- Find a Real Estate Professional
- Realtors®
- Mortgage Lenders
- Home Improvement Pros
- Other Real Estate Services
- Review an Agent, Lender or Pro
- Marketing on Zillow
- Real Estate Agent Advertising
- Join the Professional Directory
- Popular
- Real Estate Market Reports
- More
Answers (3)

- Rex Fuller, "COREXRE"
- Contributions:110
A lot of the appraisal criteria for homes with basements is based on whether or not they are finished (partly or in full) or not. Also - has the work in a finished basement been 'permited' by the local building department, etc. I agree with Blair below - contact an appraiser or RE agent and discuss the matter with them and get their opinion. You can also contact your county tax office and see how they classify basements and the sq. footage of a home in your area. Every region, state and city / county have different criterial in this question of yours.

- Blair Jones, "BlairJones"
- Contributions:84
I've seen tax records that have not included the sq. ft. for either/both the attic and/or basement. It depends on if the space has been finished or not, and whether it is "livable" space. If you are looking at Zillow to provide you with the value of your house, you should take into consideration that they have not seen the interior of the home and as mentioned, use algorithms. A Realtor or Appraiser can give you a realistic value. As far as "artificially" affecting the price, this can be in the eye of the beholder. To some, a basement has great value, to others not as much. In general, the price/value per sq. ft. of a basement can be less than that of the main floor. This can be averaged out to an overall price per sq. ft.

- wetdawgs
- Contributions:26842
Zillow has regional variations of their algorithm to account for such differences.
Square footage
Stating a discriminatory preference in an advertisement for housing is illegal. If you think this content is discriminatory or otherwise inappropriate and feel it should be removed from Zillow, please let us know by completing the information above.
We will review this content. Thanks for helping make the site more useful to everyone. To learn more, read Zillow's Good Neighbor Policy.