How to get good value from Realestate (MLS) Listings?

[SFBayBoomer]

Originally Posted by ss20ts

Many sites have very incorrect info. Even the MLS has been known to have incorrect info. You'll notice each site has a disclaimer about the info given. Your best bet for square footage is the town/city clerk and the tax rolls. Take that with a grain of salt and make sure you get ALL of the info.

I say this because just the general info on the town website says my house is 1994 square feet. I wish it was that large! Included in that 1994 square is a 20x20 deck and a 8x6 porch. I don't know about you, but I don't put a bedroom on a deck so why they include that in our actual square footage I'll never understand. They call it livable space.....I live in Upstate NY...we get WINTER here....like REAL winter. No one is using a their deck in January....it's under feet of snow!

Here in California, especially in the BAREIS, the only square footage allowed in the listing is that which is heated the same as the house. No porch or decks would qualify, and no, you can't occasionally use a space heater.

Garages cannot be part of the square footage, period.

[GNCamry99]

Thanks for your replies. Find neighborhood Moderator cut: Link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed

Are there any reliable sites to look for crime stats, livability info, natural disaster risk for a USA property address?


I did not find such data in CITY DATA.



Thanks for sharing.