Does it matter how big your home is? In real estate, size matters! If your home is bigger than you think it is, then you may price it too low. If your home is smaller than the County Appraisal District says it is, then you may be paying too much in taxes.
In either case, having the wrong answer puts YOU at a disadvantage.
Knowledge is Power. Power is Money. Know the size of your home!
How Many Different Sizes Are There For My Home?
For most homes, different entities have different measurements of your homes size. The appraisal district's understanding of your home's size may differ from the builder. Realtors and owners, past and present can have a different value than the builder and appraisal district. Which one is right? Can they all be wrong? Without an accurate measurement, you are just guessing!
What Happened?
In April of 2022, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA/HUD required all appraisals to adhere to the ANSI Z765 residential measuring standard to determine a home's size or Gross Living Area also known as GLA. Our appraisers are trained and knowledgeable on this standard and how to meet it.
Why all the confusion?
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Your home may not have changed. Even so, its GLA may be different when applying ANSI standard measurements, especially if the home was built more than 3 years ago.
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In most instances, appraisal districts do not measure homes. They use algorithms, satellite views of the roof, or plans the builder submitted to determine your home's size. These methods are efficient for the Appraisal District, but not always accurate.
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Sometimes the floor plan submitted by a builder to the appraisal district, or to the homeowner, changes during construction and that alters the homes GLA.
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Sometimes there is non-GLA space inside your home such as the garage, space below grade level, attics, or open-to-below areas on the 2nd or 3rd floors that were incorrectly counted as GLA in previous measurements.
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Sometimes guest houses or garage apartments are included in your GLA when they shouldn't be. Or should be included when they are not.
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Areas with low ceilings (under 7 ft) have special rules when it comes to GLA. This type of area is common in finished attics, 2nd or 3rd floor guest rooms, and upstairs play-rooms. Space in these areas may have incorrectly been included or excluded from your GLA.
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Sometimes previous owners added on to the home, enclosed the patio, or converted the garage, without getting permits or documenting the change.
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Realtors sometimes make mistakes when inputting values into an MLS listing.
THE BOTTOM LINE: Ideal Valuation offers a fast, cost-effective service that determines the GLA of your home AND provides you with a high-quality floor plan. Click here to order.
We are real estate valuation experts! Contact us if you have questions, need a floor plan | need to know how big your home actually is | need to know how much your home is worth | or need market intelligence for your specific property.
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