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+--- Thread: Screened lanai counts in house sq ft? (/showthread.php?tid=23506)
Screened lanai counts in house sq ft? - Ccat - 12-23-2024
Does a fully screened lanai count towards the total sq footage in a house?
RE: Screened lanai counts in house sq ft? - BlackAkita - 12-28-2024
(12-23-2024, 09:22 PM)Ccat Wrote: Does a fully screened lanai count towards the total sq footage in a house?
It may matter whether it is screened or not. On Oahu, a balcony attached to a condo is recorded with the property description. There is interior sq footage and lanai sq ft. I don't know if both are taxed at the same rate.
On the big island you can pour a separate (detached) slab of concrete for a barbecue and dining table, and my draftsman says it won't increase your real estate taxes. However, at one time, the old owner of my house had a roof over the lanai, and then decided to enclose it with two walls and two windows, and raised the floor so it was at the same level as the rest of the interior. In other words, he turned the area into a room. This is certainly taxable.
The general question of when is a "patio" taxable depends on the state. This article says it will jack up the property tax in CA.
https://www.howmuchconcrete.io/blog/does-a-concrete-patio-increase-property-taxes-things-to-know#how-a-concrete-patio-can-increase-your-property-taxes
RE: Screened lanai counts in house sq ft? - Hotzcatz - 03-02-2025
Whether it counts or not depends on who is doing the counting and why.
A contractor will count it, but usually/occasionally the square foot installation costs for a lanai (screened or not) will be different than interior house square feet.
The tax folks will count it either way, the tax amount charged may change depending on how enclosed it is.
Banking square footage may or may not include it, depending on their estimators.
As for the tax folks, well, they like to tax things. We have a van more or less being used as storage parked in the driveway. It's been there long enough for the tax office satellites to notice is so now we're being taxed an additional small amount for a 'storage shed'. After a visit to the tax office to mention it was a van, not a shed, they said they'd send out an inspector to check it out.