Square Footage of new house

16 years ago

New poster, hoping you can help me with a question on the marketed square footage of a new house.

We are buying a new house, have signed the contract, that is marketed at 2013 sq feet. As we were measuring rooms to calculate cost of putting our own flooring in I realized I could only come up with 1750 sq feet, so 13% below the stated square footage.

Talked to our sales rep and sent her all my measurements and she said although my room dimensions are little off they are pretty close and that the difference is in how I am measuring. The official sq footage is measured outer wall to outer wall including unusable space like interior walls.

Makes sense but 13% difference? That is what baffles me. Is there any standard amount you can expect to see different between internal room measurements and the total square footage? It's a pretty open house so only two internal walls between outer walls in any direction and no other 'unusable' space I can see.

I would think 5%.

Thanks, Karen Z

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Comments (8)

theroselvr
16 years ago
Karen, we're buying new also and have found that some builders aren't including room sizes on the floor plan sheets. Ask the rep if she has a list with the room sizes, I would then measure against this.

What builder did you go with?

Congrats!

Belated Happy Birthday
susanjn
16 years ago
Did you include closets, cabinets, etc.?
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sue36
16 years ago
"The official sq footage is measured outer wall to outer wall including unusable space like interior walls."

That's the way it is done. You don't subtract for walls, closets, staircases, hallways, etc. Just take the exterior footprint and figure the square footage that way. That will tell you if they are off. You can't figure it by measuring the interior rooms.
karen_zab
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks for the input. Our builder is Standard Pacific. I was sure to include closets, hallways, cabinet space etc. in our one story so the only thing I should be missing is actual wall space. I've been asking our rep for the official room dimensions and she's working on it - these are brand new floor plans, first time they are building them, so the official information is a little slow in coming. They are just building the model now!

Thanks,
Karen Z
Happyladi
16 years ago
I don't think you can trust the square foot listed much of the time. My tract house was built here and in a neighboring town. I have seen it listed as 3 different sizes with a spread of over 200 square feet. I have no idea the acual size.
calliope
16 years ago
Around here on pre-existing homes the square footage for the realtor sheets seem to be just copied off the auditor's data. I know the one I have up for sale was. I have to laugh because I've been here when the evaluators have come around to update tax records. Our home is ell shaped. It's nearly two hundred years old and a two story. From aging the building details, I believe one house stood here and then the other house built onto it. Either one could function as an individual house but are connected. He seemed to be able to come up with the dimensions of either ell, but since they merge and share common space had a hard time subtracting that part from one of the areas. If I ever had the incentive to actually do it and see how closely he came, it would be interesting. I came up with more interior space than he had exterior. LOL. Of course I'm not gonna argue.

Previous responses are correct. It is calculated by exterior dimensions.
sue36
16 years ago
Why not just measure it from the outside walls? It's a lot easier than measuring all the rooms and then adding it up.
logic
16 years ago
Often a new home will not measure up to the square footage indicated on the floor plan. Six homes in our development are the exact same plan. All but two are the exact same size. One is smaller...the other is smaller yet...however, they were all sold as having the same SF. The two that are smaller were built as "spec" homes.

In addition, a small development is being built nearby. The listing states that it has a 3 car garage...and 2500 SF. It has a two car garage, and there is no way this home is 2500 SF...as is ours...I would say 2000 is more accurateÂ..as the layout is virtually the same it is very easy to judge that the rooms are ALL smaller.

However, they are building another one of the homes...and that home does indeed have a 3 car garage...and looks as if it is indeed 2500 SF

This is apparently fairly common; sometimes it is due to setback or geographical constraints of a particular lotÂsometimes they just screw up when they build the foundation. Developers hope the buyer won't noticeÂ.especially since there are so many formulas used to calc SF.

FWIW, I believe that the only valid one is the ANSI standard, which I believe is the one that all appraisers must utilize in accordance with USPAP. However, both above mentioned homes did not raise any appraisal flagsÂgo figure. ;-)

Ask for the room measurements...then check them against your house. Also measure like models.

Hope this helps.

Square Footage of new house

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theroselvr

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Square Footage of new house

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theroselvr

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karen_zabOriginal Author

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logic

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