepancies in measurements but the details of what is considered an "accurate" measure are contained in that thread: Square Footage Discrepancies....
I thought TD nailed it with his explanation above ?
All I can add is ....
with a tape measure
Well according to various threads, some people never had their place measured or their appraisers/realtors just used one of the things suggested in TD'S post. Or some did measure but had differences.
I was really surprised that there's such a huge difference in measurements as in my experience is always had been verified.
Can I just add two important thoughts to this thread?
1. There is no OFFICIAL standard for measuring a house. Even the national builder associations cannot agree on ONE standard. That's why I mentioned the two most widely accepted standards, AMS and ANSI. This contributes to the inconsistencies in square footage estimates in builder's plans & specs for Finished Living Area.
2. These measurements are only ESTIMATES of the square footage. As mentioned in post #2 above, there are multiple definitions of "square footage", depending upon the subject being measured and the perspective of the intended user of the measurement. For those in the mortgage lending arena, they default to the Fannie Mae requirements for Gross Living Area (above grade, finished, heated & cooled, etc.). Real Estate professionals use whatever is the most authoritative source available to them, most likely the County Assessor records which, from my experience, are notoriously inaccurate.
How can this NOT be confusing when everybody uses the term "square footage" and it can mean so many different things?
Just wanted to add a personal experience of how measurements can get botched up right from the get go. I had hired a surveyor to measure my land and place down markers. He's the same one who drew up the plots and submitted the builder's drawings with homes and square footage to the town. He would survey the plots lines before the development goes up then he measures again once everything is up to confirm everything is ok. He told me the builder in my development did a pretty good job. He's had builders add to homes, move foundations, build bigger foundations, you name it - without telling him or the town. So, the town documentation could easily be different from what is actually there for years.
Well according to various threads, some people never had their place measured
or their appraisers/realtors just used one of the things suggested in TD'S post.
Or some did measure but had differences.
I was really surprised that there's such a huge difference in measurements
as in my experience is always had been verified.
In most instances true exactness doesn't really matter at the initial view.
In most instances their inspection and the site survey will include yet another
go at the measuring process.
In most instances buyers can look at a structure and "see" that it's about 30' x about 25' and with two levels
or about 50' x about 30' and do the math involved. They can see that each should comes out close to 1500sf
Unless the listing is grossly out of order, like when finished basements get included in GLA
calling that 30x25 rancher 3000sf (instead of the 1500 it actually is)... then they're done.
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