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I live in a neighborhood where all the houses were built at the same time. Every house on my street has the same layout - split foyer, living room, dining room, kitchen, 4 beds, 2.5 to 3 baths (but all in the same space), basement, laundry room, garage, and an attic (too shallow to be used for anything else).
But I've noticed on sites like Zillow and Redfin that some of these homes are listed as having 200 to 500 more square footage than others. I looked at the pictures of the homes listed as having more square footage, and there's no difference or change to the layout from the homes that are listed as having less square footage. The garages are still being used as car garages. And the decks aren't covered/heated.
So where is this extra square footage coming from?
Is it that when these houses were built decades ago, parts of the home weren't able to be included in the square footage but by today's rules they can be, and certain people have updated their home's square footage on the listing sites? If so, who can I get to come out and remeasure the square footage of my house just so I can see what comparable homes are selling for?
Or are basements not counted in square footage but if you consider it a bedroom than it does add to the square footage? If that's the case, wouldn't the basement/bedroom need a door to be considered a true bedroom? Because in the pictures, there's no door sealing off the basement since the homes are split foyer.
Maybe they're including their sheds? Can you do that?
Or maybe some homes are counting the laundry/utility room in the square footage? What are the rules on that?
The reason I'm asking is because the homes on the street are showing a wide range of values on the listing sites but as I said the layouts are all the same but the square footage listed is different. And I think that's driving a good portion of the pricing difference.
Sometimes builders offer to bump out 2 or 3 feet across the back of the house. It wouldn’t necessarily be evident unless you got out your tape measure.
Property owners can edit the public records data in both Zillow and Redfin if they "claim" the house on the respective site. It's possible some owners are changing the square footage to something they believe is more accurate.
In one new build home I owned, there was an option for a finished room over the garage (FROG) that added about 300sq ft. Well the builder filed plans for my house using his standard plans as in not showing the FROG. Thus the tax records showed the house being some 300sq ft less. I did not know this until it came time to sell. The house was listed at the larger sq ft and several prospective purchasers asked about it. Fortunately I had saved a copy of the builders original model floor plans which showed the FROG sq ft. I do not know if my buyer ever changed the tax records. It has since sold again.
If one had say a one room house and measured sq ft from the outside then the inside, there would be a difference due to wall thickness. Someone do the math............LOL
Depends on where they are getting the information from. Our builder lists our square footage as one number, the county tax assessor lists it as another, and the recent appraisal we had listed it as yet another number. And just for fun, my neighbor across the street has the exact, same floorplan, and the county tax assessor has hers listed as yet another square footage.
Just because the floorplan looks the same does not mean the houses are the same size. One house might have larger rooms. (Outside walls stretched out to make a larger footprint.)
I bought one last year where the builder offers the same Floorplan in two sizes: 1700 Sq ft and 1350 Sq ft. The smaller house has a smaller living room / dining room and a slightly smaller master bedroom but both offer the same excellent use of space and they both look the same from the front.
Last edited by oregonwoodsmoke; 12-28-2020 at 03:24 PM..
Who do I call to get my home officially remeasured and have the square footage updated in all official places? I'm not selling but I just want to know what comparable houses are selling for.
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