The livable square footage of a home is crucial as it is a key number for helping to set a home’s price. But what happens when the square footage listed is erroneous?
The most common issues pertaining to the square footage of the habitable space of a real estate property are as follows: 1). The square footage on the listing does not match the square footage found by the appraiser appointed by the buyers’ lender; 2). There is a discrepancy between the square footage found on the Multi Listing Service (MLS) and the home square footage found in the public record because a permitted extension has not been added to the MLS; 3). The differences in recorded square footage are the result of home additions made without permits. Please note that the above list is not limitative and is for informational purposes only.
That said, the first question that comes to mind is why these square footage variations do exist?
The answer is quite simple: There is no one “official” size source or a “standard” method of calculating the interior space AKA square footage of a home. For instance, appraisers often exclude the thickness of walls, stairwells, and laundry rooms to determine “livable” square footage; however, surveyors of condominium units typically include in their measurements the space between interior walls and around obstructions, such as fireplace flues. Architects and floor-plan designers employ a wide variety of methods to calculate the size of improvements and assessors generally use gross, permitted size. Lastly, measurements taken by various professionals may not include some “finished” or “unfinished” space.
It is stating the obvious that square footage issues are a very sensitive subject for the sellers, the buyers, and their agents. Therefore, it is crucial to understand who should do what during the course of a real estate transaction with potential square footage issues.
The Sellers
Sellers are required to disclose any “material fact” relating to the property which can affect the value or desirability of the property such as but not limited any unpermitted square footage inside the home.
The Real Estate Agents
There is no duty under the Civil Code for both the listing and the selling agent to verify independently or to disclaim the accuracy of the seller's representations. Therefore, sellers and buyers’ agents shall not and will not verify the accuracy of any representations regarding the improvements, the square footage numbers, or the price per square foot estimates provided by any source.
The Buyers
Buyers should not rely on any advertised or disclosed square footage measurements included in the MLS, marketing materials, flyers, internet postings, and verbal representations of agents about square footage when deciding whether to purchase the property. They should retain their own experts to measure the square footage during their contingency period if any. This is especially important if buyers are using square footage to determine whether or not to purchase the property and/or are using a price per square foot to determine purchase price.
Please note that the same logic applies to the lot size, its boundaries etc.
Fences, retaining walls, hedges, and other landscaping or man-made structures may not correspond with any legally- defined property boundaries and existing structures or amenities may not be located within the actual property boundaries or local setback requirements. Like for the square footage of a home, there are multiple sources available which refer to the lot size, lot dimensions, such as the County Assessor, recorded maps, developer plans or existing surveys, but that documentation may not be 100% accurate and/or may not be available and should not be relied upon by buyers for any purpose. Only a licensed surveyor can accurately determine lot dimensions, boundary locations, and acreage for a property lot.
To conclude, the real estate agents do not have the duty to check the square footage of a property inside (livable space) and outside (a lot, and structures such as garages...). Buyers must absolutely do their homework and find all the information as possible before to make the decision to write an offer.
Hope this helps. Stay safe.