Today we are going to talk about Myth #3 from Annalisa Burgos’ article “6 Homebuying Myths.”
She is a Senior Editor with HGTV’s FrontDoor.com.
Myth #3 is, “The Listing Information is Always Accurate.”
I do not know why people think that is true. The listing information is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed; and what that means is that the person who inputted the information or wherever it was uploaded from made their best efforts to put accurate information into the system. There is a lot of room for error on many online sites, whether it be a search site or a site that is giving you data about home sales.
There are three things that come to mind that I find are often inaccurate when clients share information from online sites:
1) Square footage. Websites like Zillow, for example, get the property square footage from the county tax records. At least in our area, the tax records are often mistaken regarding square footage. They either do not include finished basements, or they were mismeasured or simply not entered in properly. That can affect the estimated value of a home or if a home is for sale, it can misrepresent its true size.
2) Room dimensions. Some real estate agents measure the rooms themselves, some will round the room dimensions, and others will use a previous version of a builder’s sheet or something like that. So, if room dimensions are important to you, you need to go the house with your tape measure and measure the room(s) to be sure they are the size you want or need.
3) Number of bedrooms and baths. Some websites will call a fourth bedroom a bonus or call a rec room in the basement a bedroom. There is a lot of ambiguity on bedrooms vs bonus rooms depending if the room has a closet and a window. If bedrooms versus other rooms are important to you, you need to look at the specific property and verify in person the number of bedrooms, baths and overall rooms.
4) Pools. (I decided to add a 4th) Many online sites have pool listed. It is not clear if it is a private pool in the backyard of the home, or if it is a community pool that you have to pay dues for, or if there is a YMCA down the street that you can join. All three are sometimes listed as pool on various websites and until you verify, it is hard to make sure what is represented on any website is correct.
So that is Myth #3. I look forward to your comments and stay tuned soon for Myth #4.
Do you believe that all listings are 100% accurate? Have you ever found this to not be true? Feel free to comment below or email me directly at: Amy@AmyShair.com
Call Amy for your Shair of the Market!