If there is one thing we think we should be able to trust when buying or selling a home is the information on the home that we find in the local public record. But it is buyer (and seller) beware when it comes to those public records. Did you know that when an agent fills out their local multiple listing service’s property information when listing a home, the field regarding square footage of the home is often auto-filled from the tax record? And, I can tell you that that information is not always correct for a variety of reasons, including, additions made to a house without proper permitting, so that the new correct square footage or information such as number of bedrooms or baths is not be reflected in the public record.
I just read an article today from Inman News on this topic and here are a few of the examples in the article on how things can go wrong: A house has 3,000 square feet of space but for some reason the public record show only 2,200 square feet. A buyer making an offer on this property may have trouble securing a loan after a low appraisal comes in based on a smaller square footage.
Advice to buyers: if square footage (rather than the flow of the home, for example) is important to you, you need to verify independently the square footage.
Advice to sellers: check out the public record on your property at least 2-3 months before listing your home so you have time to get corrections made is there is an error.
all4now
You really give valuable information here for both home buyer and seller. Anyway, thanks for sharing that good information you've shared here. Keep on posting!
ReplyDeletePia
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