Have you ever had someone tell you the square footage of a home and thought to yourself, “Amazing… what does that mean?”
Existing homeowners know exactly what 2,400 sq ft looks like. Recent college grads moving to NYC might not.
Below we take this sometimes-confusing unit of measure and give it some real-world applications. Now you can visualize square feet in terms you understand.
King Size Bed: 42.15 sq ft
Everyone should know the size of a king bed. You’ll be sleeping in one at some point, right? If a home is 700 square feet you could fit 16.5 king beds in it… assuming the space is a square.
Remember: hallways, bathrooms and your kitchen count in the square footage too.
School Bus (interior): 245 – 300 sq ft
Most of us have been on a school bus, right? There are several articles out there on people who have converted old buses into (temporary) homes. From the looks of it, things could be a lot worse.
In Manhattan, 300 sq ft of space is still a premium – and if you don’t mind sacrificing a bit of space for a prime location, a place like this could just be your dream home.
Average 3-Car Garage: 600 – 640 sq ft
We are not talking about a garage with a man-station, power tools, storage area, and space for garbage cans. We are talking about a very basic 3-car garage; one with room for 3 cars and enough space to walk around them.
Even so, 600 sq ft isn’t so bad when you think about it like that… especially for studios and 1 bedroom apartments, but even for 2 beds/1 bath and an acceptable living room – for the right price.
Acceptable 2 Bed & Flex 3 Apartments: 1,000 sq ft
The blueprint shows a 2 bed/1 bath home that could easily be converted to 3 beds. Keep in mind that 683.5 sq ft of space is defined between the 2 bedrooms, living and dining area. The other 316.5 goes to closets, kitchen, bathroom, etc.
NBA/NCAA Basketball Court: 4,700 sq ft
This is pretty self-explanatory – and massive for Manhattan. 4,700 square feet is the size of larger homes in the suburbs.
The Best Suggestion
If there is one piece of advice we can give you above all else – it is to ask your friends and family the size of their homes… while you are there.
Then during your search for the best Manhattan apartments you can think to yourself, “This is the same size as John’s place, half the size of Rachael’s,” and so on and so forth.
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