Verify school availability with the school district. The link information about Palo Alto leads to information about the schools and school districts.
Most newly constructed homes report the square feet as defined by the building department. This is often higher than the "living area square feet" and often higher than reported by the tax assessor office. If the tax assessor reports a lower square feet on an older home, there may have been an addition where a final inspection was not done. Buyer should verify the sq. ft. reported, irrespective of the source.