Local realtor....

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ps99472

ps99472

New member
I believe my local area "specialist" realtor list homes at an inflated sq ft (+200 sq ft).  At first I really didn't care.. until I was trying to refi and the appraiser use one of the realtor's listings as a comp.  I had to put in extra money to escrow to bring the loan closer to the appraised value. 

Thinking forward to when I have to sell my house.... this is a tactic this "specialist" realtor uses.. If I don't list with this realtor, and go with another honest agent, then I stand to lose quite a bit of money.. For example.. my neighbor's house is 2600 sq ft.. The "specialist" realtor list it at 2900 sq ft.. the house sells and closes.. Few months later, I put my house on the market.. My house's true sq ft. is 2800 and is listed as such...Any interested party will see my neighbor's house being sold as a 2900 sq ft home and that my house is smaller... Even though my neighbor is a plan 2 and mine is a plan 3... of course my neighbor could've did some additions.. maybe expanded the loft space to cover the vaulted ceiling (blasphemy!) and hence the increased sq ft.. but from the photos I've seen.. no additions were added.. and I noticed this agent has done the same thing with a lot of my neighbors in the area (which I have access to floorplans).

I think I'm gonna go to my neighbor's open house and confront this dude.. >:(
 
That's where your listing agent will do the work for you.

They can explain to buyers what the deal is with comps and in the end, if your house shows well, it will sell for what the market is willing to pay.

Go with the realtor who you like, even if it's not the "area specialist"... I find that dealing with someone more honest will come back to you somehow.
 
ps9 said:
I think I'm gonna go to my neighbor's open house and confront this dude.. >:(
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go to the open house and explain to the realtor that should he continue this practice, you have a certain set of skills that make you a nightmare for people like him..
 
qwerty said:
ps9 said:
I think I'm gonna go to my neighbor's open house and confront this dude.. >:(
Click to expand...

go to the open house and explain to the realtor that should he continue this practice, you have a certain set of skills that make you a nightmare for people like him..
Click to expand...
And the realtard might reply with "good luck" with some kind of accent.  :P
 
Tyler Durden said:
ps9 said:
I believe my local area "specialist" realtor list homes at an inflated sq ft (+200 sq ft).  At first I really didn't care.. until I was trying to refi and the appraiser use one of the realtor's listings as a comp.  I had to put in extra money to escrow to bring the loan closer to the appraised value. 

Thinking forward to when I have to sell my house.... this is a tactic this "specialist" realtor uses.. If I don't list with this realtor, and go with another honest agent, then I stand to lose quite a bit of money.. For example.. my neighbor's house is 2600 sq ft.. The "specialist" realtor list it at 2900 sq ft.. the house sells and closes.. Few months later, I put my house on the market.. My house's true sq ft. is 2800 and is listed as such...Any interested party will see my neighbor's house being sold as a 2900 sq ft home and that my house is smaller... Even though my neighbor is a plan 2 and mine is a plan 3... of course my neighbor could've did some additions.. maybe expanded the loft space to cover the vaulted ceiling (blasphemy!) and hence the increased sq ft.. but from the photos I've seen.. no additions were added.. and I noticed this agent has done the same thing with a lot of my neighbors in the area (which I have access to floorplans).

I think I'm gonna go to my neighbor's open house and confront this dude.. >:(
Click to expand...

You realize that your realtor (or you) could actually provide extra comps to the appraiser.  Is this doing their job for them - yes, but it should get the outcome you desire unless the appraiser is pushing their own agenda.

Everytime I get something idiotic from an appraiser, i make them go back and look at a new set of comps.  If they continue to not perform their job correctly, i would hit them with the nuke, and complain to the lender about their poor work and ask for a review.  If the appraiser is a jackass about it when you this up, i would complain to the state licensing board about their obvious dereliction in duty.

There is actual homework these guys can do rather than just pick the last 3 sold homes as comps.  They need to make sure it approximates what you are selling / refinancing, not just the easiest comps for them to find.
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My last refi, requested a redo on the appraisal...even told the guy my neighbor's sq ft. is inflated in MLS, I been to their house... There were no additions....he came back with the same appraised amount... I didn't fight it as much, since I wanted to close and my lock was expiring... The rate was too good to jeopardize...

I still see this as an issue if and when I decide to sell.....no matter how good my listing agent is....you can't beat a cheater....especially when no one notices (who can tell an extra bogus 200 sq ft?) and all the recent comps come back inflated... It's an uphill battle...you cheat just enough to get away with and not get noticed...

Plus if the buyer of the inflated sq ft house realizes and balks during closing, they can always negotiate undertable...and the MLS remains unchanged...
 
USCTrojanCPA said:
qwerty said:
ps9 said:
I think I'm gonna go to my neighbor's open house and confront this dude.. >:(
Click to expand...

go to the open house and explain to the realtor that should he continue this practice, you have a certain set of skills that make you a nightmare for people like him..
Click to expand...
And the realtard might reply with "good luck" with some kind of accent.  :P
Click to expand...

An Albanian accent perhaps? - Marco from tropoja
 
ps9 said:
I still see this as an issue if and when I decide to sell.....no matter how good my listing agent is....you can't beat a cheater
Click to expand...

I disagree. It's not easy, but not impossible.

ps9 said:
Plus if the buyer of the inflated sq ft house realizes and balks during closing, they can always negotiate undertable...and the MLS remains unchanged...
Click to expand...

PM me with specifics that concern you, and you would like to see corrected, and I'll do my best.
-IR2
 
Isn't actual (permitted) square footage public record?  If you sent a letter to the DRE or to the broker, listing the last year's listings, showing the difference between listed and recorded square footage, I would think the problem would quickly stop.  Surely this practice isn't condoned.
 
Area specialist for a 2 yr old tract? They must be a fast learner.

A buyer last year purchased a loft condo in L.A. that was for all intents and purposes a single level rectangle. The builder said the SF was 2,000. The appraiser from BofA said it was 1,800 SF and ours came in at 1,950 SF. How is this possible when you're measuring a fixed space? The builder measured the room by itself, not with pony walls, built out closets, and other space defining features. The BofA appraiser didn't count the stairwell, after taking into account the pony walls. Our appraiser did keep the SF that the stairway represented in the final total. The question is this - who was right? Is a stairway "living space"? Is the builder selling 2,000 SF of domain that could be modified endlessly?

Appraised values depend on what the meaning of "is", is. 

My .02sf
 
This fact actually made me end up giving up on buying in that neighborhood (if I'm correct in where I'm guessing we are talking about).

We would go to homes and realize there was no way the house was the same square-footage it was being list at.  I would do some research online and find the original builder's floor plans and find 200 to 400 sf inflation in some instances.  There were no additions in comparing with the builder's floor plans.  Knowing that and figuring the actual price per square-foot, I couldn't stand it.  Yet there are a LOT of buyers out there that don't do the research--so most of those homes I would see would sell for over the list price even with the inflated square-footage. 

It was crazy.   

While we liked that area, I finally gave up on it.  It drove me crazy.  And when I would bring it up to our agent, I think she was too worried to raise it with the "specialist" should it jeopardize her future deals with him.  She would just say "oh, it would need a lot more looking into..."

 
Soylent Green Is People said:
The question is this - who was right? Is a stairway "living space"? Is the builder selling 2,000 SF of domain that could be modified endlessly?

Appraised values depend on what the meaning of "is", is. 

My .02sf
Click to expand...

iirc, according to national guidelines, stairways only count on one of the floors, so two 1000sf floors with a 50sf stairway would have 1950sf

 
Soylent Green Is People said:
Area specialist for a 2 yr old tract? They must be a fast learner.

A buyer last year purchased a loft condo in L.A. that was for all intents and purposes a single level rectangle. The builder said the SF was 2,000. The appraiser from BofA said it was 1,800 SF and ours came in at 1,950 SF. How is this possible when you're measuring a fixed space? The builder measured the room by itself, not with pony walls, built out closets, and other space defining features. The BofA appraiser didn't count the stairwell, after taking into account the pony walls. Our appraiser did keep the SF that the stairway represented in the final total. The question is this - who was right? Is a stairway "living space"? Is the builder selling 2,000 SF of domain that could be modified endlessly?

Appraised values depend on what the meaning of "is", is. 

My .02sf
Click to expand...

It depends on how you measure it.  Some people (developers, builders, etc) measure from the outside of the wall to the outside of the wall, so the 5 inch wall counts in the square footage.  Others measure inside of the wall to the inside of the wall, which is more of the liveable SF and excludes the thickness of the wall.  For condos with shared walls, builders will measure to the middle of the wall.  Both are generally accepted methods of calculating SF.  I would doubt that one could actually calculate more SF than the printed SF from the builder as they typically go to the exterior wall to maximize the SF
 
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