In the Assessing update last year, this was a new feature we added. We have often heard from users of the system that they don’t understand what “effective area” is and that real estate agents and appraisers are often looking for Gross Living Area. As such, this feature was added, however I have noticed many of you are not using this new feature.

You have the ability to display the building’s Gross Living Area, both on the screen and on the assessment card.  Doing so does not require that you update any of your existing sketches, but you will have to configure the system to indicate which sub area categories you would like the system to include when calculating Gross Living Area.

To implement the Gross Living Area attribute, go to Utilities | Update Value Parameters | Continue > | Building Parameters | Building Factors | Sub Area Factors.  First, enable the display option by checking the box labeled Display Gross Living Area Where Applicable.  Notice that initially each of your existing Sub Areas displayed in the grid have the Living Area attribute set to No.  To include individual Sub Areas in the calculation of Gross Living Area, choose each individually in the grid and press Modify.  In the Modify Building Sub Area Factor dialog box, simply check the box labeled Counts As Gross Living Area and then press Save.  Do this for each Sub Area you wish to include in the calculation.  For example, you will want to count Sub Areas such as First Floor Finished and Upper Floor Finished.  Generally speaking, you should not count Sub Areas such as Unfinished Basement and Patio.

Once you have enabled the display option and modified the appropriate Sub Areas, you will notice the GLA label, both on the Sketch tab on the application’s main window and within the Building Sub Area Details section on the Assessment Card.  The Gross Living Area is calculated as the sum of the Effective Areas for Sub Areas that you have elected to include.