Townhouse: is the cellar part of the sq ft?

Definitely NO.

Is it usable space like for a rec room? Finished? Or are we talking dirt floor with 4' ceilings?

Keith Burkhardt
www.theburkhardtgroup.com

People are all over the map in terms of how they advertise these. It's particularly funny when you look at the properties that switch brokers and/or are sold several times - the square footage randomly changes (and it often isn't the result of renovations to the house). Your best bet is to just look at the floorplans and look at the houses. I don't think you can really compares square footage between townhouses and apartments (and even between townhouses) on an apples-to-apples basis because there's such an extreme difference in terms of how usable the space is.

Any space below ground is not considered living area. If part of a floor is above ground, but the other part is below ground, then the entire floor does not count as living space and an appraiser will reflect this in his report.
It is a mistake for a real estate broker to count below ground space even if it is a finished basement, media room, etc. when he quotes the square footage, and the buyer could be in for a big surprise when he sees tha appraisal doesn't appraise out to the selling price.
Ellen Silverman
Mortgage Broker, NMLS#60631
Esfundingco@aol.com

Keith, If the basement is finished and has 8 foot ceilings, it should still not be included unless it has windows at 3-4 foot height for egress. Usually finished basement is advertised as a bonus - similar to outdoor space - rather than listing as standard sq footage. Then they are broker or sellers who are shady but the buyers are not stupid.

In general I am referring to those cellars not really usable other than for boiler/storage/laboratory and with less than 8" ft ceilings.
But some of them have access from the street and if renovated and excavated could have 8 ft ceilings and one skylight or two so to become large usable spaces.
I doubt that they would qualify as a "room".

thank you all, based on your replies it's pretty clear that the cellar should never be added to the total sq ft. As always it's such a mess, every agent follows different "rules".

Agreed it does not get counted as square footage by the appraiser. However it does add value.
I read a Blog recently by an appraiser discussing this very subject. If you use Google you'll find some interesting and useful information on the subject.

It definitely adds value, but again if one is looking for financing and the square footage is indicated as 5000, but 1600 is basement space, then the appraised value can go way down, certainly below the contract price which means the purchaser will have to come up with a higher down payment.

http://nationalappraiserroster.com/Resources/Appraising101/UnderstandingMeasurementsRoomCounts/tabid/223/Default.aspx

The building department indicates what is below grade space. The appraiser refers to the department for his report.