Our MLS shows the measurements for homes that are on the market. Including room sizes, which floor the room is on, the foundation size, the total finished above and below ground square footages.
There are some things buyers should know:
1. Not everything you read in the MLS is accurate, which is why if you read the fine print it will say the information is “deemed reliable but not guaranteed”. If you need accurate measurements you might want to take your own. Generally agents do not deliberately misrepresent room sizes or square footages but sometimes they make mistakes and sometimes they just use the last set of measurements that were in the MLS without verifying them.
2. Finished Square footage is not equal. What I mean by that is that below ground square footage is not as valuable as above ground square footage is so when looking at the totals check to see how much is above ground and how much is below.
3. Property tax records do not always show an accurate square footage and the square footage is used in the record to calculate the value of the home. Sometimes buyers like to use tax records as a source of information about property values. If the square footages are wrong the value could be just as wrong.
There are rules about what can be inlcuded in finished square footage. Certianly closets, halways and bathrooms are included even though we don’t see measurements for them seperately in the MLS. If there is a finished room that is surrounded by unfinished space we can not include it in the finished square footage. Sometimes there will be one room finished in the basement but the space outside the room is unfinished.
It isn’t always easy to get accurate measurements. Some rooms have irregular shapes and we are only allowed to put two measurements in the MLS for each room.
**real estate is local if any of these rules apply outside of Minnesota it is purely by chance. :)
Also see Legal Bedroom
Kudos for a great job explaining house measurements. As an appraiser, there are two things I would add. Appraisers call above grade finished space GLA, for gross living area. Finished porches and areas lacking full headroom are not included in the calculation of GLA.
Is the appraisal process universal? do the same rules apply in each state?
Yes. Standards are national but enforcement is at the state level. Fannie Mae guidelines, along with HUD for FHA are the rule.
Thanks. I should know more about appraisal standards than I do.
And us appraisers should know more about what motivates buyers!
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Scott, THE GLA as you call the above ground sq footage. my house is a rancher, in the side of a hill. you walk in the main level from the street, the hill slopes away from the street, if you go in the basement, lower level, there is still 5 feet of crawl space under the basement. then there is a walkout from the basement, and there are 9 steps down to the back yard. I consider this all above ground, but my realtor doesn’t, your opinion, thanks, Hank
I defer to your agent because real estate is local. Your set up sounds a little different than most. If the home were here I would call anything below the street level from the front of the house as below ground but would emphasis the walk out part.