Question for Realtors

I'm house hunting too and you'll often see the realtor including unfinished basement space in the sq footage of the home.

My lender considers the ""sq ft of living space"" is what they lend on. So the lender/appraiser do not use unfinished space of the home to calculate sq footage.

I'm not a realtor, but I agree that this seemed to happen a lot when I was house-hunting. In FL, we don't have basements or many attics - so this usually meant that the seller was trying to include unfinished sun rooms or utility rooms into the square footage.

We looked at a house that was listed as 4100 sq ft. Went to to Tax Appraisal District site and it is listed as 3600 sq ft. At A$200 sq ft this is $100,000.00. When we asked the realtor she said the listing agent said ITS 4100sq ft!!! All listing say "buyer to verify sq ft." but when we find a discrepancy we are just brushed off.

For those looking at houses, does your agent give you unfiltered remarks about the houses? We often ask ours, "Wonder why this house has been on the market so long? Seems well priced, good location?" We get vague responses.

I'm just feeling like sellers and seller agents are trying to slip things by. We looked at one house that plainly said NEW HVAC. The inspector said they were at least 7 yrs old based on the serial numbers. The sellers disclosure form has a section so that the seller can disclose another items not specifically listed. This seller left it blank and when we asked for it to be completed we were told the seller is "real busy"

Have we selected the wrong Buyers Agent or do they all "just open doors" and you have to figure out the details of the house?? Is this truly Buyer Beware?

Here in Florida we learned they will say X sq ft under air (air conditioned) and X sq ft total, which includes everything - even the garage. For instance our house is 1565 under air and I think 1900 total, which I believe includes the garage and the lanai (screened porch). Since it is always listed that way here it is probably either a Florida law or a Sarasota County law.

On 10/19/2014 granddi said:

For those looking at houses, does your agent give you unfiltered remarks about the houses? We often ask ours, "Wonder why this house has been on the market so long? Seems well priced, good location?" We get vague responses.

I'm just feeling like sellers and seller agents are trying to slip things by.

Is the property in question an estate? If so, they don't have to fill out a disclosure and anything they "disclose" is not assumed to be reliable.

You might want to read about the Fair Housing Act. There are certain things that Realtors cannot disclose or say.

In Addition: It is illegal for anyone to:

Threaten, coerce, intimidate or interfere with anyone exercising a fair housing right or assisting others who exercise that right

Advertise or make any statement that indicates a limitation or preference based on race, color, national origin, religion, gender, familial status, or handicap. This prohibition against discriminatory advertising applies to single-family and owner-occupied housing that is otherwise exempt from the Fair Housing Act.

On 10/19/2014 granddi said:

We looked at a house that was listed as 4100 sq ft. Went to to Tax Appraisal District site and it is listed as 3600 sq ft. At A$200 sq ft this is $100,000.00. When we asked the realtor she said the listing agent said ITS 4100sq ft!!! All listing say "buyer to verify sq ft." but when we find a discrepancy we are just brushed off.

For those looking at houses, does your agent give you unfiltered remarks about the houses? We often ask ours, "Wonder why this house has been on the market so long? Seems well priced, good location?" We get vague responses.

I'm just feeling like sellers and seller agents are trying to slip things by. We looked at one house that plainly said NEW HVAC. The inspector said they were at least 7 yrs old based on the serial numbers. The sellers disclosure form has a section so that the seller can disclose another items not specifically listed. This seller left it blank and when we asked for it to be completed we were told the seller is "real busy"

Have we selected the wrong Buyers Agent or do they all "just open doors" and you have to figure out the details of the house?? Is this truly Buyer Beware?

BINGO!

I had a Buyer's Agent who came recommended. Lazy as all get out. I hired an inspector who was recommended by my agent. Later I found my agent got a commission on the recommendation.

As we walked thru the inspection the house just got better and better! Little bells just went off and I thought....ya know, it's time to walk away. Something just isn't right here.

Like you said, there's some reason everything else in the area has sold but this one property. Nice area, decent price. But something just wasn't right.