How to Avoid The Square Foot Trap

The square foot trap ensnares countless buyers and sellers every day.  Buyers and sellers caught in the square foot trap rarely escape.  When they do escape they are always severely injured.  The injuries are financial and emotional and often mean the property remains unsold.

What is the square foot trap?  The answer is itself a question.  When is a square foot not a square foot?  A square foot is a function of the person doing the measuring and calculations, the community where the property is located, the rules of any of several oversight authorities, and the desired outcome of the calculations.

How is something as simple as measuring and calculating length times width be so difficult?  Measuring and calculating square footage is a take off on the accountant's joke.

The first accountant asks his associate "how much is one plus one".  The associate says, "What would you like the answer to be".

Before you can calculate a measurement you have to decide what you are going to measure.  This sounds very simple but it is not.

In cold climate communities a general rule is to measure "heated" space.  If Sam Seller has a heated 2- car garage does it make sense to measure the garage as part of the square footage of the house?  Suppose Steve Seller has engine block plug in heaters in his 2-car garage but does not heat the air space of the garage.  Does it make sense to include or exclude the garage in calculating the square footage of the house? Sylvia Seller has a super insulated garage.  It is warmer than the garages of Sam and Steve but it does not have space heaters or engine block heaters.  Is it fair, wise or make any sense to exclude the size of Sylvia's garage from the square footage calculations?  Do you place the same value on the "heated" garage as on the main dwelling area?

The problem flips when applied to hot weather climates.  The general rule is to measure air- conditioned space.  Hot or cold the problem remains the same.  What should be measured and does it make sense to measure or not measure?

When is a patio not a patio?  In many places it depends if the patio is "enclosed".  If the patio is enclosed it is a patio and may be included in a square foot measurement.  Is a screened patio an enclosed patio?  Does the patio get measured if it is roofed but not enclosed?  It depends on local custom in many areas.

In many places a ground floor patio is never included as square footage but the very same patio on an upper level is included.  The most common explanation for this duality is that the ground floor is part of the outside yard while the upper level patio is part of the house.  There are many more patio measurement issues.

Mother in law apartments raise many questions.  Does the apartment have direct access to the main house?  Is the connection via a corridor that can be closed at one or both ends.  Is access only available through an exterior entrance?  Does the apartment have some physical connection to the main house? Does a converted attached- or unattached- garage qualify?  Can an apartment above a garage ever qualify?  The correct answers depend on what sate or even what town you are in.

Basements are another example of the trap.  How high must the ceiling be?  What constitutes finished floors and ceiling?  Does it have to have windows of a certain size and or a minimum number of windows?  Must there be a walk out door?

Dueling governmental regulations regularly produce different square foot calculations.  A friend built a house in an unincorporated area.   The county rules and regulations were crafted to encourage certain designs and to prohibit others.  After many years the areas was incorporated into an adjacent town.  The town had its own building code with goals and prohibitions markedly different from the county.  The official square footage of the home grew by almost 225 square feet.  This was good news in terms of future sales but terrible news in terms of taxes.

In many densely populated areas space is super expensive and apartments are sold on cubic foot measurements.  Calculating cubic feet geometrically compounds the measurement problems.

A friend had a tiny condominium on New York City.  To enlarge the space the sheet rocked "dead" space above some large closets was knocked out and opened up to become enclosed storage.  The tax office increased the condominium's official size.  The increase in taxes was small compared to the increase in value because of the additional "space".  The total space did not change but the usable space increased and the value increase significantly.

Appraisal professional organizations and many realtor associations have their own suggestions and guidelines as to what should or may be measured and how.  They also allow for the appraiser or realtor to use discretion.

In contested divorces each side hires its own appraiser.  Often the square foot calculation is 10-15% apart!  When coupled with widely different comparables the value differences may be huge.

The trap of square footage is easy to avoid.  Pay no attention to it.  Leave behind all you know about square footage.  Look at the overall market to determine how the house you like compares to others you have looked at.   If you get lost in the minutia of "finished" basements, "enclosed" patios, "heated" garages, and mother in law apartments, you will not see the forest because of the trees.

You are buying or selling a home, an emotional expression of materials not a mathematical calculation of the materials. The materials constitute a house.  The way the materials are put together and the emotion you bring to the house make a home.

How to Avoid The Square Foot Trap
The square foot trap ensnares countless buyers and sellers every day.  Buyers and sellers caught in the square foot trap rarely escape.  When they do escape they are always severely injured.  The injuries are financial and emotional and often mean the property remains unsold.What is the square foot trap?  The answer is itself a question.  When is a square foot not a square foot?  A square foot is a function of the person doing the measuring and calculations, the community where the property is located, the rules of any of several oversight authorities, and the desired outcome of the calculations.How is something as simple as measuring and calculating length times width be so difficult?  Measuring and calculating square footage is a take off on the accountant's joke.  The first accountant asks his associate "how much is one plus one".  The associate says, "What would you like the answer to be".Before you can calculate a measurement you have to decide what you are going to measure.  This sounds very simple but it is not.  In cold climate communities a general rule is to measure "heated" space.  If Sam Seller has a heated 2- car garage does it make sense to measure the garage as part of the square footage of the house?  Suppose Steve Seller has engine block plug in heaters in his 2-car garage but does not heat the air space of the garage.  Does it make sense to include or exclude the garage in calculating the square footage of the house? Sylvia Seller has a super insulated garage.  It is warmer than the garages of Sam and Steve but it does not have space heaters or engine block heaters.  Is it fair, wise or make any sense to exclude the size of Sylvia's garage from the square footage calculations?  Do you place the same value on the "heated" garage as on the main dwelling area?The problem flips when applied to hot weather climates.  The general rule is to measure air- conditioned space.  Hot or cold the problem remains the same.  What should be measured and does it make sense to measure or not measure?When is a patio not a patio?  In many places it depends if the patio is "enclosed".  If the patio is enclosed it is a patio and may be included in a square foot measurement.  Is a screened patio an enclosed patio?  Does the patio get measured if it is roofed but not enclosed?  It depends on local custom in many areas.In many places a ground floor patio is never included as square footage but the very same patio on an upper level is included.
 The most common explanation for this duality is that the ground floor is part of the outside yard while the upper level patio is part of the house.  There are many more patio measurement issues.Mother in law apartments raise many questions.  Does the apartment have direct access to the main house?  Is the connection via a corridor that can be closed at one or both ends.  Is access only available through an exterior entrance?  Does the apartment have some physical connection to the main house? Does a converted attached- or unattached- garage qualify?  Can an apartment above a garage ever qualify?  The correct answers depend on what sate or even what town you are in.Basements are another example of the trap.  How high must the ceiling be?  What constitutes finished floors and ceiling?  Does it have to have windows of a certain size and or a minimum number of windows?  Must there be a walk out door?Dueling governmental regulations regularly produce different square foot calculations.  A friend built a house in an unincorporated area.   The county rules and regulations were crafted to encourage certain designs and to prohibit others.  After many years the areas was incorporated into an adjacent town.  The town had its own building code with goals and prohibitions markedly different from the county.  The official square footage of the home grew by almost 225 square feet.  This was good news in terms of future sales but terrible news in terms of taxes.In many densely populated areas space is super expensive and apartments are sold on cubic foot measurements.  Calculating cubic feet geometrically compounds the measurement problems.A friend had a tiny condominium on New York City.  To enlarge the space the sheet rocked "dead" space above some large closets was knocked out and opened up to become enclosed storage.  The tax office increased the condominium's official size.  The increase in taxes was small compared to the increase in value because of the additional "space".  The total space did not change but the usable space increased and the value increase significantly.Appraisal professional organizations and many realtor associations have their own suggestions and guidelines as to what should or may be measured and how.  They also allow for the appraiser or realtor to use discretion.In contested divorces each side hires its own appraiser.  Often the square foot calculation is 10-15% apart!  When coupled with widely different comparables the value differences may be huge.The trap of square footage is easy to avoid.  Pay no attention to it.
 Leave behind all you know about square footage.  Look at the overall market to determine how the house you like compares to others you have looked at.   If you get lost in the minutia of "finished" basements, "enclosed" patios, "heated" garages, and mother in law apartments, you will not see the forest because of the trees.  You are buying or selling a home, an emotional expression of materials not a mathematical calculation of the materials. The materials constitute a house.  The way the materials are put together and the emotion you bring to the house make a home.