The house resting on 1 acre at 3501 Trimble Road contains 6,115 square feet, says MacKenzie Strawn Hyde, a leading broker with Scout Realty and an agent with more than a thousand sales in her career.

She learned of the square footage by having the home “professionally measured,” the Realtracs listing states.

Some listings use square footage supplied by the owner or taken from the previous listing. Sometimes the builder provides the number of square feet to Metro when the plans are submitted for the building permit. Square footage might also come from a prior appraisal.

With this sale being recorded at $4.1 million for 6,115 square feet, there was a cost of $670 per square foot, and this property is yet another example of how the antiquated and obsolete it is to price a home based on square footage.

When this house was first listed in May 2019, the listing agent provided a square footage of 5,766, which differs from the 6,057 that Metro listed on the tax records, probably the number the builder submitted for the building permit.

In most cases, houses grow as they are being built, with the exception of tract houses, which are often built with the same plans by the same homebuilder many times over.

In the case of the house on Trimble, the original listing was for $2.2 million for 5,766 square feet, thus a discrepancy of 349 square feet. At $670 per square foot, that would equate to $233,830, even though the number is only 58 square feet different from Metro records.

The numbers vary on both floors, with the earlier measurement having 3,283 square feet on the first floor compared to Hyde’s 3,935. The second floor went the other way, shrinking from 2,483 to less than 2,180 in the current listing.

This is understandable in this particular building, as there are offsets, gables and three different roof heights, all of which can confuse measurements.

The original listing noted there were five full bathrooms, which was consistent with tax records, while the current listing has six full bathrooms. A bathroom of 120 square feet with a tub, shower, toilet and vanity on tile floors is more costly than a 120-square-foot office with just walls and a ceiling.

Same house, three different square footages. My money is on Hyde.

Hyde has worked in new construction for most of her storied career, has a grasp of the ever-expanding homes and, therefore, ordered this home to be professionally measured, a task usually performed by an appraiser.

When buying new construction, homebuyers will, quite often, receive more house than they were told, while in the purchase of existing homes, the source of the square footage is worth researching for those interested or obsessed in price per square footage calculations.

When price per square foot came into vogue as a measure of the worth, and when discrepancies were abundant, debate ensued. Such differences occurred especially during the DIY craze when owners often converted attics, basements or garages without the proper permits.

These spaces – many of which failed to meet codes – were often unknown to Metro. If proper permits had not been obtained, property taxes would have increased.

In the case of additions, especially those with electrical, plumbing and HVAC components, the Metro Codes Department is none too thrilled with the homeowners asking for forgiveness rather than permission. Often, the proud weekend warriors were required to remove drywall to expose the work that had been done in order to gain approval and permits, including the final approval. At that point, the footage was added to the tax records and taxed accordingly.

In the 1990s, some buyers began suing over the advertised square footage being higher than the actual square footage, and the courts ruled no one was harmed as long as the house appraised for sales price, thus releasing sellers of liability. Now, many buyers waive the appraisal contingency, although a large percentage of those buyers have the house appraised for tax reasons or to satisfy their own curiosity.

Sarah Michaud, a Realtor with Compass, represented the buyer, who will have benefit of an infinity pool, hot tub cabana and a screened porch with grill and fireplace, none of which are included in square footage.

“There is a chef’s kitchen with a massive island, Viking appliances and Zellige tiles,” Hyde wrote in the description. She also mentioned the primary bath is on the first floor with a spa-like marble bath, soaking tub and a rain shower.”

Zellige tiles should add a few dollars per square foot.

The crawl space is “full height,” the drapes custom and the blinds automatic. The sale occurred within two days of listing, once again speaking to the strength of the real estate market in Nashville’s luxury homes.

Richard Courtney is a licensed real estate broker with Fridrich & Clark Realty, LLC and can be reached at [email protected].