Last week in our 4th episode of TGTV’s 5 part series on Square Feet we delved further into understanding why consumers can’t seem to get an accurate approximation of square footage for the properties that they are seeing.
In our final episode of this 5 part series our panel discusses possible regulation of methodology and approximation of square footage with suggestions on just who should police those responsible for overstating and how they could go about doing so. Check it out:
As I stated last week, I could do weekly episodes on this topic forever (or at least until the problem went away) but I’m eager to move on to other interesting content. The surprising conclusion that I have drawn from this eye-opening series is that the methods of measuring are already relatively standard (with the exception of new development condos) and the discrepancies in stated square footage almost always come from me and my colleagues.
The first step to correcting these gross inaccuracies is to hold accountable those who overstate square footage by a certain amount (do we say +-5%?). I believe that all real estate agents should be mandated to have their properties measured by an "approved" entity (licensed architect, floorplan illustrator, appraiser). Furthermore, they should be required to share that precise measurement with the consumer. In time, I believe you would see fewer discrepancies and more honesty surrounding stated square footage.
Exaggerating square footage isn’t salesmanship, it’s lying.
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