Square footage of homes? (Pittsburgh, Denver: condo, how much, lawyers)

[Johnland]

Originally Posted by PghREA

Sorry, most of us are very good in math. Pittsburgh Realtors belong to Realtors Association of Metropolitan Pittsburgh (RAMP) and West Penn Multi-list. We do not post square footage in the Multi-list or in any promotional marketing materials we create. It is our policy and prevents law suites over square footage. Square footage information can be found on the Allegheny County Tax Assessor's website and even this information can be inaccurate.

We can find you a home based on any other criteria you may have. Most people are specific about the number of bedroom and baths and the type of home they are looking for. Remember the saying, "when in Rome do as Romans do" - Southwestern Pennsylvania does not define a home by square footage.

I'm glad this came up. I too was puzzled why the Coldwell Banker Property Search site I regularly check does not list square footage. I resorted to looking up square footage on the tax website.

[Scientist Mom]

There are a lot of differences between the typical homes found in Houston and those found in Pittsburgh (esp. in the city itself). One of the pluses to PA homes is that most have basements. So even if your Square footage is the same, you end up with more storage space, and possibly more living space, because to my understanding the basement is not included in these calculations.

For us, moving from a Houston Suburb to a city neighborhood here, we quickly learned to pay attention to the room sizes, number of bathrooms and whether the home had off-street parking and air-conditioning in our house hunting.

[Copanut]

Hey, they're not basements, they're cellars.

[Tallysmom]

Originally Posted by PghREA

Sorry, most of us are very good in math. Pittsburgh Realtors belong to Realtors Association of Metropolitan Pittsburgh (RAMP) and West Penn Multi-list. We do not post square footage in the Multi-list or in any promotional marketing materials we create. It is our policy and prevents law suites over square footage. Square footage information can be found on the Allegheny County Tax Assessor's website and even this information can be inaccurate.

We can find you a home based on any other criteria you may have. Most people are specific about the number of bedroom and baths and the type of home they are looking for. Remember the saying, "when in Rome do as Romans do" - Southwestern Pennsylvania does not define a home by square footage.

Okay -- but if I wanted to purchase a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom home that was at least 1800 square feet, could you then narrow down my selections? In other words -- do you as a realtor have that info even if it isn't shared?

[PghREA]

Originally Posted by Tallysmom

Okay -- but if I wanted to purchase a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom home that was at least 1800 square feet, could you then narrow down my selections? In other words -- do you as a realtor have that info even if it isn't shared?

No - we would need to go the Allegheny County Website and hope the information posted is correct. If you're looking for homes in Butler, Beaver or Westmoreland Counties and need square footage, you're SOL. The only way is to walk through the home and see if the room sizes meets your needs.

[pinetar10]

Indiana County MLS lists square footage for their houses.
Indiana County Multi-list Real Estate Website > Home

[RW333]

Wise up to size - Times Online

Link is to an interesting article from the London 'Times' on the controversy of adapting square footage into British home listings.

In England, the standard has been to state the number of bedroom and reception rooms, while in Glasgow, however, listings state the number of "apartments" meaning principal rooms of both types. In pricey London, the emphasis is on bedrooms, and flats are often listed with their dining rooms counted as more valuable bedrooms (and all sorts of mean little spaces counted as bedrooms.) Hard to say, sometimes, that this system is somehow "less deceptive" than area dimensions.

Despite the questions as to what constitutes "livable space," whether closets and oddball spaces should be counted, or a number determined from coarse exterior dimensions, it still seems useful information. There are 1400 sq.ft. 4-bedroom houses and there are 5600 sq.ft. 4-bedroom houses. Photos and Google Maps satellite images and room dimensions usually provide a good clue, but sometimes bad or obscured photos and scant listing details leave in question whether it's a big house or a small house.

I notice in the U.S. that new houses are especially prone to square footage inflation, whereas older homes have a narrower margin of creativity in calculation.

[Tallysmom]

Originally Posted by PghREA

No - we would need to go the Allegheny County Website and hope the information posted is correct. If you're looking for homes in Butler, Beaver or Westmoreland Counties and need square footage, you're SOL. The only way is to walk through the home and see if the room sizes meets your needs.

It won't be the last time I'm SOL!

[Bazzwell]

Originally Posted by Tallysmom

Okay -- but if I wanted to purchase a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom home that was at least 1800 square feet, could you then narrow down my selections? In other words -- do you as a realtor have that info even if it isn't shared?

We can make NO remarks on square footage. If we do and we're wrong, it could fall back on us in a lawsuit. "Well, the agent said....". Any agent worth the license will at most suggest where you could find it independently.

[Tallysmom]

Originally Posted by Bazzwell

We can make NO remarks on square footage. If we do and we're wrong, it could fall back on us in a lawsuit. "Well, the agent said....". Any agent worth the license will at most suggest where you could find it independently.

I do tend to forget that a lot of people are litigious bozos.... and I should remember that. Back when I was in banking, I had a customer who was a good real estate agent get sued over a house sale. The owner of the house sued the previous owners and their real estate agent, their own real estate agent, the home inspector, the realty companies involved, the mortgage companies (I believe) -- everyone they could think of -- FIVE YEARS after the sale was completed. Over water intrusion foundation issues that hadn't been disclosed.

Because five years before there wasn't a leaking pool. There was no pool. There was no water to leak into the foundation. Yep -- the people bought the house, a couple of years later put in a pool, a couple of years later the pool cracked and leaked and screwed up their foundation.... but it wasn't THEIR fault.

The couple (although I was led to believe it was the wife, because the husband was away most of the time because he didn't want to be around her,either) found a lawyer that would take the case, even though it was going to be tossed out because it was ridiculous.

But it still meant my customer had to find a lawyer to defend her, and pay him good money even though it was a nuisance case.