Square footage of homes? (Pittsburgh, Houston: days on market, apartment, rental)

[jimmyev]

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'm sorry if I offended anyone, I was just jumping to the most logical conclusion. But this explanation does beg the question - Why are only realtors in Pittsburgh afraid of being sued?

Anyhow, this is just frustration. There are many neighborhoods here, and that alone is pretty overwhelming. You tell the realtor that you want a house around 1600 square feet and the homes you're sent to are too small. Or they're too big. You try to do a search on the Remax site, enter the square footage, and get no results. Maybe I'm not that patient - my first house in Chicago was the fourth I looked at after doing the internet research. My home in Houston was the third. Here it could take months.

[Bazzwell]

Originally Posted by jimmyev

I'm sorry if I offended anyone, I was just jumping to the most logical conclusion. But this explanation does beg the question - Why are only realtors in Pittsburgh afraid of being sued?

I wasn't in the business when it happened but my understanding is a lawsuit was filed over square footage. Everyone named in the suit, most importantly the local MLS system, lost the case and paid big money. After that there was to be no, zip, zero, nada mention of square footage anywhere on the system. Again, I don't have particulars, just the outline. However, another local MLS system that is almost specific to a single county still allows SF. Then again, they weren't involved in that case.

[RW333]

A Google search of "Real estate" + "square footage" + "lawsuit" -"commercial supports Bazzwell's account, producing some 14,600 hits, including discussions in numerous other City-Data forums. A quick look at some of the results indicates any number of suits of this sort in different locales.

As an example, this link to a real estate blog site details a suit in Texas where the buyers successfully sued over a shortchange of 253 sq.ft. even after signing a waiver that stated their purchase decision was not based upon listing details supplied by the real estate listing firm, but rather upon independent and 3rd party sources:

Real Estate Blog - Listing Agent pays buyer for square footage - OUCH

[Katarina Witt]

I must say I find this situation odd. Here in metro Denver, sqare footage is shown, with the usual disclaimer. Ditto when we lived in Albany, NY.

[pinetar10]

I do find this odd, being that I live 50 miles from Pittsburgh, and my county shows square footage and that was one of the key things I looked at when buying a house. I know they are not exact, but they do give you a good estimate of how big a house is. It makes it much more convenient when browsing online to know the size. A 3 bed/2 bath home could have 1,100 square feet, or 2,500 square feet, and those are 2 houses are of completely different sizes.

[LynnKK]

Would you reject a house if it had 1650 square feet? I think not. Square footage is subjective at best. Take 3 realtors and 3 bank appraisers and a couple of builders, spin them around 3 times and you will have varying numbers for square footage. If the house meets your every day living criteria, isn't that more important? Your frame of reference, Texas, wherein square footage is widely publicized explains your need to know. Check the tax records. They may be a bit more accurate. Happy hunting!

[Condorll]

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 agree with Tallysmom as I am looking for approx the same size home.

Your Real estate association/MLS whatever needs to get their act together. I have no interest in walking through 1200-4000 sq ft homes and calculating sq footage.

Exactly what service do you provide if not to find a suitable home for your buyer?

[Copanut]

I think those of you that insist on sf being included are picking nits. How many of you can tell me how much sf your house contains? What is the sf of the master bedroom? When you look for a house, do you ask about the sf of the garage? I'm guessing you just ask how many cars it houses.

This is a very litigious society, the local PGH mls has lawyers on its board. I think they know best.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by LynnKK

Would you reject a house if it had 1650 square feet? I think not. Square footage is subjective at best. Take 3 realtors and 3 bank appraisers and a couple of builders, spin them around 3 times and you will have varying numbers for square footage. If the house meets your every day living criteria, isn't that more important? Your frame of reference, Texas, wherein square footage is widely publicized explains your need to know. Check the tax records. They may be a bit more accurate. Happy hunting!

There are 3 BR houses that are 1000 sq. feet and ones that are 4000 sq. ft. There's no point to wasting one's time looking at houses you have no intention of buying. If someone wants a 1600 sq. ft. house, they do not need to be shown 1000 sq. ft homes nor 4000 sq ft homes. This is something that seems fairly unique to the Pittsburgh area. Insulting Texans or anyone else is against the TOS and shows a lack of knowledge of Texans.

[Bazzwell]

Originally Posted by Condorll

Exactly what service do you provide if not to find a suitable home for your buyer?

The slightly insulting tone of your question really isn't deserved. This is a rule set by the regional MLS system which we have no control over. Your complaint is with them, not the individual agent. To break said rule is to put our membership in jeopardy and possibly receive a hefty fine. No sale is worth that, period.

That's the final word from me on this thread.