After marrying George, we soon bought a home in Glendale’s Fair Oaks neighborhood.  The builder (and the MLS listing) quoted the square footage at 3,300, the assessor at 3,000 and our Countrywide appraiser at 2,700.  Nearly a 20% discrepancy! 

Over the years I have been continually reminded that the assessor’s square footage is often wrong.  Prior to 1996, there was no nationwide standard for measuring residential square footage.  Due to the lack of a uniform standard, square footage figures were frequently incorrect.  It seemed that everyone measured differently.



My advice to home buyers: Buyers are entitled to a copy of their appraisal and should verify that their appraiser’s square footage total is in line with the advertised square footage.  If the square footage noted on the appraisal is 5-10% less than the advertised/disclosed total, the buyer should seek an explanation.