Excerpted from the
San Jose Mercury News
Market Wise Column
Saturday, April 5, 2008

Q: Our appraisal of the property we are purchasing states
the home is 300 sq ft smaller than stated in all of the marketing.
We feel the price should reflex a smaller home, but the sellers,
their agent and even our own agent feels otherwise.
What are our options?

A: Conflicting square footage is the biggest complaint within
residential real estate. Many buyers are faced with multiple
numbers from different sources for example, the builder,
assessor’s office, seller disclosures, agent promotion, and
their own appraiser. If the discrepancy is discovered in the
middle of a sale, most agencies agree this is new information,
triggering a new seller’s disclosure and a new buyer three-day
right of rescission. However, Real estate attorneys defend
and prosecute the “square foot cases” all the time. One school
of thought is that since the house appraised at full value –
how have you been harmed? Conversely, if the home was
marketed as a smaller home, when it’s time you become
a seller, it probably would command a smaller price.
You would be remiss in not consulting a real estate attorney.

by Pat Kapowich, Broker/Owner

Do you have any questions for the new real estate Q&A
Market Wise column in the SJMN? If so, please email them to: pat@SiliconValleyBroker.com