A home with 1,100 square feet on the main level and 1,100 on the second has GLA of:
Correct Answer
B) 2,200 square feet
Why this is correct: Gross Living Area (GLA) is the total finished, above-grade living area. It is calculated by summing the finished square footage of all above-grade levels. Here, the main level (1,100 sq ft) plus the second level (1,100 sq ft) equals 2,200 square feet. Why the other choices are wrong: "1,100 square feet, counting the footprint" is wrong because the footprint is the ground-level area covered by the structure, not the total living area across floors. "3,300 square feet, including the basement" is wrong because basements are below-grade and are excluded from GLA, even if finished. "1,650 square feet, averaging the levels" is wrong because GLA is a sum, not an average, of above-grade finished areas. Exam tip: GLA is always the sum of finished, above-grade areas. Basements and garages are never included, regardless of finish.
Why This Is the Correct Answer
Option B applies the rule directly: 1,100 square feet on the main level plus 1,100 square feet on the second level equals 2,200 square feet of gross living area. Both levels are above grade and finished, so both count in full. Nothing in the stem describes below-grade or unfinished space that would need separate treatment, which makes this a clean addition problem testing whether you know GLA is a sum of levels.
Why the Other Options Are Wrong
Option A: 1,100 square feet, counting the footprint
This confuses footprint with living area. The footprint is the ground area the building covers and is used for site coverage and setback analysis, not for measuring habitable space. Reporting 1,100 square feet would tell users the house is half its actual size and would misprice it against every comparable.
Option C: 3,300 square feet, including the basement
The stem never mentions a basement, and even a finished one would be excluded from GLA and reported on its own line. Below-grade area typically contributes less per square foot than above-grade area, which is precisely why the two are kept apart. Adding an imagined basement invents area that does not exist.
Option D: 1,650 square feet, averaging the levels
Averaging levels has no basis in any measuring standard. A buyer occupies the sum of both floors, not their average, so an average would understate the house by 550 square feet. This distractor tests whether a candidate will accept a plausible-sounding operation without asking what it represents.
Stack the Floors, Skip the Ground
Picture the house in cross section and stack every finished floor that sits above the dirt line. Anything at or below that line goes on a different shelf, no matter how nicely it is finished.
How to use: For any GLA question, list each level with its area and mark it above or below grade, then add only the above-grade finished levels. Never average, and never stop at the first floor.
Exam Tip
GLA questions are addition problems wearing a costume. Identify which spaces qualify, then add; the arithmetic is never the hard part.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- -Reporting the footprint instead of the sum of above-grade levels
- -Rolling a finished basement into GLA because it looks like living space
- -Counting open two-story foyer space twice on the second-floor sketch
Concept Deep Dive
Analysis
Gross living area is the total finished, habitable, above-grade area of a dwelling, measured from the exterior of the walls and summed across every above-grade level. The word 'gross' refers to measuring to the outside of the walls rather than counting only the interior room area; it does not mean everything under the roof. Space is included only when it is finished, heated, directly accessible from other living area, and above grade, which is why a two-story house yields the sum of its two floors. Consistency matters more than any single rule, because the whole point of GLA is to compare the subject and the comparables on the same basis.
Background Knowledge
You need the definition of gross living area as finished, above-grade space measured to the exterior walls, and the rule that below-grade area is reported separately. You should also know that consistency between subject and comparables governs whenever a local convention differs.
Real-World Application
An appraiser measuring a two-story colonial sketches each floor separately, notes the second floor is slightly smaller because of an open foyer, and reports the sum of the two finished above-grade levels while listing the finished basement on its own line in the grid.
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