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I shouldn't be surprised any longer about the complete lies in real estate listings. I know realtors commonly inflate square footage by 100 sq feet or so but sometimes I see them inflating by 250 or more square feet for a one bedroom and then it just becomes a scam.
Check out this one: they're calling this a 900 square foot one bedroom, yet the floor plan shows that it is probably 650 square feet. Maybe 700 at the very very most.
The way I calculated was to add the three lengths of the rooms at the bottom of the floor plan (living room 14, dining area 8, kitchen 6 = 28) and multiplied by the other length (living room 12 + bedroom 17 = 29) which equals 812. I then took off 20% since that appears to be how much of the rectangle is missing. 812*.8= 650.
I am also getting around 650 with my calculations, but my total is closer to 700 if I were to round. That being said, it's still a far cry from 900sq ft. I find that realtors simply take the longest width of the apartment and multiply it by the longest length of the apartment, without factoring in the actual shape of the apartment. It's been that way for years now.
I am also getting around 650 with my calculations, but my total is closer to 700 if I were to round. That being said, it's still a far cry from 900sq ft. I find that realtors simply take the longest width of the apartment and multiply it by the longest length of the apartment, without factoring in the actual shape of the apartment. It's been that way for years now.
I guess that's a less accusatory way of looking at it: they are just bad at math
I wouldn't say its less accusatory, I'm only pointing out how realtors get those inflated numbers, not excusing them for lying. While I have no doubt some realtors are simply bad at math, in most cases they do it on purpose to make their listing look more attractive. Most people are not going to bother to do the math and double check the figure. they'll accept the realtors assertion at face value, at least until they check the apartment out for themselves. And even then, many people will not realize the difference. A huge step in renting a place is getting people to the see the place, and nowadays with the internet, people have a wider selection of places to choose from but not necessarily the time to see them all. So while a variety of factors determine what apartments people will choose to view, a big factor is size. Between two similar apartments where the major difference is size, people will almost always see/go for the one listed as bigger, the same way people somehow think cageless eggs are any different from regular eggs and will buy the former over the latter if the prices are similar. It's dishonest but smart marketing, and people fall for it all the time.
Some are so beyond reality that it is hard to believe they know what the term square foot means. I think they count your share of the hallway the elevators, the compactor room, and the laundry.
A neighbor kept insisting she had 1200 square feet because that's what the brochure said. We measure every INCH wall to wall including broom closet. It was a a couple square inches inches shy of 900.
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they're calling this a 900 square foot one bedroom, yet the floor plan shows that it is probably 650 square feet.
I guess I should start doing the same thing with my lousy 650 square feet.
I really think this deception is more the rule than the exception...hey, that could be a song lyric.
Henna I got a similar approximate square footage to yours by adding the two rectangles.
The truth always comes out when the bank appraiser shows up and does his/her measurements!
I think it's much easier for them to lie with co ops because there are no official measurements on file with the DOB as there is for condos.The real sq footage of condos is a part of the public record throughout.You can look top a unit before even seeing it and see the sq ftg.
The lying is rampant but not universal.When I looked at my apartment,the stated sq ftg from the broker was "approx 920 sq ft". When I saw the appraisal,it was measured @ 956.
Most RE search engines have a sq ft option that automatically bumps the highest sq ft units to the top and lists in descending sq ft order ,so that might be another reason for doing this.
Are you sure the living room doesn't say 14 x 17 rather than 14 x 12, making 14 the vertical? Anyway even if it, is I get 750 at most. I think more than 20% of the rectangle is missing so probably less.
Nothing new here folks. Even with histories of lawsuits won for plaintiffs doesn't deter developers and agents from inflating sq ft because there is so much more money to be made overall than chance of actually being sued and having to pay financially.
Remember Two Trees and a buyer who happened to be a lawyer that got angry? Took long time but he finally won but developers and agents still have this practice of inflating sq ft... Until they make a law clearly defining the practice and such, it'll continue to happen and it'll be buyer be wary...sucks for general public.
Condos are required to include the calculation of square footage in the original offering plan, so there can be a reference point when determining the square footage. It's not uncommon to include portions of hallways, elevator shafts, etc. as KK mentioned above, but co-ops are a different story, and some measure raw space, i.e., including the walls, not actual floor space. Closets are included in square footage calculations, though unless a unit has walk-in closets, it is not easy to determine why there can be such a variance. I recall one that I looked at including a storage locker space as square footage, and in some of the buildings that have staff rooms elsewhere in the building, that can also be a source of variance if the staff units are still tied to the main unit.
The language on a listing makes it clear that square footage is not guaranteed, and some units are rounded, include outdoor space (which an appraiser will not), etc., such that the subsequent listings of that type or line within a building are then all off, if a broker does not have an accurate measurement performed prior to listing the unit. Few are that diligent, and just use what they think is the proper amount, so that tends to inflate the numbers with rounding.
Co-ops have few reference points because of the lack of documentation in an offering plan, which is a key reason why square footage seems huge for a co-op in terms of value over a respective condo. The reason why condos are handled differently in offering plans is due to the taxes, since unlike the co-op, real estate taxes are assessed to each unit, not to the building as a whole that are then divided among shareholders and included in monthly maintenance in a co-op. So, a condo may only be 700 square feet of living area, but the apportioned common areas come to an additional 200 square feet, so the taxable value is calculated on 900 square feet, yet the apartment is then advertised as a 900 square foot apartment, when it is not. However, resales of both condos and co-ops do suffer from square footage estimation, and inflation.
A diligent appraiser will measure the actual space of the unit, and if a condo, can find out the original calculations in the offering plan to know the apportioned common area that was assigned to the unit. Some listings include outdoor space in calculations, which can be a problem when dealing with private yard space for ground floor units, and terraces on larger units. This is more of an issue with a condo because any mortgage is tied to the deed for real property, not shares in a corporation that owns a building and grants proprietary leases to shareholders as in a co-op. So, a co-op can have more of a variance in actual area, without explanation. The best advice is to have an independent measurement of the apartment taken, as built, to determine the actual square footage prior to purchase. That way, you can frame an offer based upon the size of the actual unit, not an estimate to make a higher price seem more in line with area values.
This type of inflation is why I find cost per square foot quotes for NYC real estate to be ridiculous, since there is no standard of measurement of a given unit. And, while co-ops generally represent a better cost value in the marketplace, the value is eroded somewhat by the higher variability in the actual measurement of living space that is granted by the proprietary lease; and, since co-ops range from all cash to larger downpayment requirements (20%+ is standard), any underlying mortgage on shares is not secured by an individual unit, but by the financial stability of the corporation that owns the co-op building, so it's a loan on a financial instrument, not real property; thus, the actual size of the unit is not as important a determinant of value to the lender.
I have brought digital tape measures when going to look at units, and had one nearly hostile (on their part) discussion with an agent who was trying to tell one of my cousins that a unit was a couple of hundred square feet larger than it was. I asked where the sliding bookcase was, since there was obviously a hidden room somewhere, that we could not find. Perhaps it was a mythical room that appears once every twenty years for a month, but I certainly did not have the same calculations as she did.
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All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.
~William Shakespeare (As You Like It Act II, Scene VII)
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