Not All Square Footage Is Created Equal
Ardell over at Seattle’s Rain City Guide writes that the lay out of a home can have a significant impact on the value of the home. This is one area where the internet services like Zillow will never be able to compete with an experienced realtor.
What really concerns me, is I see people getting info from the internet regarding total square footage, and doing comps based on this total square footage. “The house across the street sold for $800,000, so this one is worth X on a “price per square foot” basis. Even if it is the house next door, PLEASE stop valuing property based on price per square foot based on TOTAL square footage. Clearly you can see that those four houses, all 2,600 square feet, have considerable differences with regard to value.
When a pregnant woman and her two year old walk into house #4, they have to walk right back out. Do you really think she is going to love her master bedroom with view, if her newborn baby and two year old are sleeping “in the basement”? Now, personally I love my kids being “in the basement”, as mine are grown. But I wouldn’t pay as much for the house with a huge master suite on the second floor and all other bedrooms in the basement, as I would for one with more bedrooms “up”, even though that suits MY “buyer profile“.
Hi Gary,
This is Ardell. I appreciate your picking up my article, but don’t appreciate your using
it as another dig aainst Zillow and another “Nyah Nyah people, you NEED us agents”, type comment.
I really think the public is sick of the defensive stance agents take against new technologies.
Comment by Ardell DellaLoggia — June 7, 2006 @ 7:24 am
Thanks for the comment. Not being a realtor myself, I guess the only hope I would have is if I had someone who knows what they are doing help me determine if the home is a good deal or not.
Also, living over here in the Tri-Cities many of the online services like Zillow do not have a lot of (if any) data yet for this area so don’t have a lot of experience with it.
Comment by GaryP — June 7, 2006 @ 10:09 am
OK, you’re forgiven. Just spell my name right when you “quote” me
As to consumers looking for guidance regarding value, a well written escalator clause is a decent
protection against overpaying for a property. Another really, really good way to be fairly sure that
you are not overpaying, is to apply for your loan as a zero down, stacked costs and then switch out
once approved and before loan docs are ordered. The appraisal will be more “right on” that way and
pretty much prevent your making any huge mistakes. Great way to test a FSBO price before you close.
I’ll post an article on my blog, noted below, explaining how and why consumers can institute these
“protections”.
Best regards…great blog BTW.
Ardell DellaLoggia
Seattle Area Real Estate
www.SearchingSeattleBlog.com
Comment by Ardell DellaLoggia — June 7, 2006 @ 12:29 pm
I look forward to the the article on your blog. I would have had no idea about doing the zero-down to get a ‘better’ appraisal.
Have corrected the spelling of your name too!
Comment by GaryP — June 7, 2006 @ 1:39 pm
Here you go Gary. Sorry it took me so long. Have an offer in and an offer out and lots of chaos. If you can’t get through on the link, just go to www.SearchingSeattleBlog.com
http://ardell.realtownblogs.com/for-homebuyers/how-do-i-know-if-i-am-overpaying-for-the-house
Comment by Ardell DellaLoggia — June 8, 2006 @ 1:26 pm
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