How do I get the square footage of our home?

[disneysteve]

People constantly mention the size of their homes in square feet. We've been in our home for 14 years and I honestly have no clue of the square footage. I'd like to know so I can speak intelligently in the housing threads and conversations and know how our home compares to what others are talking about.

So where do I get that info? Do I have to go to the county records department?

[Daylily]

Do you have a copy of your latest assessment?

If not, does your county or city assessor have a website? In my state, I can find lots of information on almost anyone's property as long as I know the address. Square Footage, picture of the house, number of bedrooms, assessed value, sale price history, yearly tax amount etc.

[jIM_Ohio]

length x width will be a good guess
substract stairways*2
subtract "dead space"
I have heard closets don't count unless they have a light

If you know who built home (which builder), they should be able to tell you floor plan base sq ft. Maybe builder has a web site which shows your model and prevents you from needing to find a person.

[scfr]

See if Zillow.com has it (enter your address) ... If the info is available anywhere publicly, Zillow probably has it.

[disneysteve]

zillow is worthless in this area. All it shows is the assessed value of the home. That's it. Nothing on current value. No info on size, bedrooms, etc.

I'll have to search online and see if the township records are available.

[Spud]

Do you have mortgage documents? That might be another place to look.

[Brokemofo]

Steve,

Try this site. I use it at work a lot to get estimates of peoples values.

Mortgage ValueFinder from Mortgage.com

If it doesn't give you a value, the county should have the info on file.

[zakity]

1024 sq ft was on the little ad on RMLS site when we bought the house.

[momof1in150]

An appraiser measure the length and width of the outside of the house. That is the simplest way to obtain square footage. You can also measure all finished rooms to get usable square footage.

[Brokemofo]

Remember, a finished basement is NOT counted in the square footage. Most people think it is, but a Realtor would tell you otherwise.

[scfr]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

zillow is worthless in this area. All it shows is the assessed value of the home. That's it. Nothing on current value. No info on size, bedrooms, etc.

I'll have to search online and see if the township records are available.

If Zillow doesn't have it, then I suspect there are no computerized publicly available records that include the information. Look for non-computerized public records (I would think your tax assessor's office would have to know), or dig out the original purchase papers.

[maat55]

Get a tape measurer, pencil and pad. Draw out your home from a top view then start measuring. Do not include unfinished parts. If you have an upstairs, just measure from inside and only rooms, not any suspended walkways.

[pearlieq]

Originally Posted by momof1in150

An appraiser measure the length and width of the outside of the house. That is the simplest way to obtain square footage.

I agree--that's more than enough to get a general idea of the square footage. Get the length and width of the house, multiply together, and double if you have a second story.

Basements, attics, and garages, finished or not, do not count. Neither do screened in porches or the like.

[maat55]

I personally think that basements, unfinished rooms and pools should have value in an appraisel. I bought my second home for the pool, and sold it because of the pool. It also had a unfinished room.

Also, you can't just double for upstairs, unless there is no open area that extends from 1 floor to 2 floor.

[Brokemofo]

Originally Posted by maat55

I personally think that basements, unfinished rooms and pools should have value in an appraisel. I bought my second home for the pool, and sold it because of the pool. It also had a unfinished room.

Also, you can't just double for upstairs, unless there is no open area that extends from 1 floor to 2 floor.

Basements finished or not do count in appraising a home. They just don't count in the square footage. Pools, many people don't want a pool, so that can make a home less marketable.

[maat55]

Originally Posted by Brokemofo

Basements finished or not do count in appraising a home. They just don't count in the square footage. Pools, many people don't want a pool, so that can make a home less marketable.

Sure, a few people may not want a pool, but a lot do. To say a pool is worthless is rediculous. Not that your saying that, it's an industry thing.

[pearlieq]

Originally Posted by maat55

Also, you can't just double for upstairs, unless there is no open area that extends from 1 floor to 2 floor.

It depends on whether you're calculating usable sf or the more general heated area/area under air (as your climate may be).

At any rate, let's not make this too complicated. He said he just wanted an idea for comparison's sake. A quick width x length will pretty much accomplish that, while still leaving time to enjoy the fine weather today.

[pearlieq]

Originally Posted by maat55

Sure, a few people may not want a pool, but a lot do. To say a pool is worthless is rediculous. Not that your saying that, it's an industry thing.

A lot depends on where you are. If you're pretty far south and in a warm climate, sure. I imagine a pool could be quite attractive. They appear to be nearly mandatory in the FL area.

But every once in a while you get someone up here in Chicago who gets the curious idea that having a pool is a good idea. To each his own, but I wouldn't expect it to be a selling point--I'd think it to be neutral at best and liability to most.

Who wants to have half of their yard eaten up by an expensive and tricky to maintain power hog that you can only use for 3 months out of the year? Obviously, every once in a while someone here does, but they can't get attached to the idea that many will share their opinion.

[maat55]

Originally Posted by pearlieq

A lot depends on where you are. If you're pretty far south and in a warm climate, sure. I imagine a pool could be quite attractive. They appear to be nearly mandatory in the FL area.

But every once in a while you get someone up here in Chicago who gets the curious idea that having a pool is a good idea. To each his own, but I wouldn't expect it to be a selling point--I'd think it to be neutral at best and liability to most.

Who wants to have half of their yard eaten up by an expensive and tricky to maintain power hog that you can only use for 3 months out of the year? Obviously, every once in a while someone here does, but they can't get attached to the idea that many will share their opinion.

I live in Oklahoma, we get 100+ weather. In Chicago, I can see your point.

[Ima saver]

We are building a 46oo sq. foot house. The basement area will be finished into 3 bedrooms with closets, 2 full baths, a powder room, a rec room, a full kitchen, a wine cellar and computer area. It certainly DOES count as square footage when it is completely finished like this one. The main floor was a master bedroom, master bedroom sitting room, master bath, huge huge master closet. Also a formal living room (large), formal dining room, huge kitchen, breakfast room, computer room, powder room, pantry and laundry room.
To get square footage, measure each room that is heated, or a fast way is just to measure the outside. That is how the appraisers do it. However, if you have 22 foot ceilings in some rooms like we do (living, dining, foyer and master bath), the appraisers actually gave us 800 sq. ft. more in the house that we actually have. My husband draws house plans, and he always measures room to room.