Effective April 1, 2022, Fannie Mae began requiring all of their appraisals to use the ANSI standard for measuring Gross Living Area (GLA) and non-GLA. As a result, ANSI appraisal square footage and number of rooms may be different from prior appraisals and field cards. Note that while this is only applicable to Fannie Mae and not other lenders, as Brad Doerle of Richmond Appraisals pointed out, appraisers don’t always know what exact loan is being used, so most will try to conform to this new standard. The ANSI standard requirement does NOT apply to real estate licensees performing CMA’s or BPO’s.

Our simplistic description of a difference you might notice will be that only spaces with 7 foot ceiling heights will be included in the Gross Living Area square footage and the rest will be noted as “non-GLA”. Also, a Cape Cod second floor gross living area measurement will include any area with a 7′ high ceiling and only the portion that slopes down to a height of 5 feet, but not the full room dimension.

For more information, please see the Fannie Mae ANSI Fact Sheet, NAR’s letter to Fannie Mae and Fannie Mae’s response to NAR.  Or better yet, ask a trusted appraiser for more information if concerned!