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I recently had a situation where i went into contract with a condo apartment which neither the broker nor the owner would disclose the sqft. It was not mentioned on the njmls listing and they didn't provide a floor plan either. I saw the apt twice but had doubts about the size. The unit was tenant occupied with what seemed like two roommates living there and their furniture. I asked the broker if he had any pictures of the apartment vacant, he didn't.
When i asked the broker about the sqft he said it is between 500-600 sqft. The owner said i should measure it during inspection.
Upon receiving the offering plan, i discovered that the unit was only 406 sqft.
During attorney review, I raised this concern because i made my offer thinking the space was as big as 500-600 sqft and lowered my cash offer by 5K which at that point, the seller cancelled the transaction.
A unit downstairs in the same building which is 511 sqft just sold earlier this month for $350 per sqft when this unit which is 406 sqft is priced at $440 per sqft which is above any unit that size in that area even in buildings with a doorman and a gym. Neither units were renovated or recently updated. This particular unit also had a leak issue. It was being sold "AS-IS"
Is there any advice about whether it was fair for the owner to cancel the contract or any further negotiation i could try to do? The broker called me a few times after and asked me to raise the offer but i told him that the unit was misrepresented and the price is not justified. He told me that they already have a competing offer by an investor but relisted the unit.
The seller’s deception lost him/her a buyer. You made a fair reduced offer based on the reduced square footage. They declined and didn’t want to counter. IMO, that’s their mistake. And best thing for you to do is to move on and find something else.
The seller’s deception lost him/her a buyer. You made a fair reduced offer based on the reduced square footage. They declined and didn’t want to counter. IMO, that’s their mistake. And best thing for you to do is to move on and find something else.
And I’m 85% sure there was no competing offer.
Yes, i doubt there was a competing offer also.. When i made my original offer, he told me within a day that he received another competing offer and told me that i would have to match it and go above to get the apartment.
I initially went 2.5K more because of this. I had a feeling it could be bogus but still matched it, because i had been looking for a while and wanted to move sooner than later, when the sqft was discovered, i felt completely deceived ..
I would resubmit an offer $15K-$20K lower (or more). The broker has to present to offer. But I am a jerk and like to screw with other jerks. But an FYI, when you get to places that small, you can't just blindly base something on sqft.
my original offer was 14K under asking because the space did feel small but the owner countered it with 7K more (which was still 7K under asking) which at that point i accepted because i was tired of looking. Less than 24 hrs, the broker called saying he received another competing offer and now i would have to add 2.5K to match it, which i again accepted.
So naturally when i find out about the sqft, i was very upset and offered 9K under asking, which they declined and cancelled the contract...
To be fair to the agent it is not policy in NJMLS to publicize square footage. The MLS will not allow it to be searched and any time it is quoted it will also say according to tax records. I never trust square footage nor do I base prices on square footage as its computation can be skewed by who does it. When looking at units this small I would be looking to compare it to similar units with similar condition, and bedrooms. In hindsight it was probably foolish for the owner to walk away from the deal over $5k but during attorney review that is his perrogative. Next time you find a place and feel square footage is that important measure it for yourself to avoid this issue.
When looking at units this small I would be looking to compare it to similar units with similar condition, and bedrooms. In hindsight it was probably foolish for the owner to walk away from the deal over $5k but during attorney review that is his perrogative. Next time you find a place and feel square footage is that important measure it for yourself to avoid this issue.
Yes, so an apartment same size sold a few blocks away on the same street in a doorman building with gym and concierge for 20K less. In the same building an apartment much bigger than this unit with a more spacious layout was listed for 5K less and sold for the same listing price as this one. So i am not sure what they are basing their price on at all. I wouldn't mind it, if it was only a small difference but 100-200 sqft less than what i was told makes a big difference in my opinion. The realtor probably had access to tax records and he could check and tell me when asked but he instead said 500-600 sqft, where there is still a 100 sqft difference in between. Also btw, the broker kept calling me for three days after asking if i would offer more because he had this other offer in waiting.The whole thing felt very shady because if they wanted to negotiate, they didn't have to cancel the contract and negotiate within that i thought, instead of cancelling it first and then still trying to negotiate outside of it.
keep an eye on the place on zillow/trulia and post here when it sells and at what price. Should be interesting. I would also ditch your broker
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