The Birmingham Alabama Multiple Listing Service recently introduced an option allowing agents to list the gross living area (GLA) of their listings. This is a great feature that will help both Realtors and real estate appraisers. Realtors can now let potential buyers know how much living area the home they are looking at has. This can be helpful to buyers who want to make sure that the home is large enough to hold the furniture they have. If they are moving out of a 1,500 S.F. home they want to make sure the home they are buying is at least that size.
Gross living area can be obtained from several different sources. The most logical one would be an old appraisal on the home. If nothing has changed, then the living area can be taken directly from the appraisal. If no appraisal is available you can get the information from the County Tax Report that is available through the MLS reports. You have to be very careful with this information because it is not always correct. It is usually pretty accurate with one story slab homes as well as full two story homes with identical first and second floors. It is with 1.5 story homes and homes with finished basements that inaccuracies start to occur. Unless the county tax assessor has obtained floor plans they may have only estimated the living area on the second level. Living area in the basement may also be inaccurate if it is listed at all. Some homeowners may finish off the basement without getting a building permit and the living area will not be shown. I have included a tax record with notes to use as a guide in getting the information from county records.
Some tax listings include porches in the "Total Area" section and I have noticed Realtors using this as the GLA, which would not be correct. The last place to get the correct square footage would be to call me. I could measure the house and provide a floor plan sketch for you to include in your MLS listing. What do you use to get the correct gross living area calculations for your MLS listing?
If you have any questions on getting the correct gross livng area please give me a call at 205-243-9304.
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