Measuring a Condo

[Blue1]

My 2 cents: Inside walls only. Oh, and don't forget the garage/car storage, etc. (I have forgotton that on occasion). I agree, your GLA will never match MLS, Assessor records, etc.

 

[Carol]

Many moons and ages ago I worked as a staff appraiser for FHA. In those days when there were only staff appraisers and no panel of fee appraisers, FHA had strict, stringent control over it's appraisers. It was mandated that all condo appraisals could not be completed unless the condo documents were examined. And, yes, in those days, the condo developments did have them available for us to see. What I learned through this is that each and every plan in the development is spelled out with the "legal" square footage indicated in the documents. Of course, being a condo, this square footage is the interior air space (simplified definition). Even though I rarely see these documents these days, I usually measure the condo for a general layout and arrangement, and place a disclaimer stating that for consistency purposes, since the subject is a condo, reliance has been placed on the tax square footage for living area. I have never had any questions or negative feedback from the lenders when using the approach.

 

[Alan Simmons]

below is something I have been including in my condo reports. (This may be one of the older versions but they all say the same thing.)


***GLA ADJUSTMENTS - It is a VERY prevalent problem in the subject area to get accurately consistent GLA measurements for condominiums, even within the same development. This is not only a result of the difficulties in getting some measurements, but in the variety of measuring strategies employed. The lack of any established area measuring protocol has resulted in some reporting only the interior GLA, some reporting the GLA including the outside walls, some reporting the outside storage rooms in the GLA, some still relying on the GLA given by the builder's plans, et al. Consequently, In an effort to eliminate any value being mistakenly attributed solely because of any differences in measuring strategies, no GLA adjustments were made unless there was a dramatic difference in the numbers or known established variations.

Additionally, the GLA used in this report is only an effort to (most accurately) compare the subject to the local market. The GLA is not an attempt to establish or define the ownership boundaries. The legal description, mailing address and tax number were sufficient to define the subject for the purposes of this report. It is suggested that the regulations of the condominium be reviewed should there be any need for a more specific determination.

 

[Bill_FL]

Pam,

Interior for condos. Just out of curiosity, is there a balcony? Patio? Storage closet on the balcony/patio?

Look to see what is the total area under roof. I have seen builders use this number often. Sometimes they even include garages.

 

[Dave Smith]

I believe we are supposed to use the interior "air" space in determining condo square footage. However, in my market area (with many hundreds of condos) no developer, builder, Realtor, seller or buyer is going to use that as the basis for the unit size because that makes the unit smaller than the way the "market" figures the size.

I also believe that if the "market" is going to base the size on the gross dimenisons I will do so too. It isn't worth fighting with the "market" about how big the unit is. I appraised 91 condo units last year. If I had used the interior dimensions all the time I would have had 91 fights on my hands and I would have had 91 problems. As along as I am consistent with the "market" there are no problems.

Wisconsin requires condo floor plans to be part of the condo documents. I have all the flloor plans on file, obtained from the Register of Deeds. I use what the developer recorded. Most of the Realtors use those figures too. If I do get an argument from a party to the transaction I refer them to the officially recorded documentation and leave it at that.

Life is too short to fight over condo unit sizes. I am consistent with my methodology and with the way the "market" works. It saves a lot of time and effort. I don't think I am misrepresenting unit sizes if I use publically recorded sizes, even if Fannie and Freddie say use interior dimensions.

My $.02 worth.

 

[Thomas N. Morgan]

Pam,

The precise answer is: Measure the interior and add 3/8" for the drywall. The condo owner owns the drywall. I'll see if I can find the official reference to this, if it matters.

Tom

 

[Jason Cowan]

I see that some of you are measuring the subject, as accurately as possible, reporting your GLA, and then using the GLA from tax records in the grid to make adjustments. I assume that you are using the tax records for the comps as well. Although, I am a newbie I feel that this method should also be applied to detached single-family homes as well. In my market, there is often a large discrepancy between the GLA reported in the MLS, and what is on record with the county assessor. It seems logical to use the assessor’s figures for the subject and the comps as well, at least in the grid. This assumes that the local assessment office has established firm criteria for measuring for all properties. With only six months under my belt, I know I am probably way off base, but what do you think?

 

[Stone]

Jason - Beware of assessor numbers. In my area, there are some communities with very good numbers, but not all of the communities have numbers that I would trust. In particular this can be a problem with 1.5 story houses, and two stories that have large foyers or great rooms that are two stories. I am lucky that the two cities that I do about 75% of my single family work in are very good. That does not apply to every community. Most of the communities farm out their work to out of town shops, who may or may not take the time to do it right. Good luck figuring out where you can and can't rely on this info.

Michael

 

[Pamela Crowley (Florida)]

The balcony is 60 SF, there is no storage unit, there is a single carport. Nothing I do comes close to the 1,408.

Alan, I'm going to use something similar to what you wrote. I already know all my comps are the same floor plan. I'm using what I measured for the GLA of the subject, putting in what the builder has as the GLA for the comps with no adjustment - and explain it. I have 2 comps from the subject project, new ones sold by the builder - 1 comp from a previous project that is almost identical (the units are identical) that is a resale. There are no resales in the subject project with 16 units still for sale and 60 still under construction.

Carol, It's Pulte

 

[Mountain Man]

I'm using what I measured for the GLA of the subject, putting in what the builder has as the GLA for the comps with no adjustment - and explain it.

Pam, I have done the same thing MANY times. I just can't figure how they figure. :?