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Ambassador
3,345,091
Kathleen Daniels, Probate & Trust Specialist
KD Realty - 408.972.1822 - San Jose, CA
Probate Real Estate Services

Yes.  Living space. 

Sep 22, 2022 02:39 PM
Rainmaker
637,434
Hella M. Rothwell, Broker/Realtor®
Carmel by the Sea, CA
Rothwell Realty Inc. CA#01968433 Carmel-by-the-Sea

"Square footage, acreage, and other information herein may have been received from a variety of sources and has not been verified. If important to buyers, buyers should conduct their own investigation." Listing agents tend to include some verbiage like this under agent comments. 

Sep 22, 2022 11:09 AM
Ambassador
3,164,269
Tammy Lankford,
Lane Realty Eatonton, GA Lake Sinclair, Milledgeville, 706-485-9668 - Eatonton, GA
Broker GA Lake Sinclair/Eatonton/Milledgeville

heated and cooled finished space.

Sep 22, 2022 01:37 PM
Rainmaker
5,104,931
Nina Hollander, Broker
Coldwell Banker Realty - Charlotte, NC
Your Greater Charlotte Realtor

Yes... and the rules for measuring square footage in North Carolina are very specific. Since we still have no code requirement for air conditioning, we measure only heated living area... and then there are all sorts of other rules about how to calculate square footage in specific areas. And we measure to ANSI standards.

One of the first things they teach in real estate school here is to never, ever to use tax records... they are notoriously inaccurate. And our MLS requires that any reported square footage cannot be more than 6% off.

Sep 23, 2022 06:10 AM
Rainmaker
3,416,038
Scott Godzyk
Godzyk Real Estate Services - Manchester, NH
One of the Manchester NH's area Leading Agents

The short story is living space above ground

Sep 22, 2022 12:57 PM
Rainmaker
2,781,153
Richie Alan Naggar
people first...then business Ran Right Realty - Riverside, CA
agent & author

Long has this been a subject of dispute, inaccuracy and debate. Definition lies in the person doing the professional assessment, but the buyer, seller, and investor have the final say as to whether to accept, reject or modify. 

Sep 22, 2022 11:56 AM
Ambassador
6,393,154
Bob Crane
Woodland Management Service / Woodland Real Estate, KW Diversified - Stevens Point, WI
Forestland Experts! 715-204-9671

Generally livable space, sometimes livable space above ground, it really seems to vary be locality.  We just put down what the assessor says.

Sep 22, 2022 11:05 AM
Rainer
417,221
Caroline Gerardo
Licensed in 20 states - Newport Beach, CA
C. G. Barbeau the Loan Lady nmls 324982

The total number of one foot square LIVEABLE floor space. Best use a laser measuring tape. Standards VARY state by state there is no National rule. ANSI calls it "Measurements taken and reported on the sketch or floor plan to the nearest inch or tenth of a foot, and the final square footage calculations are reported to the nearest whole square foot."

Sep 22, 2022 10:46 AM
Rainmaker
5,216,381
Wayne Martin
Wayne M Martin - Chicago, IL
Real Estate Broker - Retired

Some local variation and interpretation but generally living space that is heated and cooled. That said sometimes finished basements are excluded.

Sep 23, 2022 04:58 AM
Ambassador
2,161,048
Silvia Dukes PA, Broker Associate, CRS, CIPS, SRES
Tropic Shores Realty - Ich spreche Deutsch! - Spring Hill, FL
Florida Waterfront and Country Club Living

We use SF under heat/air and SF total under roof which includes garage space, overhangs, etc.

Sep 23, 2022 03:41 AM
Rainmaker
1,543,623
Thomas J. Nelson, REALTOR ® e-Pro CRS RCS-D Vets
Big Block Realty 858.232.8722 - La Jolla, CA
CEO of Vision Drive Realty - Coastal San Diego

What Kathleen Daniels, Probate & Trust Specialist said; spot on.

Sep 22, 2022 06:07 PM
Rainmaker
2,390,549
Bob "RealMan" Timm
Ward County Notary Services - Minot, ND
Owner of Ward Co Notary Services retired RE Broker

Here I've always gone to the City Assessor's website where it breaks it down. What ever they say is what I listed it as.

Sep 22, 2022 05:50 PM
Rainmaker
1,311,397
John Juarez
The Medford Real Estate Team - Fremont, CA
ePRO, SRES, GRI, PMN

Living space.

Not a garage.

Yet...how is a stairway "living" space? If you have a two story house and a one story house with the same square footage stated, are they really the same size?

Sep 22, 2022 05:00 PM
Ambassador
3,587,835
Anna "Banana" Kruchten
HomeSmart Real Estate - Phoenix, AZ
602-380-4886

Heated and cooled living space - no garage etc.

Sep 22, 2022 04:47 PM
Rainer
461,083
Clay R. Seay
Florida Homes Realty & Mortgage - Saint Augustine, FL

Our MLS has several choices for the source of measurements. Property Records, Measured, Appraisal and Other. ( construction plans)

Usually the heated and cooled square footage is used and there is another MLS  entry line for other sqft which is the garage, porches and decks as shown in the Property Appraiser website. 

Th information is deemed accurate but verification by Buyer or Agent is still recommended if there are any doubts about accuracy. 

Sep 22, 2022 01:11 PM
Ambassador
3,125,651
Wanda Kubat-Nerdin - Wanda Can!
Red Rock Real Estate (435) 632-9374 - St. George, UT
St. George Utah Area Residential Sales Agent

Liveable space.

Sep 22, 2022 11:00 AM
Rainmaker
1,196,798
Doug Dawes
Keller Williams Evolution - 447 Boston Street, Suite #5, Topsfield, MA - Topsfield, MA
Your Personal Realtor®

We have total space and living space

Sep 23, 2022 07:18 AM
Rainmaker
1,197,072
Peter Mohylsky, Beach Expert
PMI. Destin - Miramar Beach, FL
Call me at 850-517-7098

Yes, but I never want to try and verify published data.  Impossible to duplicate.

Sep 23, 2022 04:49 AM
Rainmaker
1,502,998
Ryan Huggins - Thousand Oaks, CA
https://HugginsHomes.com - Thousand Oaks, CA
Residential Real Estate and Investment Properties

Yes, I do.

Sep 22, 2022 05:32 PM
Ambassador
5,048,883
Jeff Dowler, CRS
eXp Realty of California, Inc. - Carlsbad, CA
The Southern California Relocation Dude

Liveable space above ground - not garage. It can vary depending on who is doing the measuring.

Sep 22, 2022 05:11 PM
Rainmaker
1,555,968
Gary Frimann, CRS, GRI, SRES
Eagle Ridge Realty / Signature Homes & Estates - Gilroy, CA
REALTOR and Broker

Livable space, and with an addition, is it wired and/or heated and Air Conditioned?  I'd also like to add that buying a house using square footage as a factor (perhaps the only one) is an awful way to buy a house.  First, that doesn't include the land underneath.  It also doesn't include the view.  Does it overlook an ocean or a junkyard.  Where is the square footage?  Is it in wide hallways, or closets.  How about the number of bedrooms and bathrooms. Good schools or bad schools.

I think this is why iBuyers are really making some poor decisions, because they factor only square footage by some price factor.

Sep 23, 2022 08:45 AM
Rainmaker
5,868,472
Joan Cox
House to Home, Inc. - Denver Real Estate - 720-231-6373 - Denver, CO
Denver Real Estate - Selling One Home at a Time

Heated living space.

Sep 23, 2022 07:00 AM
Rainer
464,472
William Piotrowski
Diamond Residential Mortgage Corporation - Naperville, IL
Just Call William 630-881-8655

Sep 22, 2022 11:21 AM
Rainmaker
901,524
Carla Freund
Keller Williams Preferred Realty - Raleigh, NC
NC Real Estate Transition & Relocation 919-602-848

Yes, What Nina Hollander, Broker said. It's finished and heated space over 5'. Air conditioned not required although it should be in my opinion.

Sep 26, 2022 05:58 AM
Rainer
427,257
J.R. Schloemer
Kentucky Select Properties - Louisville, KY

Exterior measure, 7 foot ceiling height. 
You replied with a good list.

Sep 23, 2022 08:47 AM
Rainer
337,854
Adam Feinberg
Elegran - Manhattan, NY
NYC Condo, Co-op, and Townhouse Advisor

About 70% of homes here are co-op's, In co-op's you are buying shares in a corporation, not real property. A buyer is not buying sq ft- so sq ft numbers are often not provided. When it is provided- it's a rough estimate. For condos - it is fair game to use any number found in the offering plan. The challenge here is that the number can be usable sq ft, gross sq ft, or even (and I don't think this is reasonable) gross sq ft plus common area allocated to the apartment.  Most agents use the gross sq ft as this is the most common measurement used. 

Sep 25, 2022 07:18 PM
Rainmaker
900,128
Olga Simoncelli
Veritas Prime, LLC dba Veritas Prime Real Estate - New Fairfield, CT
CONSULTANT, Real Estate Services & Risk Management

In our MLS it is broken up into above ground living space and finished basement living space. In our area basements are quite common. 

Sep 24, 2022 11:09 AM
Rainmaker
763,883
Tony Lewis
Summit Real Estate Group - Valencia, CA
Summit Real Estate Group Valencia & Aliso Viejo

All of the living space within the house.

Sep 24, 2022 10:45 AM
Rainmaker
1,622,432
Inna Ivchenko
Barcode Properties - Encino, CA
Realtor® • GRI • HAFA • PSC Calabasas CA

There is livable sqft that usually in public records and actual sqft that includes large roof patios, covered balconies, covered attached garage, etc. I just had 2 surveys on the same property( attached townhome)  and it came with these two numbers. Public record=1900 sqft , survey: 2600 sqft living space+400qft garage and patio. I highly recommend to order the size survey inspections especially on  Single Family Residences. 

Sep 23, 2022 01:53 PM