Alright, this topic had to be addressed sooner or later. I was at a property last night and the issue of square footage came up. I was with a buyer and the property just felt no where near the square footage advertised. We decided to measure some rooms to see. We got the master bedroom, kitchen and living room first; all 3 were off by at least 1 1/2 feet each way. Now I agree, that does not seem like much but take a 10 x 10 room which makes 100 square feet. Now make that room 12 x 11, we just made 100 square feet 132 square feet, do that in 3 rooms your home just grew 96 square feet.

It does not take much to make a property bigger or smaller. Now I agree almost every person measuring may come up with a “slightly” different number and yes the MLS does show disclaimers that information is reliable but NOT guaranteed. In the end we as agents properly representing our sellers and buyers need to do what we can to verify all information of a property. We are hired to do a job so do it.

Typically when you look at a house what you see and feel is more important than the actual square footage.

I have been in properties that sure felt larger than advertised and I have been in properties that felt much smaller than advertised.

Unfortunately, much of the time we need to deal with agents that either don’t know how to use a tape measure or skipped out on math class. Often we find the square foot measurements advertised on the MLS matching the tax records. Just like anything the tax records can be wrong and I have seen them wrong on many occasions.

I have measured many properties over the years to come up with more or less square footage than the client thought. Many times sellers are simply going off the previous sale and what they were told. Many time the seller is going off “ball-parking it”. The fact is that to get an accurate reading you need to measure it!

When you’re selling make sure your numbers are correct, the last thing you need during a smooth transaction is someone coming back with numbers that are much different than yours. When buying same thing, make sure you are getting what you’re paying for.

When working with us and if knowing for sure is important to you, let us know and we will get the tape out!