Really nice in a really nice neighborhood, zoned to good schools. Go see it and see if you like it, OP.

County data has my house at 500 less sf why does that matter?

Agents do this all the time. Buyers should always verify with county data because that's what property taxes will be based on.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please find a hobby

This is her hobby. And it's harmless. Back off.

what's the overall effect on property taxes?

Anonymous wrote:Please find a hobby

This is her hobby. And it's harmless. Back off.

Who cares.

tl;dr County data had wrong square footage for the house, but the agent provided the correct square footage in the listing.

There's a lot to unpack here

Please find a hobby

Why would you waste time doing this for a house you don’t seem to be buying? Get outside.

Jesus. That’s a lot of info. Hope it works out for you.

It’s Herndon

While browsing Zillow, I came across a house for sale:

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3270-Willow-Glen-Dr-Herndon-VA-20171/51764790_zpid

Going for 1.4m is technically a VERY VERY GOOD DEAL. The comparable houses that are similar sqft and location go for at least 1.6-1.7 (search if you don't believe me).

However, after looking at it more carefully, I believe there is faulty info advertised.

This house (number 1 as shown in below pic) boasts 4,695 SQFT above ground and 25,000 sqft in total according to icare.fairfaxcounty.gov.



BUT clearly the house (number 2 as shown in below pic) on the right looks bigger or at least doesn't look smaller by 1000sqft.



county data records house number 2 as 3,744 SQFT:



House 2 was sold in 2021 for 1.35 BTW and Zillow currently estimates it at 1.62. If House 1 really is 1,000SQFT larger, it should AT LEAST be in the 1.62M range.

BUT here's the problem.....

I noticed in the Zillow photos, the realtor uploaded floorplans with calculations...which tbh kudos to the realtor for possibly clearing up some faulty data...

In the floorplans calculations, the house has a true above grade SQFT of only 3938 SQFT (main floor: 1996, upper floor: 1942)! Which makes far more sense (and price reflects it) than the 4695 SQFT Fairfax county recorded!



As you can see, it's actual finished SQFT is 5106, which is much less than the 6,200 (this is including unfinished and outside areas) advertised on Zillow site and WELL BELOW the Zillow advertised interior living SQFT:




County data is important because it's what A LOT of buyers base comparables on and if sellers don't calculate when selling, buyers (and realtors) more than likely rely on county provided data.

I still believe in county provided data but now this really has me having to really do my own research before pulling any triggers.

This is my hypothesis on fair value on this house, which at 1.4m is probably fair and NOT the ultimate value buy I had originally thought. If the realtor didn't post floorplans and if I didn't pay too much attention while touring it....I would have absolutely believed it somehow was 4,695 SQFT ABOVE GRADE!