Recently I appraised a home that was reported in the MLS to be 2200sf in living area. Upon measurement, I found that the home was over 2500sf in size. Needless to say, this had affected the list price, and the contract prices received. Is there any way for an agent or homeowner to avoid this? In this blog we will go over how to do basic research on your property so you can get an idea.
In the case above, the original builder measurement, prior MLS and tax records were all in agreement, so the homeowner/agent mistake, while costly, was understandable. The issue arose from a renovation 20 years prior in which the orignal owner finished space above their garage creating a new bedroom, and about 300sf. How would you catch this?
Homeowner: Understand that your agent has not been trained on how to do in-depth research on properties or how to measure properties. You may need to do some leg work to get accurate information. Research your own home, be the expert on your home. You may need to hire an appraiser, who is the only profession currently trained to measure to current lending regulations.
Real Estate Agents: Realize that while looking at prior MLS and CoreLogic RealList data is a first step, it is not the last step.
Get comfortable with the tax records sites for the municipalities that you cover (links below).
Learn how to read a county sketch. This looks like a mess at first, but once you walk through ten homes you'll get the hang of it. (see below)
Understand that tax records often have measurement standards that vary. Many counties measure to the nearest foot (which means any single measurement could be off by 6". On smaller homes, this may not amount to much, but on larger homes, these rounding errors can add up quickly.
a. 1FF - One finished floor
b. 2FF - Second finished floor
c. GR - Garage
d. VLT - Vaulted area
"Area" over an "Area" - means these areas are stacked. Above, the second finished floor is over the first (otherwise it would be floating), and the vaulted area is above the first floor as well.
Above, the garage is noted as having a small 2x21 area above the garage. If you as the agent became accustomed to reading the county record before your visit to the property, you would have immediately noted when the home's fourth bedroom was above the garage... and completely missing from the sketch above.
Feeling lost? I get it. This is appraising field work 101 - how to measure a home, and note differences to public records. It takes time, but keep at it. It may just save you ten's of thousands of dollars one day. You may want to hire an appraiser to walk you through a "weird house" to get a idea of what to look for, how to read the tax card, how to identify differences. While hiring a photographer with a fancy laser is popular right not, Reddit forums are full of photographers admitting that those measurements are WAY off.
Links to Tax Records
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