Square footage (for sale, house, buy)

[lkzhang]

I am putting an offer on a single family house in Queens, but confused on the livable square footage. The house is a 4 level split on a sloped property. The total finished square feet per tax assessment is 2,300. It contains a garage, unfinished basement, finished family room, and bed rooms , etc. I pulled out the certificate of occupancy, it says :" cellar, 1,300 feet, 1 story residence, 1,300 feet" . The original blue print list the family room as cellar.

The bed rooms. Kitchens, living rooms, etc are located on the above grade story. The basement, garage, finished family room are below grade. Since the house slops back, the family room only has two full size windows (a window on each side), and mostly below grade, the ceiling is 8 feet.

My question is " does the house only have 1,300 living space?" The house is listed as 2,300 feet, which confirms the tax record. But is it right to have 2,300 instead of 1,300 feet listed?

I called department of finance about it, they seem don't know. The realtor has no clear answer as well.

Thank you

[bluedog2]

Buy a tape measure and check for yourself.

[lkzhang]

Originally Posted by bluedog2

Buy a tape measure and check for yourself.

Thank you for your reply. My concern is whether the below grade finished family room should be counted as total livable square footage? The family room was described as "cellar" on the original blue print, although the owner didn't chance anything after it was built.

[Never Shuts Up]

Do you have a timeline of events? Things are a little fuzzy from the details you've posted. But it would be easier to give an answer if you could list the order things happened in. Like, first assessed, certificate of occcupancy issued, basement converted, assessment for sale made, etc.

[lkzhang]

Originally Posted by Never Shuts Up

Do you have a timeline of events? Things are a little fuzzy from the details you've posted. But it would be easier to give an answer if you could list the order things happened in. Like, first assessed, certificate of occcupancy issued, basement converted, assessment for sale made, etc.

Thank you for your help. Here is the order

The house was built in the 50s

Original blue print and built
Cellar: 1,3oosq. feet, contains Garage, boiler, ( the two are on the lowest level, below ground), and cellar (on another level, with 2 full windows, but mostly below ground, since the house is on a slope). The cellar area was originally built as a family room with fire place, heating, 8 feet ceiling, and a full bath ( I am not sure why it was called a cellar on the blue print)

1 story above ground, 1,300 with kitchen, living room, dining room, 3 bed rooms

The C.O only says :" refer to approved plan( which is above); cellar (garage, boiler, storage) and 1 story residence)

The tax assessment has 2,300 finished square feet, the oldest available is year 2004.

The house has never been sold before, original owner just passed away recently

Thank you

[Never Shuts Up]

If the cellar was refurbished before 2004, then they might have reassessed it to include the family room as livable space, giving you the new 2300 foot figure. So the original certificate of occupancy is probably outdated.