House sizes on real estate sites - arbitrary???

[PrincessMommy]

I'm pretty confused about figuring out house sizes online.   When we bought our current house it was stated in the real-estate info that the house was 2700sq ft (3 finished floors - 5 bedrooms, 3full baths, and 1 half bath).  I'm currently trying to downsize - or at the least stay at or under 2700 sq ft.   So I'm looking at a house that clearly had way more sq.footage than I want (4800sq ft), but seems to have everything else I want.

 

As I'm going through the house I'm thinking, "This house is seems a bit smaller, or about the same size, as our current home."   I asked my realtor and she said that is what it is appraised at.  I asked why mine wasn't appraised similarly.  The basement was already finished when we bought the house.  It seemed like it had been finished prior to the previous owners too - they only had the house about 3-5yrs.   She said she didn't know why, but agreed that our house is bigger than 2700 sq ft.   So, how am I to figure out if a house is an appropriate size if the sq footage doesn't reflect what is really there.  

[Carol in Cal.]

Out here they are not allowed to include unpermitted space or space with ceiling heights below a certain level, which results in leaving out a lot of finished basement and finished attic spaces.

[gardenmom5]

do you have a basement?  is the square footage in the basement included with your house size?

 

I have seen - sometimes basements are included, and sometimes they're not.

[flyingaway]

Where I'm at the basement isn't included in the square footage even if it is nicely finished and a walkout.

[TechWife]

For the sale of my parents house, the realtor could only list the number of square feet that was recorded in the tax records. The unpermitted, finished basement wasn't counted.

[Laura Corin]

When we lived in Hong Kong, the stated square footage of a flat included the flat's 'share' of the downstairs lobby and the hallways...  I think that is stated separately now.

 

Houses in the UK are often not sold with stated square footage/meterage.  It drives my husband crazy. 

 

 

[Guest]

When we lived in Hong Kong, the stated square footage of a flat included the flat's 'share' of the downstairs lobby and the hallways... I think that is stated separately now.

 

Houses in the UK are often not sold with stated square footage/meterage. It drives my husband crazy.

Haha, quite the way to make it look slightly less microscopic?

[Crimson Wife]

There are local regulations about what does and doesn't count in square footage, the definition of a bedroom, etc. In one town we were househunting in, any room that didn't have a built-in closet had to be called a "den" rather than a bedroom. I can understand the bit about windows being required for a bedroom (as that's a fire safety issue) but who cares about a closet vs. having an armoire?

[Suzanne in ABQ]

There are local regulations about what does and doesn't count in square footage, the definition of a bedroom, etc. In one town we were househunting in, any room that didn't have a built-in closet had to be called a "den" rather than a bedroom. I can understand the bit about windows being required for a bedroom (as that's a fire safety issue) but who cares about a closet vs. having an armoire?

 

 

 

See, I would never call a room without a closet a bedroom, unless it was a *really* old house, like 100 years old.  Around here, though, such a room would probably called an office, not a den.  Maybe this is a regional thing?

[mumto2]

Houses in the UK are often not sold with stated square footage/meterage. It drives my husband crazy.

In your situation I would look at the size of the rooms you actually care about, use the rooms as your criteria. Years ago I remember the garage being figured into a house in the US that we looked at because it was "finished":lol:

 

We are currently looking for a new house rather casually in the UK.....as in during the next 3 years or so. We have found that online the size of the bedrooms is what we really care about. We want 3 generous bedrooms. Multiple sitting rooms are commonly listed here so we are looking at the bedroom / sitting room combo as we (I) want a quilting room for myself as part of this move. We also want at least 2 toilets which I need to specify that way. That criteria seems to be working well with real estate offices because we have only been shown one house that was truly unsuitable for my wishes but I get why we were shown it. One house would give dd a really long skinny bedroom but that house is actually our favourite thus far so you never know. ;)

[PrincessMommy]

I talked with my realtor and got an explanation about how it's done here in my area.

 

Taxable living space for a house is only assessed on anything above ground.  Even if your basement is finished it is not on the official tax records  She said that *some* realtors/sellers will include the *total* living space on listings (including a finished basement), but not everyone.  So, this is why it seems arbitrary here in my area.  She said you have to look to the tax records (which Redfin often includes) to make a better comparison.

 

 

[SamanthaCarter]

I think it's a little bit arbitrary. The house we bought was listed to include the square footage of the sunroom on the back, which we took to mean finished space. Bad assumption on our part. Once we took down the drapes and blinds we found that the 50 year old uninsulated windows were still there as the sellers failed to mention the "new windows" were not including the sunroom. There is no AC/heat vent, there is no insulation. It's a porch with windows, though it wasn't staged to look that way. Is this finished space? Was it okay to include it in total square footage?

 

 

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Edited July 25, 2017 by SamanthaCarter

[Crimson Wife]

See, I would never call a room without a closet a bedroom, unless it was a *really* old house, like 100 years old.  Around here, though, such a room would probably called an office, not a den.  Maybe this is a regional thing?

 

To me, it's the size of the room rather than whether or not there's a closet. If it's big enough to fit a bed, dresser, & armoire (for a room without a built-in closet), it's a bedroom. A den to me is a little nook that's really only big enough to fit a desk or TV/lounge chair.

[Crimson Wife]

The den vs. bedroom thing was super-annoying when we were househunting because it meant I had to set our MLS alerts to 1 fewer bedroom than we were seeking because some of those houses would have "dens" that were big enough to be a bedroom (they just didn't have a closet).

[TravelingChris]

Our house must be assessed only on the top level too.  I live on a hill and so it has two levels on the ground but only one is assessed.  I could see my house being listed as four bedrooms plus office or five bedrooms.  The one that was used as an office by the previous owners had the closet turned into built in files and shelving units.  I believe the realtor listing did include the area of the first floor in the listing.  

[Laura Corin]

To me, it's the size of the room rather than whether or not there's a closet. If it's big enough to fit a bed, dresser, & armoire (for a room without a built-in closet), it's a bedroom. A den to me is a little nook that's really only big enough to fit a desk or TV/lounge chair.

If something's labelled a study here, it's often because it doesn't meet building regs for a bedroom. When we adapted our attic, there was a space that could not be full height across the required floor area, so it's officially a study. My friend has a study in her attic because the stairs are too narrow to be a fire escape for a bedroom. Not having a closet is not an issue, nor is size, if it can fit a single bed and bedside table.

Edited July 25, 2017 by Laura Corin