“Below-Grade” Area

“Below-Grade” per the Residential Square Footage Guidelines booklet by NCREC is defined as “space on ANY LEVEL which has living area, is accessible by interior stairs, and has earth adjacent to ANY exterior wall on that level”.  And “if earth is adjacent to ANY portion of a wall, the ENTIRE level is considered “below-grade”. 

Due to the fact that listing these different areas separately would be “impractical”, agents are permitted under the guidelines to report square footage of the dwelling as the total living area of both above and below grade areas.

Dwelling Measurement and Living Area

As per the “Residential Square Footage Guidelines” booklet living area is sometimes referred to as “heated living area” or “heated square footage” and is space intended for human occupancy and is 1) Heated, 2) Finished, and 3) Directly accessible from other living area.

“Above Grade”

“Above-Grade” is defined as space on any level of a dwelling which has living area and no earth adjacent to any exterior wall on that level. 

(Source: Residential Square Footage Guidelines, by NCREC)

Who requires the measurement of heated living area?

Your broker in charge and CMLS requires listing agents to report the area of heated living space in residential properties and then CMLS uses that number to create a “range” which subtracts 10% and rounds down to the nearest hundred square feet for the low range and adds 5% and rounds up to the nearest hundred to get the high number of the “range”.  Clients and customers can get a fast estimate of the actual square footage when looking at the listing sheet by deducting 5% from the high number.

Does the Real Estate Commission require you to measure?

As per the booklet, Residential Square Footage Guidelines by the North Carolina Real Estate Commission, it states; “Although real estate agents are not required by the Real Estate License Law or Real Estate Commission rules to report the square footage of properties offered for sale (or rent), when they do report square footage, it is essential that the information they give prospective purchasers be accurate.  At a minimum, information concerning square footage should include the amount of living area in the dwelling”.

So who is it that requires the agent to provide this information?  The answer is the Carolina Multiple Listing Service (CMLS) as well as your favorite BIC. 

Measuring Services by Jim is ready to serve you.

With nine great years in the real estate profession behind me I believe my experiences in the art of measuring residential properties, including teaching new agents, will be a great option for the busy listing agent looking for assistance with their business.  All properties will be measured by me personally and delivered with professional presentation while maintaining a reasonable cost.  Should you have a single family home, town home or condo coming on the market or desire to verify a property’s size for your buyer, I would love the opportunity to assist you.