Forum Index
»
Real Estate
Can/should we sue? Listing lies.
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
|
We are in contract for a gorgeous house. The sellers granted us access to get some quotes for painting. The house is listed as having 900 square feet per floor. The painters laughed when I told them the house is supposed to be 900 square feet per floor. They took a bunch of measurements and said the house was about 675 square feet per floor. My husband is furious about this and wants to sue the listing agent. We definitely love the house, but don't love that we're getting 25% less house for the price we're paying.
My realtor doesn't want to get involved, and basically says we should just look at the taxable living area. The taxable living area is listed as 1,800 square feet - something that my realtor claims does not include the basement (which would make the listing accurate). But since the house has a legal certificate of occupancy, I'm thinking it DOES in fact include the basement, making the 600 square feet per floor more accurate. Has this happened to anyone before? Have you sued? Can anyone recommend any firms? We love the house, but are not thrilled that we're (probably overpaying) paying for something we are NOT getting. |
Anonymous
|
Wherever you're getting the square footage information from, whether it's a listing or a brochure, that information is probably accompanied by something that says,
"Information is believed to be accurate, but should not be relied upon without verification. Accuracy of square footage, lot size and other information is not guaranteed." |
Anonymous
| Wouldn't you just rather back out than sue them? |
Anonymous
|
I think finished basements are generally not included in appraisals.
More importantly, I think you should be able to decide if you like the house or not at the price you paid regardless of what the painters say. A discrepancy in sq. footage is silly to argue over because: 1) agents have seen this happen before and I can guarantee you that there is fine print in the listing that absolves them of responsibility if there is a dispute over square footage; and 2) it's not a hidden defect-- you certainly were free to look at the room and even measure them before you bought. Bringing a lawsuit over this is a recipe for wasting a lot of money over something that's just in your head. |
Anonymous
| Presumably you saw the house before making the offer right? So if it is the size you wanted on visual inspection then who cares what the sq ft says. Sometimes that's measured from the exterior anyway, and of course the interior will be smaller. The price you offered was based on market prices right? So you aren't overpaying? |
Anonymous
| WTf would you sue? If you like the house, buy it. If not,don't. |
Anonymous
|
OP here. So it's okay for listing agents to say whatever the hell they want on the listing? And I'm at fault because I didn't bring a tape measure to the viewing (where I had maybe 10 minutes to look around the house)? Yes, I love the house, and no I don't want to back out. But when I looked at the house again (When I went with the painters), everything felt......... smaller. Much, much smaller.
And now the only way I can walk from the house is by losing a hundred grand? This is 25% smaller than they listed it as being! |
Anonymous
| What do you hope to win by suing? Money based on the square feet you are not getting? |
Anonymous
We'd lose about $100,000. |
Anonymous
Why? |
Anonymous
Yes. I'd like a reduction of 25% of the purchase price. We escalated to win the house, thinking it was giant and we'd live there forever. Well, we're getting 1/4 less what we thought we were buying, and I'm thinking that long term those extra square feet will be missed. |
Anonymous
That's what we paid in earnest money. I'm not including all the money we spent on appraisals, attorneys, etc. |
Anonymous
I think you could probably back out of the contract and get your deposit back. (Check with a real estate lawyer.) Suing for damages and proceeding with the contract is very unlikely. Maybe you can negotiate a price break, but it is a really competitive market. I'm also not totally clear on what happened here. Did they say that the floors were 900 square feet, not counting the basement? Or did they just give a total square footage including basement, which you assumed did not include the basement, which you divided by two? |
Anonymous
|
So the house was only smaller to you AFTER the painters told you so, correct?
You should have been able figure out how much sq ft the house had when you viewed it. This isn't some kind of rocket science to figure out. Also, ask for the floor plan and get the estimates off of there for room dimensions. Lastly, some real estate agents will count closet space and other dead space in the total sq ft when listing. To back out, you don't need to lose money. Pick a flaw in the inspection report and back out based on that. |
Anonymous
| They said the house was 2700 square feet, but it looks like it's closer to 1800 square feet. |