How does home size and usable space impact on the value of a home?
Written by Jiayi Zhang
Reading time: 2 minutes
I often got questions by my clients: What’s the square footage of this house? House A is bigger than House B, what’s the price difference should be between the two houses?
It is absolutely true that the size of the house plays a crucial role on its value. You may notice that the MLS listing often provide a square footage range. Buyers and buyer agents can filter by the square footage range to narrow down the target houses. As realtors, we always do our due diligence to find out the accurate square footage for our clients and provide professional advise to our clients. If two houses are in similar conditions, doing the valuation by square footage might be a good start.
However, beside the size of the house, there are many other factors should be taken into consideration, and sometimes, they weigh more than the size.
- A large house doesn’t mean a good layout. I always recommend the clients to view the property in person as much as possible. You will find an unreasonable layout could make the house looks much smaller or darker. In those situations, we would prefer a slightly smaller house with better layout.
- Besides the interior house square footage, the lot (exterior) size the house also affects the house pricing. Especially the frontage(Width) of the house which has more influence on its valuation than the depth.
For examples: Both House A and House B have lot sizes of 4,000 sqft. House A is 50 ft (frontage) x 80 ft (depth), while House B is 40 ft(frontage) x 100 ft (depth). House A is usually more popular and more expensive.
3. The exposure of the house can determine how much sunlight the owner can enjoy from their homes. When touring a property, ensure you take time to find out if you can have a great, warm afternoon in the backyard or balcony.
4. The properties with lake views, or back onto ravine typically have higher values. On the other hand, facing a major street or having a ugly blocked view will negatively impact a house value. For condo units, try to find out if there is potential construction in the future which will bring noises and block the view from your window.
5. To increase the living space, nowadays some new townhouses have 3 story. If the total size of a 2 story and 3 story house are the same, I strongly recommend the 2 story house to avoid climbing too much stairs. It is also considered safer for elders and children.
Overall, House pricing cannot be simply calculated by the square footage. There are many internal and external conditions influence the housing price. Visiting the property and analyzing all aspects are the keys to obtain a suitable home at a reasonable cost. Please free feel to reach out for more details on other factors.
