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If you have seen the property with your own eyes, why does the represented square foot measurement matter?
You are not paying purchase price per square foot.
You are not paying taxes, and insurance $ per square foot.
It's a comparison tool. If a 3 bedroom 1250 sq ft house sold for $250,000 and a 3 bedroom home that was 1375 sq ft sold for $260,000 and the house you are looking to buy is a 3 bedroom 1500 sq feet, you would expect to pay more than the other two. But not always. Your house has a smaller back yard. House # 2 has a partially finished basement with a half bath. House #1 has a two car garage, the house you are looking at has 3.
Pricing is an art not a science. So is house measuring.
I see thanks for clearing that up, it's not necessary to find out about the exact square footage then, I will just go by the county record square footage. (for purchasing purpose)
Now for the square footage in the county record that you are being taxed on(house and lot), also the same? just use the county record?
The county record of the house square footage may not be accurate.
The best way to determine square footage is to use a tape measure at the foundation. Keep in mind that not all spaces are equal. Garage doesn't count the same as finished living spaces, for example. Likewise an enclosed patio/sunroom may or may not count.
Listing square footage is always an estimate.
Be careful about offering opinions when you are not local. The Clark County system involves physical measurement of the property externally. Garages and open space are subtracted. The sketch of the measurement and the actual figuring is included in the assessor records.
I have seen only one gross error in a large number of homes. That was I think because the Assessor measured the wrong house.
The bottom line is that you have to feel comfortable with the square footage regardless of what numbers are used by others. If you are concerned about your property taxes then get a copy of the record card from the Assessor's office and check the measurements yourself.
If you are concerned about the square footage because you are going to replace floor coverings then measure them yourself.
As an appraiser, I'm pretty much convinced that this is one of those issues that people turn into a big deal even though they have no idea why they even want to know the 'proper' square footage of the property. The main thing to keep in mind is that there are various measuring standards depending on who is doing the measuring, and for what purpose. So that's why you have to feel comfortable with the size of the house regardless of what numbers are printed down somewhere.
One home I owned was recorded with the county by the builder with 300 sq ft less then actual size. When I sold we realized the builder had filed such based on the base model home and I had added the optional (300 sq ft) finished room over the garage (FROG).
A buyer questioned it all. I showed the original offering drawings which had all the specs including that the optional FROG was 300sq ft. That issue went away. I did not notify the county.
This is an old thread -- but your question is new…..
…I'd go with the sentiment expressed on page 1 or 2.
Does the 880 work for YOU. You've seen the place, right? You didn't think: 'uh, I don't think this is 1,200 sq ft. I wouldn't think a 380 sq ft difference is Unnoticeable. But, maybe if is to some people.
You have to decide if you like the place, and its size, and layout work for you at that price.
But then again, I don't care about price per sq foot. I care about whether it's a price I'm willing to pay for what I'm getting, and is the overall price a good one. (so much that when values go up, I can make a profit on my e v e e n t u a l resale)
If you want to get the price lower, because you feel you were misled, then you may have a argument to indeed get the price down. If that's what you feel you need to do -- I wish you luck.
I put a deposit on new construction, condominium, quoted 1,200 sq.ft for 365.000.now its actually 880sq.ft. should the price be reduced?
Ask them how they measure. 1200 in a condo or commercial is usually a net area that includes halfway through the shared walls all the way through exterior walls and a proportional share of interior common areas. If you are measuring inside the walls of your condo you are measuring short. It's measured this way because 1. it doesn't change with interior changes to unit walls. 2. The total of every unit will add up and equal the total of the building which is important in determining who pays what of the various building bills.
Whatever the standard is they won't change it for you(since it would change expenses for everyone else in the building).
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