My home's square footage is wrong

**cbcbx** · 08-22-2011, 09:47 PM

Several years ago my wife and I bought our home. The previous owners' home burned down and they rebuilt and we bought the home when it was 2 years old.

Now it is time to sell and we have discovered that the home's square footage is wrong. Our assessor lists the home as 1250 sqft - after a lot of internet research I measured and came up with 1600 sqft. Our home has been on the market for a while and while it has had quite a few online hits, no one has come and looked at it! I think people think the house is too small to bother with.

We think that the 1250 sqft figure must have been from the house that burned down.

I'm sure we must go see the assessor and explain the situation. Does anyone have any idea what the assessor is likely to do and how bad they are going to zing us? For the 1250 sqft we pay about $3,600 per year.

Thanks for your help.

**First Time Home Buyers** · 08-23-2011, 12:23 PM

Often times when homes are listed on the MLS, their square footage will be different than the County Property Tax records indicate. This could be to additions, etc.

I would think listing it on the MLS as what the sq. ft. actually is would be ok.

If your question about "getting zinged" refers to paying retroactive taxes because your home is actually bigger--I'd doubt they would do that. It was their mistake.

Plus, you could dig up documents from when you bought it and show them you thought the house was only 1,250 sq. ft. according to their records. In either case, I would imagine you'd be ok from a tax perspective. But then again, I'm not a civil tax accountant or familiar with your area.

**Greg** · 08-23-2011, 02:37 PM

What size is listed in the MLS 1250 or 1600?

If it is 1250 then have your agent change it to 1600 sq ft. and add have your agent put a note in the comment section of the MLS stating how much money the new owners will be saving every year on the taxes because of the mistake in size.

If it is 1600 listed in the MLS then have your agent put a note in the comment section of the MLS stating how much money the new owners will be saving every year on the taxes because of the mistake in size.

Paint a silver rainbow on your situation.

If you go to the tax assessor and have them change the sq footage to 1600 then your taxes will go up which will make your house more expensive for buyers to maintain.

**VancouverWa** · 08-24-2011, 12:13 PM

Make sure you have the correct size! I've seen plenty of disputes arise out of inaccurate house measurements.
What's common in your area?
Measuring the outside of the home or just the interior space?
Do not include garages, unfinished basements and unusable sq.ft.(less than 5ft) unless that's common for your area.

If your not getting showings you may have to revisit your price.

Best of luck!