I thought about writing this post after viewing a great real estate video blog called True Gotham. Basically True Gotham is a series of video blog posts by Manhattan Realtor/ Broker Douglas Heddings. Doug has a mandate and that mandate is to try to come up with some sort of solution to standardize and regulate the advertised sq/ft of real estate sales. The video post I found particularly interesting was TrueGotham TV Explores Square Feet. I’ve been following the series since it started and completely agree with Doug’s statements and conclusion and believe there is a problem here in Calgary as well with the overstating of square footage on properties for sale. I believe there is a standard method to measure every property and Realtors, builders, developers ,for sale by owners and anyone involved in the trade of real estate need to be held accountable for the overstating of sq/ft in their advertising.
I am still amazed within our industry at how many times I see over stated sq/ft on residential listings. Within our Realtor MLS program we have a property history option that gives us the ability to easily see the entire history on any MLS property. If I were to pick any 10 listings from that data base and pull the entire MLS listing history for each property, possibly only one or two listings might have a consistent square footage over the entire property history. There would certainly be some sort of sq/ft discrepancy each time a property was listed.
Calgary is not even close to the price per sq/ft of Manhattan, but if you take into account the average home here is approx $476,000 and the average price per sq/ft is approx $317 that adds up to a fair amount of money when the size is over stated 50 – 100 + sq/ft which is very common these days. In some of the larger homes in Calgary between 1,800 to 2,200 + sq/ft the overstating of size seems to be even more of a problem. It is not uncommon to show one of these homes and pull the property history and see a variance of sq/ft between 100 – 450 sq/ft. I was in a Calgary property the other day measuring it to put on the market later this month, and the previous listing history was all over the map. Over the lifetime of the property there was no additions added and in the first MLS listing it stated 1,850 sq/ft, in the second it stated 2,050 sq/ft and in the third it stated 2,280. Myself and the home owner measured the property three times in every way possible and the sq/ft each time added up to 1,860. I later confirmed our sq/ft off of original blue prints provided by the home owner. This property was purchased in 2004 for $245,000 when prices were considerably lower, but even at that time that misrepresentation of sq/ft left the buyer out $10,080. In today’s market a misrepresentation of 420 sq/ft would be a LOT more than that. I am not sure how many buyers like to leave that kind of money on the table. I know I wouldn’t be happy.
I think a large part of the problem is Realtors are getting complacent, or to be completely honest just flat out lazy when they list a property. I would safely bet that 50% – 60 % or more of the Realtors take the last MLS listings sq/ft or the cities estimate of size and input it into their own listing and advertising without ever measuring the property themselves. Both ways are not necessarily accurate and should not be relied upon alone. I believe all these poor business practices are the reason why Calgary homes mysteriously keep growing in size like weeds each time they are re-listed on the market. If you bought a 2,000 sq/ft home in 2006 and list it with the right Realtor in 2008 the total sq/ft might have increased to an amazing 2,100 without even doing a thing to the property. Imagine that …your net proceeds just increased by a whopping $31,700 (approx) not to mentioned the natural appreciation of the real estate. This is just an example, but you get the idea I am sure.
Currently to my knowledge in Canada there is no sq/ft police out there and most of the time the only way this problem gets brought to light is after a buyer moves in only to find out their place is actually smaller than they were lead to believe. By this time it is too late and their only way to seek reimbursement is to hire a lawyer and pursue it legally which can be cost prohibitive for most especially after they have just purchased a new home, furniture etc. I am not sure if this is happening in the Manhattan market but listing Realtors in Calgary are getting around this lack of owning a tape measure by stating on the listing that “buyers are to verify sq/ft”. I mean come on now…..the average commission in Calgary is approx $20,000 so we get paid very well for the work we do and are expected to be held at a certain level or standard to earn that commission. Why is it then we cheapen that standard and through everything out the window by overstating or misconstruing the second most important factor in the pricing of real estate besides location….that being the sq/ft of a property. If a Realtor can’t even buy a 100ft tape measure and take the extra ½hr to 1hr to accurately measure and graph out a property to make that 20 grand commission, they shouldn’t be in the business.
I don’t believe this is the sole responsibility of the buyer either to verify this information…other words “buyer beware”. Realtors working with buyers need to make them aware of this problem, and do what they can for the client to verify the actual sq/ft of the property. If a Realtor knows a similar unit in a complex sold and was 100 sq/ft smaller than the one that is currently for sale…. TELL YOUR CLIENTS!!
I think the responsibility ultimately rests on the listing Realtors shoulders to convey accurate and true information on the property they are marketing. If they construe false information to the public that is just false advertising….plain and simple. It is no different than if you went to a Toyota dealership and ordered a new SUV with a V8 engine and after taking delivery found out it only had a 4-cylinder engine. In most industries falsifying information for one parties financial gain is called FRAUD. No different in the real estate world. In fact it is more important when you are talking about the single most important investment in most peoples lives.
Don’t get me wrong I don’t expect every Realtor to get the exact same sq/ft, but at least within a certain range. Some of the houses I am seeing are way out of any range. In my own neighbourhood one was listed with a builder at approx 1,807 sq/ft based off their blue prints, and was later listed MLS with a Realtor at 2,150 sq/ft. I’m sorry but a 343 sq/ft difference is not an acceptable range!
If practices like this continue in the market place there is going to have to be an implementation of a governing body or some sort or an independent approach to measuring real estate to get everything back on track. We can’t rely on appraisers and buyers to pick up on our mistakes or inaccuracies. Truth be know some appraisal companies don’t even measure the property for the banks or CMHC to arrive at an appraised value. They often go off the MLS listing and just drive by to make sure there is a house there. I know from talking to Realtors across Canada and the US that this is a big problem everywhere, and not just in Calgary. I couldn’t agree more with Doug’s statement about Realtors hiring independent companies with a standard of measuring properties. Since this sort of measuring practice is probably going to take awhile before the real estate industry finds a solution…I have another suggestion. How about all us Realtors out there go to the hardware store, pick up a 100ft tape measure, learn how to measure the sq/ft of a large box (House), and take 1 more hr out of our busy day to earn that big commission.
It would be a great way to stop the growing house problem, and keep our reputation as professionals.
Please feel free both Realtors and the public to post your comments about this posting. I would like to here what everyone has to say.
Nevin Van Nest . Realtor . Royal LePage Foothills
Your Calgary Real Estate Expert
I thought about writing this post after viewing a great real estate video blog called True Gotham. Basically True Gotham is a series of video blog posts by Manhattan Realtor/ Broker Douglas Heddings. Doug has a mandate and that mandate is to try to come up with some sort of solution to standardize and regulate the advertised sq/ft of real estate sales. The video post I found particularly interesting was TrueGotham TV Explores Square Feet. I’ve been following the series since it started and completely agree with Doug’s statements and conclusion and believe there is a problem here in Calgary as well with the overstating of square footage on properties for sale. I believe there is a standard method to measure every property and Realtors, builders, developers ,for sale by owners and anyone involved in the trade of real estate need to be held accountable for the overstating of sq/ft in their advertising.
I am still amazed within our industry at how many times I see over stated sq/ft on residential listings. Within our Realtor MLS program we have a property history option that gives us the ability to easily see the entire history on any MLS property. If I were to pick any 10 listings from that data base and pull the entire MLS listing history for each property, possibly only one or two listings might have a consistent square footage over the entire property history. There would certainly be some sort of sq/ft discrepancy each time a property was listed.
Calgary is not even close to the price per sq/ft of Manhattan, but if you take into account the average home here is approx $476,000 and the average price per sq/ft is approx $317 that adds up to a fair amount of money when the size is over stated 50 – 100 + sq/ft which is very common these days. In some of the larger homes in Calgary between 1,800 to 2,200 + sq/ft the overstating of size seems to be even more of a problem. It is not uncommon to show one of these homes and pull the property history and see a variance of sq/ft between 100 – 450 sq/ft. I was in a Calgary property the other day measuring it to put on the market later this month, and the previous listing history was all over the map. Over the lifetime of the property there was no additions added and in the first MLS listing it stated 1,850 sq/ft, in the second it stated 2,050 sq/ft and in the third it stated 2,280. Myself and the home owner measured the property three times in every way possible and the sq/ft each time added up to 1,860. I later confirmed our sq/ft off of original blue prints provided by the home owner. This property was purchased in 2004 for $245,000 when prices were considerably lower, but even at that time that misrepresentation of sq/ft left the buyer out $10,080. In today’s market a misrepresentation of 420 sq/ft would be a LOT more than that. I am not sure how many buyers like to leave that kind of money on the table. I know I wouldn’t be happy.
I think a large part of the problem is Realtors are getting complacent, or to be completely honest just flat out lazy when they list a property. I would safely bet that 50% – 60 % or more of the Realtors take the last MLS listings sq/ft or the cities estimate of size and input it into their own listing and advertising without ever measuring the property themselves. Both ways are not necessarily accurate and should not be relied upon alone. I believe all these poor business practices are the reason why Calgary homes mysteriously keep growing in size like weeds each time they are re-listed on the market. If you bought a 2,000 sq/ft home in 2006 and list it with the right Realtor in 2008 the total sq/ft might have increased to an amazing 2,100 without even doing a thing to the property. Imagine that …your net proceeds just increased by a whopping $31,700 (approx) not to mentioned the natural appreciation of the real estate. This is just an example, but you get the idea I am sure.
Currently to my knowledge in Canada there is no sq/ft police out there and most of the time the only way this problem gets brought to light is after a buyer moves in only to find out their place is actually smaller than they were lead to believe. By this time it is too late and their only way to seek reimbursement is to hire a lawyer and pursue it legally which can be cost prohibitive for most especially after they have just purchased a new home, furniture etc. I am not sure if this is happening in the Manhattan market but listing Realtors in Calgary are getting around this lack of owning a tape measure by stating on the listing that “buyers are to verify sq/ft”. I mean come on now…..the average commission in Calgary is approx $20,000 so we get paid very well for the work we do and are expected to be held at a certain level or standard to earn that commission. Why is it then we cheapen that standard and through everything out the window by overstating or misconstruing the second most important factor in the pricing of real estate besides location….that being the sq/ft of a property. If a Realtor can’t even buy a 100ft tape measure and take the extra ½hr to 1hr to accurately measure and graph out a property to make that 20 grand commission, they shouldn’t be in the business.
I don’t believe this is the sole responsibility of the buyer either to verify this information…other words “buyer beware”. Realtors working with buyers need to make them aware of this problem, and do what they can for the client to verify the actual sq/ft of the property. If a Realtor knows a similar unit in a complex sold and was 100 sq/ft smaller than the one that is currently for sale…. TELL YOUR CLIENTS!!
I think the responsibility ultimately rests on the listing Realtors shoulders to convey accurate and true information on the property they are marketing. If they construe false information to the public that is just false advertising….plain and simple. It is no different than if you went to a Toyota dealership and ordered a new SUV with a V8 engine and after taking delivery found out it only had a 4-cylinder engine. In most industries falsifying information for one parties financial gain is called FRAUD. No different in the real estate world. In fact it is more important when you are talking about the single most important investment in most peoples lives.
Don’t get me wrong I don’t expect every Realtor to get the exact same sq/ft, but at least within a certain range. Some of the houses I am seeing are way out of any range. In my own neighbourhood one was listed with a builder at approx 1,807 sq/ft based off their blue prints, and was later listed MLS with a Realtor at 2,150 sq/ft. I’m sorry but a 343 sq/ft difference is not an acceptable range!
If practices like this continue in the market place there is going to have to be an implementation of a governing body or some sort or an independent approach to measuring real estate to get everything back on track. We can’t rely on appraisers and buyers to pick up on our mistakes or inaccuracies. Truth be know some appraisal companies don’t even measure the property for the banks or CMHC to arrive at an appraised value. They often go off the MLS listing and just drive by to make sure there is a house there. I know from talking to Realtors across Canada and the US that this is a big problem everywhere, and not just in Calgary. I couldn’t agree more with Doug’s statement about Realtors hiring independent companies with a standard of measuring properties. Since this sort of measuring practice is probably going to take awhile before the real estate industry finds a solution…I have another suggestion. How about all us Realtors out there go to the hardware store, pick up a 100ft tape measure, learn how to measure the sq/ft of a large box (House), and take 1 more hr out of our busy day to earn that big commission.
It would be a great way to stop the growing house problem, and keep our reputation as professionals.
Please feel free both Realtors and the public to post your comments about this posting. I would like to here what everyone has to say.
Nevin Van Nest . Realtor . Royal LePage Foothills
Your Calgary Real Estate Expert