Factors That Create Disparity in Square Footage in Washington, DC
A lot of times there arises questions regarding the existence of a standard formula when it comes to calculating the square footage of a home. Taking a look at different available publications, one quickly realizes that they have different square footage for the same home; something that is a bit confusing to many people with the intention to either sell or buy a home.
Thus, it is possible to find a house listed in the county land records as having 2,500 square feet while the same house will be quoted by a sales brochure to be 3,000 square feet. This leaves a number of people puzzled and uncertain of which information or who to believe. It is however paramount to note that, it is not a planned effort by anyone to misinform the public, but then different players in real estate market calculate square footage differently. The disparity is even larger between different geographical areas; city or states.
In arriving at the square footage of a house, an appraiser will have arrived at that figure based on some definitions he relied on. Most often, area living has commonly been defined as the size of Arlington Virginia homes in square feet based upon the exterior dimensions thus should also include the square footage of the main home including the square footage of the living wing if it has been specified. Others define area living as the living space that is above the ground.
Thus, taking a look at a split level; home as an example, you will appreciate that the top floor will be listed while the bottom floor will not be listed. Since calculating home area living is different in different geographical areas as we mentioned earlier, we will take a look at how it happens in Washington Dc. View http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/real-estate/ for tips about financing real estate properties.
For condominium units, the square footage that is listed in both the city and county records are accurate since the numbers are taken from the original condominium documents. Therefore, as opposed to detached homes, square footage for condominiums is less likely to change as a result to additions or improvements.
That said, it is important know that there are several ways that are used when calculating the square footage for attached and detached single family homes with an Arlington realtor Mike Pugh. An appraiser can be able to measure the exterior of the house to calculate its gross living area. If for example a house which has two stories measures 15 feet by 15 feet in measurements, then the house would have 225 square feet per floor thus the appraiser would say that the house contains 450 square feet. This measurement would of course include the measurements of the closets, hallways and wall space because the measurement will have been done from the exterior.
The other option is for the appraiser to put in consideration the size of the basement and how much of the basement has been finished as living area, after which he can only make value adjustments based on other comparable homes as opposed to totaling the square footage of the basement's living area.
