Help me calculate the square footage of a listing

I came up with exactly 666 sq. feet. I wouldn't use "dining area" as a dimension. Too subjective. Width would be bedroom + kitchen + livingroom. 11.5 + 6.5 + 11 = 29 x 22.5 = 652.5. Add 13.5 sq feet for closet and foyer. Answer 666.

sometimes the "measurements" extending 6" beyond walls or they use the area of a rectangle thatwould contain an irregularly shaped place . verrrrrry scientific and precise. a better guess would be what the place feels like when you are inside and how it compares to others you've been in.

it looks like they overestimated by 6 feet this time.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E06EFDD103AF936A25751C0A9629C8B63

From a real estate agent:

shoppers use stated square footage for their "first cull" -- so there's been persistent inflation. It's like dating, would you go on a blind date with someone who is "kind of cute?" Of course not, because in blind-dating world, everyone is "really hot."

For years, this wasn't a problem because brokers didn't give out co-op square footage. Once they did, and someone moved an apartment up from 750 to 800 and started getting better traffic because of it, the floodgates were opened . ..

To correct for this inflation, you as a shopper should do two things:

1) You shouldn't bypass listings that have lower stated square footage. It's possible that those brokers are just less inflationary.

2) Later in the process, once you have found three or four apartments you like, walk yourself over to Staples and spend three or four bucks on a pad of graph paper.

Draw the floorplan for each apartment on a separate piece of the graph paper, using a consistent scale.

Always start in the same corner.

That way, you can hold the floorplans up to the light against each other and get a "true" comparison.

This helps you adjust for the easy psychological trick that floorplans that are simply printed larger look more compelling!

ali r.
{downtown broker}

Here are brokers who post a floorplan that clearly contradicts there stated sq. footage. They justify their blatant lies by saying to themselves "everyone is doing it." However, in a real estate market where apts are bought and sold by the pound (price per sq. foot) I think this practice has gotten out of control. For example, the apt mentioned is listed at $860K for 825 sq. feet. They take 825K and you just bought an apt for $1000 per sq foot. Or did you. The apartment is really about 666 sq. feet so at 825K you're paying $1240 per and at full asking nearly $1300 per sq foot. What a steal.

Every broker and developer messes with square feet. Assume going into it that SF is overstated.

Also don't assume the dimensions on the floor plan are stated correctly either.

If the actual SF of the space, more then the feel, is important to you. Make an offer per SF and have an appraiser measure the space.

And don't forget that all SF measurements on listings have a disclaimer that the measurement is approximate and that the broker/developer has not verified the SF. It's your job, as a buyer, to do so.

Ali-
Nice analogy. But it is unfortunate that your industry has accepted this institutional lying as the norm.
I don't want to go buy graph paper. I just want an honest representation of the product being sold.
Can Coke sell you 9.5 oz of soda in a can labeled 12 oz. Hell no. Can a Carnival cruises sell you a 7 day cruise and drop you back of after 5 days. I don't think so. Brokers won't shape up until they get sued. Perhaps someone could start with the agents for the above listing.

Surdy, are you broker?

"Make an offer per SF and have an appraiser measure the space." - That's fine just know that the appraiser has a margin of error and different appraisers may measure sq. footage differently. I've seen appraisals of the same property with differences in square footage of 10% - 15%.

kgg

You got to be kidding! Right?

It's not only the sq-footage that is used as a factor in pricing. Looking at this layout, eventhough the sq-footage is small, the utilization of that space is better than most apts with 666 sq-ft.

kgg,

I hear you.

But if I go in a pitch a listing, and say, "well, I love your 666-square-foot apartment" and another broker pitches that listing and says, "what a magnificent 825-square-foot apartment" -- who do you think gets the business?

ali r.
{downtown broker}

just saw a listing on Natefind for an apt in Chelsea on west 23rd. Listed at 850 feet at $1088/ft. When i looked at the plan it was no more than 550-600 feet. Bedroom was 10x13, and the LR/DR/Kitchen was 15 by 23. This is an egregious, almost criminal exaggeration. I wish them the worst of luck

This thread is a prime example of why PPSF is a terrible metric. It all depends on whose yardstick you use!