Average Price per Square Foot

[DMenscha]

Originally Posted by MrRational

Really? How about language right on the MLS listings?
And yeah, as it is a misrepresentation it is indeed wrong.

Unlike the websites, in most MLS data entry, we are required to post where we got the information. So if the local authority says it's 1500sf, we cite that that's what the local authority says. If the owner tells us it's 1500sf, we cite the source as the owner.

Now, given that there are at least 5 ways to calculate square footage in the US, the buyer needs to perform due diligence in the buying process.

[davebarnes]

Originally Posted by DMenscha

given that there are at least 5 ways to calculate square footage in the US

$/Kg is the best

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by DMenscha

in most MLS data entry ... So if the local authority says...

and then there are places which use an entirely different definition for GLA than the rest

If a buyer doesn't know better... they might think that if a listing says it's a 3000SF home...
that the home actually has a GLA rather close to 3000SF.

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by MrRational

Really? How about language right on the MLS listings?

They harvest data from multiple sources. I've seen plenty of things on Zillow, Trulia, etc which did not come from MLS.

Originally Posted by texdav

Sqaure footage;the local tax office who gets it from Abstract office where the property is listed from time it was built plus any addition made with permits.

What about unpermitted or improperly permitted additions? Another agent in my office recently sold a townhome with a finished 3rd floor. It had a bedroom and a bathroom but the only permits pulled were to create "heated storage space." The finished space is still there whether it was permitted by the town or not.

Also as I mentioned, many of these sites harvest data from various sources. Even if they're using tax records, they're not getting them directly from the town. They're probably buying it from a 3rd party aggregator. We have data like this on our MLS and property records are sometimes wrong or even completely missing in the data they sell to our MLS.

Originally Posted by MrRational

and then there are places which use an entirely different definition for GLA than the rest

If a buyer doesn't know better... they might think that if a listing says it's a 3000SF home...
that the home actually has a GLA rather close to 3000SF.

People get too hung up on GLA numbers. If one house has 1,000 sf of hallway space and another has 500 sf of hallway space but the total GLA number is the same the two houses are not going to appear to be the same size. I encourage my clients to only look at GLA to give them a rough idea of how big the house is. I would also argue that unfinished space which is not accounted for in this number adds value because it often has the potential to become finished space.

The bottom line is $/sf is the absolute most useless metric in all of real estate.