How do you measure SF??

Anyone know how to properly measure the square footage of a condo in California?

A = l + w

You measure all sides of the building and use the formula above. Area equals length times width. If your rectangle is 10 feet by 10 feet, it has 100 square feet of area.

Read this, it may help:

http://homebuying.about.com/cs/realestatepros/a/square_footage.htm

How do you measure SF??

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First, you begin on the 101 about two miles south of the old CandleStick park location. Travel North through the city until you come to the halfway point of the Golden Gate Bridge. That's one direction.

Next, you take a boat out into San Francisco Harbor halfway between SF and Oakland, then travel due west until you reach the pacific ocean.
That's the other direction.

Now you have the measurement of SF

If you send three surveyors to measure the square footage of anything, you will get a minimum of six answers!

Sounds like attorneys and judges

BelizeBreeze said:

Sounds like attorneys and judges

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Amen and amen!

Also, anything fully "below grade" is generally NOT counted in SF in most areas. In my market, the attached garage SF is deducted out and does not count as part of the home's SF, but I understand that in some markets they DO count garage space.

Als0, anything fully "below grade" is generally NOT counted in SF.

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Are you Kidding? Most of SF is below grade!!!

BelizeBreeze said:

Are you Kidding? Most of SF is below grade!!!

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**A: what about a basement unit? Would that have any counted SF if below grade?

Exposed basement or fully underground?

seniorjudge said:

A = l + w

You measure all sides of the building and use the formula above. Area equals length times width. If your rectangle is 10 feet by 10 feet, it has 100 square feet of area.

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But what if her condo is shaped like a rhomboid? Her angles are oblique and her adjacent sides are of unequal length. Will she need to invest in a scientific calculator and have to buy extra snacks to eat during the measurement?

sckamm said:

Anyone know how to properly measure the square footage of a condo in California?

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~~I am a realtor in So California. I am NOT an Attorney~~

The easiest way to find the square footage of your condo is to obtain the records from the County Recorder's Office. They are all kept on file, and the square footage is one of the factors you use in determining a fair market value for listing your home.

Down here, I can access the realtors' computer system to research the tax records; I don't know about how to do it up there. Perhaps calling your local real estate office and asking them to help you would be a good place to start...or you can trek down to the CR's office and see what their procedures are.

Good luck -
TheCatLadyInCA

What if the County Recorder's office measured it wrong or the person inputing the information into the computer hit a wrong number? It has been known to happen.

PghREA said:

What if the County Recorder's office measured it wrong or the person inputing the information into the computer hit a wrong number? It has been known to happen.

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You're absolutely right - people can err.

One way, which is far simpler than in SFRs, is to check the condos around you. Most likely, if you're the one in error on your unit, the ones around you (same floor plan, number of bed/baths, year built, etc) will be similar sized (as long as they are the same complex. Next door at the other complex doesn't help a bit for this specific situation.).

Bear in mind that a difference of 5, 10, 25, or 50 square feet does not really matter in terms of pricing and sales. 500 square feet, even 100 square feet, can, but when it's a very small amount, it's generally not worth the cost of getting someone out to re-measure the unit, go through the rigamarole to correct the records. And all buyers should check the records before they buy to determine the recorded square footage, so that's what we should go by...the publicly available records.

Best-
CatLadyInCA

Municipal SF records are always NOT reliable.

And it's funny that the problem of calculating SF when the walls don't meet at Right angles came up. That is one of the problems with my own home, a prairie style ranch. The two "wings" meet at an open angle, the front foyer is a trapazoid shape, the open concept LR wing is wider where it joins the rest of the house than at the far wall. The homeowners insurance guy went nuts trying to figure out SF.