What's both emotionally and financially your most important posession?

Priorities vary when we're choosing our nest and the US real estate market has a huge place in  news and Social Media now with advice and the latest stats in this drastically changing world of Real Estate. 

Here are a few fun facts.

When we look for a home, the amount of square footage is right up there with the amount of money we can or want to spend so top of our list. Did you know however, many, many factors contribute to the final number and it can be irrelevant to your actual available living space for things from furnishings to family. Typically the outside perimeter of the house is measured, then a garage and any unheated area square footages are subtracted from the total. Some listing realtors will measure each room and post the layout on MLS.

Here's some fun math trivia. A typical wall in a standard, residential home is 4.5" thick to allow for standard requirements, not even including extra insulation or out of the ordinary requirements for pipes or electrical. So do the math. 

If you're looking at homes without wide open living areas and it includes hallway walls and is divided with each room being very separated, that 4.5" equals a surprising  amount  of  now unlivable living space. A mere 20 foot long wall for example, dividing the Living and Dining rooms computes to a whopping 15 square feet of living space for the sheetrock and required vapor barrier alone. 

Think what you would do with another 15 sf. The possibilities are endless