Square Footage Myth: De-Mystified!
In the past week, during negotiations, the issue of square footage to determine fair market value kept popping up, so I thought I would share with you some excerpts from a recent blog written by Alain Pinel. As many are aware, Alain came on board with Intero early in the year and is focused on building the luxury brand.Here are some of Alain’s thoughts on square footage: “I never ceased to be amazed at the fact that many Realtors are judging the value of a luxury home on the basis of its square footage. For a bank appraiser or a home builder to think that way, I can understand, it can indeed be part of the valuation methodology, but for Realtors?
In the high end, not two homes are the same, even when they are….or they appear to be. Take two identical penthouses in New York, both brand new; same top floor, same square footage, same layout, and same amenities. I guarantee that one is worth more than the other, often a lot more. Perhaps one has a better sun exposure, or a nicer view, or sits next to another beautiful residential building while the other one has a service station for a neighbor, or one is further away from a noisy school yard, etc. Are these two properties identical? Of course not.
Square footage is largely irrelevant in the high end. Buyers buy benefits, real or perceived. Bigger is not necessarily better. Depends what you really want, or what you really need. It’s OK to want to live in a 20,000 square foot home. It might even be pleasurable. But please understand that if & when you decide to sell it, it may fetch only what a nearby property of similar quality but smaller size will obtain in the open market. Size usually needs to serve a purpose to be worth the money it costs to build. For example, you can get your money back and sometimes make a little more if you put a home theater in your home, or a library, or a wine cellar, or an indoor pool, or a racket-ball court and perhaps even a ballroom, why not? However, if you have a huge house just to have huge rooms, square footage could be more a handicap than an added value.”
For more insight from an industry leader, you can check out his blog on the Intero blog site.
This blog is courtesy of The Dawn Thomas Team who is an award-winning Real Estate Agent team at Intero Real Estate Services in Los Altos 650-947-4661. We help nice people with selling and buying homes from Palo Alto to West San Jose!
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