Knowing how to measure house square footage is crucial for any potential homebuyers. Whether the home is being constructed for a set price per square foot or a home buyer is seeking to compare measurements between two homes, measuring the square footage can help you make sure you're getting your money's worth. During first time home buying, seeing different square footage for the same property can be confusing. Square footage can be calculated in a few different ways, depending on how accurate a measurement is needed.
Exterior Calculations
Some appraisers measure the exterior of a home to get measurements for square footage. The exterior calculation would include simple numbers and would include every area of the structure. For example, if a one-story home measures 40 x 40 feet, the square footage would be 1,600 square feet. This measurement is generally sufficient for records and general needs, such as for county records. However it is not necessarily helpful for other purposes, such as real estate agents, who require a more accurate measurement.
Walkable Square Footage
Many real estate agents require a square footage measurement that reflects more accuracy in the amount of livable space. For example, a home may have an unfinished basement of approximately 400 square feet. When figuring the amount of livable square footage, the real estate agent would subtract the space from that unfinished area from the marketable square footage.
Room By Room
For those interested in calculating an exact square footage for a home, the most accurate way to do so is to use a tape measure to get room-by-room measurements. Simply measure the length of the room and the width, and then multiply the dimensions to get the square footage for that room. Adding up the square footage for each room gives the accurate amount of livable space. Generally, areas like bay windows, second story space in a ground floor vaulted ceiling room and stairs are not calculated.
For example, a home that has five rooms with 300, 150, 200, 220 and 400 square feet, respectively, would result in 1,270 square feet of living space. However, the exterior measurement of that same house may result in a measurement of 1,500 square feet or more.
 | Why lie? Buying a house with bad credit is possible, but it isn't recommended. However, individual circumstances vary. Here is what you need to have in order before pursuing a bad credit mortgage. |
 | The process of buying a house involves more people than you and your family. Knowing who the players are and when they get involved will be valuable as you determine where you want to live and what you can afford. |
Once you've found the right home, the next step is to make an offer to the seller with these helpful home buying tips. |
In order to complete your home sale, you will need to go through a closing procedure. This is when all parties involved sign the required papers and the ownership of the property is transferred from the seller to the buyer. |
