Be careful when trying to figure out the true finished square footage of a split level. In a traditional three or four level split you have the main entry level, the top bedroom level, the sunken family room level directly below the bedroom level and in a four level the lower basement level directly below the main entry level.
The lowest basement level is rarely finished and is always completely below grade. This will never reflect as finished space in tax records.
The tricky part comes with the family room level. This level is often times just slightly below grade on the front of the house and at grade on the back. However, because the floor is a foot or two below grade at the very front tax records will often not include it in the total square footage, when it is in fact a livable level which is finished and the majority of which is above grade.
A good listing agent will actually measure out the space, list room dimensions and put accurate total square footage.
A lazy but conservative listing agent will list the sqaure footage from public records.
An outright lazy listing agent who wants to make the property look better will just guestimate the footage of the above grade portion and add it to the total.
