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Size Matters! Measuring and Calculating Residential Square Footage.(Book review)
Size Matters! Measuring and Calculating Residential Square Footage
by D. Hamp Thomas--The Measure Man
Published by The Measure Man, LLC, in association with Carolina Appraisers & Real Estate, 2008, 159 pages
$24.95, softcover
Size Matters! Measuring and Calculating Residential Square Footage is not just a book about how to measure a house; it is a passionate plea for consistency in measuring and calculating square footage. D. Hamp Thomas ("The Measure Man") is a North Carolina Certified Residential Appraiser/CRS/ABR/GRI/Realtor who believes that a uniform method for measuring a single-family residence is essential for accurate appraisals and listings of homes for sale. While the focus of this book is on residential structures, his point is equally applicable to commercial properties. It is the author's goal that someday there will be one standard, that all real estate professionals agree on, to measure and calculate residential square footage.
Thomas claims that his book has everything you need to know about measuring and calculating residential square footage. He is correct. The book covers "The Eight Basic Categories of Square Footage"; "Basic Measuring Principles"; "Wall Construction and Interior Measurements"; "Stairs, Guidelines and Square Footage"; and "Calculating Square Footage." Following these discussions, there are thirty-one examples of how to measure and calculate square footage. He also gives detailed instructions on how to measure one-story and two-story homes, and two-story homes with basements. According to Thomas, all houses are like a jigsaw puzzle waiting to be solved. The examples include how to treat dormers; bonus rooms; unfinished storage; partial and unfinished basements; bay windows; fireplaces; sloped ceilings; and circles and octagons. This portion of the book is a good training manual for novice appraisers and real estate agents.
Thomas concentrates on making sure that the square footages are calculated correctly and comply with the FNMA, Freddie Mac, VA, and FHA requirements. He defines gross living area (GLA) as continuous finished living area. If finished living area is separated from the main dwelling, or can only be accessed by going outside, then it is not counted in the total heated and air-conditioned square footage. However, this area would be included in the gross building area (GBA). Fireplaces on the exterior of the dwelling are not included in GLA and a bay window is counted only if it has a floor underneath and a ceiling height of at least seven feet. Stairs are included on the floor where they are located and subtracted from the floor where they end going up. This prevents them from being counted twice. The upper level's GLA should include only walkable, finished space.
- Listing square footage of house tends to cause problems.
- Newspaper article from: Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service Rossi, Ronald November 19, 1998 700+ words
...homes have a different appeal. While square footage matters, and certainly larger homes...how the house is laid out and how the square footage is utilized that really matters. You...picked up a flier that did not mention square footage. He also picked up a copy of the Multiple...
- THE WWD LIST: MAGIC NUMBER; THE TOP 13 MAGIC EXHIBITORS, RANKED BY TOTAL SQUARE...
- Magazine article from: WWD December 8, 2003 700+ words
...Perry Ellis International; Total square footage: 9,400 Miami-based Perry Ellis...com 2. Williamson-Dickie; Total square footage: 7,800 The two-story, two-time...dickies.com 3.(1) Sean John; Total square footage: 7,000 The two-story booth was...
- Square footage, dollar sales up at independent plants.(Brief Article)
- Magazine article from: Official Board Markets Nocero, John January 19, 2002 700+ words
...an average 3.3 percent increase in square footage from 1999 with an 11.9 percent increase...increase from 1998 to 1999 in both square footage and dollars of more than 8 percent...regions reported significant increases in square footage and dollar sales from 1998 through...
- Sorry, wrong number. (calculating square footage in homes)
- Magazine article from: Builder Schwolsky, Rick March 1, 1994 700+ words
...the Realtor for misrepresenting the square footage and won. The case revealed that the square footage total, while listed as "heated and...lawsuits aren't the only issue for square-footage discrepancies. Builders can haggle...
- Landlords stretch square footage; Growing use of `loss factors' pumps up rents;...
- Magazine article from: Crain's New York Business Hawthorne, Fran May 15, 2006 700+ words
...referring to the difference between the square footage that a tenant is paying for and the...the formula has changed. A room's square footage used to be measured from one wall of...is that building owners "give the square footage that is available, and then state...
- Where is everybody? Even as square footage grows, show managers try to attract...
- Magazine article from: Tradeshow Week Dauer, Jillian May 22, 2006 700+ words
...average attendance, even though net square footage and the number of exhibiting companies...year growth of 2.7 percent in net square footage and a 1.4-per-cent gain in exhibiting...percent. Growth was apparent in net square footage and exhibiting companies in the first...
- Attendance at shows turns around; square footage is flat in fourth quarter,...
- Magazine article from: Tradeshow Week Yang, Candice February 19, 2007 700+ words
...Report of Tradeshow Statistics, net square footage at October through December shows remained...across the board: 12 percent in net square footage, 6.3 percent in exhibiting companies...1-percent decrease in both net square footage and number of exhibiting companies...
- Get ready to change how you calculate square footage. (proposed National...
- Magazine article from: Professional Builder (1993) McLeister, Dan August 1, 1995 700+ words
NAHB endorses standard to measure square footage dimensions from outside wall to outside...Home Builders, will count a house's square footage as the area between the finished surfaces...the house cannot be included in the square footage, such as exterior porches or decks...
- L.A. Country meeting facilities: ranked by square footage of largest room.(THE...
- Magazine article from: Los Angeles Business Journal Nusbaum, David April 20, 2009 700+ words
...banquet facilities ranked by square footage. The 93,000-square-foot...MEETING FACILITIES Ranked by square footage of largest room Rank Venue Largest...Room * name * name * address * square-footage 1 California Market Center Penthouse...
- Rehearing sought on square footage decision.(cases of conveyancing )
- Newspaper article from: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Dayton, Michael February 13, 2006 700+ words
...measure!'" Futeral argued that the square footage was known to the listing agent...by the Schnellmanns' expert found square footage of 3,087 square feet. The respondent...decide. Unlike Slack, the precise square footage of the property in issue was not a...
Source: HighBeam Research, Size Matters! Measuring and Calculating Residential Square...