Is this the bottom?

[Ubersalad]

But sad thing is everyone else is doing it...if I don't, my house just seem much smaller!

[Alan]

If it is standard practice then you are not telling a lie.

[Ubersalad]

It is still a lie, but it is also the "norm".

[Ben]

I think that it is standard practice to include finished basement sq ft. But it needs to be to code (which many basements finished by DIYers are not).

Every new house from local builders that has a basement finished includes it in the sq ft, and they also charge just as much for it. But they are finishing the basement to code, and normally it is a daylight basement to take advantage of a sloping lot.

This is another thing to watch out for with older houses. They have more accumulated strangeness from previous owners to consider.

[Ubersalad]

appraisal cannot include basement in their report. so to use it as total sq/ft, it is misleading.

[Notabull]

My house has 3 levels and is on a hill, so it's basically two levels and a finished basement with huge windows on the down slope side. The basement looks identical to the rest of the house in terms of finish quality and the ceilings are 9 feet. It has a laundry room/mud room with door out to the outside.

My point is that the "basement" is no longer a basement at my place - it's just space in my house. In fact, when I looked around before I bought I thought "where's the basement?". A minor bummer from a storage perspective (although the garage is big enough for that), but apart from that I'm happy with my basement. In fact, I'm sitting in it right now watching TV and enjoying the view.

There's a world of difference between DIY shitty remodel with 7 foot ceilings and a weird smell, and a professional job in a basement that was appropriate for the conversion in the first place.

[Notabull]

[Ubersalad]

Appraiser essentially can write whatever, it's the lender UW that decide whether or not the report is acceptable. Your house could have simply slid by.

[Notabull]

[Alan]

Based on the price per square foot of the listing in question, I'm going to guess that the square footage they list includes and unfinished basement.

Note to self: Never buy a house listed by Deborah Covey.

[Ubersalad]

[Notabull]

"It's obvious that I never seen your house, but whatever makes you feel better I guess. Thanks for the pointless continuation."

You don't need to see my house. The multiple appraisers and assessors over the years all deemed the permitted and inspected square footage to be valid and legal square footage. Just because you lost the debate over this doesn't excuse your bad attitude, although it never stopped you in the past.

I think you may need to grow up a little.

[Ubersalad]

I am stating the fact from general guideline of an appraisal, and you bring up your own supposedly exception case. What do you want me to say?

You win, you can have the last word. You need attention or something?

[rose-colored-coolaid]

Yeish guys. It's just a daylight basement.

I think everyone got the point though. Basements don't usually count, unless they are finished and meet code.

[Markor]

The house is off the market now. Anyone know why?

If a basement isn't included in the square footage, hopefully it's noted somewhere in the other stats, or else I'd immediately skip to the next house in a web search.