Posted by JP(SC) on November 25, 2004 at 09:26:19:
I measure all properties that I consider buying and calculate the SF myself. I very seriously doubt that the Realtor deliberately misled you. They simply repeated what they were told by someone else. When you buy property, you should independently verify everything. After all, it is your money that you are spending. The fault lies with you. As to whether you misrepresent it to your potential buyers, that is up to you. If you can live with being a liar, then go for it.
With the assistance of a Realtor, my wife and I purchased an investment property back in May for $125K, that we planned on flipping with the assistance of the same Realtor. After a fair amount of work, we put the property back on the market where it sat for months. We eventually became dissatisfied with the marketing and poor communication with our Realtor and decided to further drop the price and list the property ourselves, with the assistance of a flat fee RE marketing company. The agent from this company is great, and during his review of the property found that the square footage was only 1664 (instead of 1850) square feet. This was a shock to my wife and I. Based on price per square foot, the property has just lost a significant amount of value. (Roughly $13K even if I go by my initial purchase price). Do I have any recourse with either my former Realtor or the agency we had purchased the property from? We feel that the property was misrepresented when we purchased it, and are due some amount of compensation. Thanks in advance for any advice you can provide.
Thanks for the great info!!! I’ve found that all of you personally measure the square footage of your investment properties prior to purchase, as you have no trust with your Realtor. Also, that there’s no Realtor ethics when it comes to selling a property. This is great news, as I can now increase the advertised square footage by at least 300 to 400 sq ft. Buyer beware, right!!! Thanks again for the thoughtful insight.
Re: Misrepresentation problem. Please help. - Posted by Tom-FL
Posted by Tom-FL on November 19, 2004 at 18:07:57:
Anytime you deal with a real estate agency, you will likely find the statement “All facts and figures are believed to be accurate but are not guaranteed”, or similar. It’s on the website, the brochures, the contracts, the bathroom walls.
Re: Misrepresentation problem. Please help. - Posted by River City
Posted by River City on November 19, 2004 at 09:55:13:
I have never seen anything that says a realtor or a seller guarantees the square footage of a property to be accurate. Even when our builder built our home, the contract stated that the square footage was an approximate figure. If the square footage was that important, you should have measured for yourself.