But it feels bigger
Some homes feel larger than the listed square footage. Some feel smaller. Is it ever OK to adjust the square footage in a real estate listing to reflect the way it feels, instead of the way it is?
In a recent blog post, Brookline real estate agent Greg Kiely highlighted a pair of listings by a rival firm (and former employer), Prudential Unlimited Realty - Brookline, that overstated the square footage of listed properties.
47 Harvard Avenue, Unit 5, measures 940 square feet, but it was listed at 1,000 s.f.
19 Westbourne Terrace, Unit 4, measures 637 s.f., but it was listed at 700 s.f.
Jon Ufland, the sales manager at Prudential Unlimited, told me that in both cases, "The feedback the agent was getting is that the unit felt larger than the stated square footage." So the listing was adjusted upward.
In both cases, a note was added to the listing stating the actual square footage. The one for Harvard Avenue said, "Actual is 940. Efficient floor plan makes feel larger." But that note doesn't appear in the portion of the listing widely available on real estate Web sites.
And the change in the listed size meant more people might be seeing the units when they searched for properties. For example, a person restricting their search to units at least 1,000 square feet in size would see the Harvard Avenue unit, whereas before they would not.
There is some logic here. In my own experience, some places really do feel larger than the listed square footage. And places with the same listed square footage can feel very different. It is the tyranny of search parameters that they can exclude properties you might want to see. If it really feels like 1,000 square feet, it might be right for you.
On the other hand, if you can't trust the search results...
Ufland said the firm changed the Harvard Avenue listing back to 940 square feet when it realized the qualifying note was not appearing on Web searches. He said he was not aware of the Westbourne Terrace listing, but the firm would now make sure it complied with MLS rules.
"It's a tough thing because there's a balancing act between helping our sellers get the highest price and not giving off inaccurate information," Ufland said.
How do you think that balance should be struck?
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