Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Can anyone tell me why the square footage of a house is almost never given on the Long Island MLS website??? I think in all of the online listings we have looked at, only one or two may mention the actual square footage of the house somewhere in the little 'comments' section at the bottom. I've never before seen a regional MLS website that does not include this most important and very basic information.
It's very VERY frustrating for someone like us who is looking for a specific minimum square footage to not have any indication on any of the MLS listings as to the size of the house.
Why is square footage kept such a 'big deep dark secret' on Long Island?
Is there some strange law against saying on MLS how big the house actually is?
Some jurisdictions do not permit square-footage listings. Some real estate agencies consider it too much of a liability. Others don't want to bother wrestling with the question of how you measure square footage. Do you count the basement? Only if it's finished? Not at all? Do you include bathrooms and closets?
That is so that you have to call an agent to get the information. Especially today, when we are able to advertise other firms listings on our web sites, agents do not want potential customers to go to the house, see the sign, and call the listing agent directly. Doing so really gives the buyer no advantage, but many people don't realize that.
One of the things that really peeves us about many listing photos is if the agent used a camera with a 'wide' lens! It's so obviously meant to mislead, and so very OBVIOUS to the eye. Why do realtors do this? It's so counterproductive. For that matter, why do the sellers allow photos like this, or bad photos, to remain up? Doesn't the seller have any control over what is posted about their house? After all, they are the ones paying the commission to the realtor. Don't they have any say in how their house is marketed?
clamboy, there is only one ranch for sale in Ridge and it is on a lake (which we don't want).
There is only one ranch in Manorville that might be a possibility. The others all have in-ground pools (we've now decided to return to our original plan of not looking at houses with pools, because we don't want to have to deal with a removal). Is Manorville as a whole considered to be on a par with Dix Hills, Huntington Village, and parts of Smithtown? It's quite a way further out on Long Island than those communities.
Last edited by BlueSkyHoliday; 09-07-2007 at 04:45 PM..
don't want to bother wrestling with the question of how you measure square footage. Do you count the basement? Only if it's finished? Not at all? Do you include bathrooms and closets?
As we've always understood it, square footage SHOULD mean square footage of living space (heated and cooled). That includes bathrooms of course. Closets in most homes aren't large enough to matter. It should never include a garage or an unfinished basement. I assume "square footage" to mean square feet of living space unless it's specified as TAUR (Total Area Under Roof) -- but TAUR is usually only used by builders and architects.
We're going on the assumption that any ranch of at least 2000 square feet of living space (plus the requisite 2-car ATTACHED garage, which we also need) will have to be on at least 1/2 acre unless the zoning is such that homes are allowed to be extremely close to property lines -- which we wouldn't want because privacy is so important. But apparantly even 1/2 acre lots don't mean that the house sitting on them isn't too small.
What we REALLY want to find is something close to 2500 square feet. It would be so much easier to be able to 'search' listings (as many other areas can do) by minimum square footage but it's impossible to do with Long Island houses.
Tom Moser, do agents on Long Island simply not bother to find out the square footage of the homes they list? It seems silly to assume that a buyer will 'just add onto' whatever they buy if it's not big enough. With Long Island property taxes already pushing the limit of affordability, that's one thing we most definitely do NOT want to consider. Do people there not worry about how much their taxes will increase if they buy a house that they know will need to be enlarged?
I asked an agent and my RE lawyer that question. They explained that nearly all listing agents wouldn't risk putting the square footage down because so many people out here will sue.
The concern is that someone will come in and and measure the square footage and find a discrepancy.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
just kidding I have often wondered that myself. Maybe most are to small.
Answer
