Nashville real estate - Just like the rest of us this morning, i was reading the daily news (activerain), and came across the post by Donna Edwards about a realtor losing a court case in Texas because they used the tax record for square ft estimates, and it was wrong.
If anyone reading this post believes that the tax records are accurate, please raise your hand. Ok, I couldn't see how many, but I hope nobody did.
Using the tax records as basis for pricng you listings is a recipe for disaster. In Nashville, and in particular, Franklin and Brentwood, a 10 percent difference in the tax record and an actual appraisal measurement is very common. Higher or lower, either way, your seller is going to be disappointed.
Find a good appraiser, and pay them to measure your homes. I do it for every home that I have listed, and every one was larger than the tax record. It usualy allows me to market the property at a price that the sellers didn't think was possible. In the rare occurance when the measurement is lower than the tax record, I tell the seller that it's better to know now, than to find out that an appraisal was lower than the contract price because of the size of the house.
Why don't I measure the home myself? I'm not trained to measure homes as an appraiser does. I would like to stay out of court, and so far I have. It's a record i would like to keep.
This posting and the contents written here are the intellectual property and opinions of Larry Brewer of Keller Williams Realty. Providing real estate services to clients in Nashville, Brentwood, Franklin, Spring Hill, Green Hills, and the middle Tennessee area
I have also had buyers back off because the price was based on measurements THEY didn't believe. 100 square feet can add up when multiplied by price per square foot, for better or worse.
I am also told that there are states where they associations won't let them break it down into price per square foot. As if buyers can't do the math for themselves.
Larry, good points! Never thought of that...
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Larry,
I represented a buyer last year who wanted to buy a house in great area for their approved limit. We found the neighborhood and the house they wanted but they did not think it was big enough. I asked why and they said the mls listing only had it so many sq ft. I checked and it matched the courthouse records. That agent failed to add the sq ft for the upstairs. I promised them it would appraise way more than they were willing to give and yes the appraisal came back with a lot more sq ft.They really appreciated me telling them the courthouse made a mistake and the listing realtor made a mistake:)