Comparing Your House? Serenity Equals Having Your House Physically Measured
Whether auctioning a home alone or contracting your home with a real estate sales person, the necessary factor to a easy deal is an accurate statement of your home's material features in full documentation. A fundamental step in the procedure of obtaining an accurate statement of your home is obtaining an accurate calculation of inhabitable area, a fundamental step that is unfortunately forgotten. As one of the first stages in determining a home's selling price an real estate agent will provide a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) which shows selected transactions in the neighboring area. However, without an accurate calculation of your home's living area, the real estate agent's CMA will not be very helpful.
In the U.S.A., the majority of realtors establish the price per sq.ft. of a home on living area size. Living area is known as the portion of a home which is heated and cooled, openly accessed from the inside of the home and having the quality of construction matching the original home. Living area is measured from the outside walls, not from the inside part of the house. All real estate professionals are to follow the ANSI (American National Standards Institute) rules for single family residential units when calculating home area, which suggests physical measurement.
More over, one of the most regular lawsuits in real estate now a days is misrepresentation of house size. I've been to properties under contract where the home's items are packed up and the home seller is ready to move only to find out that their home's gross living area was not accurately embodied to start with. The purchase document then has to be renegotiated or is completely dead| with no obligation for the buyer to go on with the sale. The seller's home sells for thousands of dollars below the original price. For this reason you should not allow the listing person to declare your living area based solely on county records, an old set of plans (which can and are altered sometimes during the years), or an estimate of what the common home size in your subdivision.
Here is an issue: A 2,000sf home is listed for sale @ 111 Deer Park Drive. The home is priced at $120/sf x 2,000sf = $240,000. Instead of physically measuring the home to obtain an accurate living area, the living area was calculated relying upon county records. The home receives a buyer for $240,000. However, the appraiser turns in their appraisal showing 1,840sf and an appraised value of $220,800, some $19,200 less than the agreed price. The sellers are told that they will have to renegotiate the purchase price due to the living area is actually 1,840sf, not the stated 2,000sf. The sellers get upset and file a suit the previous sellers for falsification of living area.
Can this actually take place in house transfers? Certainly and it does. This is why it is so crucial to get your home measured by the professional listing your it, whether by owner or by real estate agent, or preferably, by an appraiser. After doing so, you will have documented verification of your true living area.
Unlike a real estate agent, an appraiser has no vested interest in what amount for which the home is worth. Appraisal fees are based on amount of work to create the report and not a percentage of the selling price. Therefore, a professional appraisal can often help homeowners make the best decisions setting a decent asking price for their homes size. Whether you're considering listing FSBO or through an real estate agent, it is always a great idea to get an appraisal prior to listing your house.
This article was written by William Cobb with the assistance of R. Chandler Smith. Bill is with Accurate Valuations Group and has been licensed as a home appraiser for 15 years now primarily in the Greater Baton Rouge, LA market. For more information on William Cobb and Accurate Valuations Group, visit Baton Rouge Property Appraisal. R. Chandler Smith is an up and coming real estate professional in the Houston area. He runs Houston Real Estate Appraiser
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