I am sick and tired of the wrong sq ft listed on postings for sale? It is misleading and fraudulant

I have been lobying TREB to change that, but there r few reasons behind it. I can find you the exact sqft, if you like to work with a deligent realtor...:)
imran javaid

I never include square footages in my search criteria. As you said, they are wrong and misleading. Looking at room sizes gives you a much better idea of how large or small it actualy is.

Indicating a squared footage that is not real is indeed misleading, however, in order for such a mistake to be considered fraudulent it would have to be proven that the information presented was in fact intentionally misleading, or that the individual responsible for providing the information lacked diligence and care, when presenting it. Given the variations that may exist in square footage measurements of the same room caused by simple mistakes, these are accepted to be a good approximate, and if misleading and dubtious, these should be corrected accordingly.

I never provide sq ft in my listings and in the London Ontario area very few REALTORs do either just because it is that difficult to get correct.

These are all great points. On TREB, there is an approximate square foot area provided. There are a number of ways to compute the actual square footage of the home, according to ANSI (a US institute that is considered the Standard for calculations.) As a Realtor® helping clients in Mississauga and Oakville, I find that it pays to do measuring myself, or to use the services of a professional measuring company, as I have a responsibility to prove the accuracy of the details published on the listing.

Here's a great article that can assist you in finding the accurate measurement of a home's square footage: http://su.pr/2QSQdJ

I would be pleased to answer your real estate questions... call me direct at 416-602-9901.

In the REALTORS® Association of Hamilton Burlington, we actually can't include square footage in our listings, too many agents can't do the math!

The best thing to do is work with a REALTOR® that understands your wants and needs, and is willing to go preview property to ensure it will be suitable for your situation.

The realtor who has the listing of the home for sale is responsible to specify the area of the land, as well as the living area, this measures are taken from the city hall that belongs the house.

Lina Castro,
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Welcome to Real Estate where the "real" is often not when it comes to square footage and that is why all the listings warn buyers DANGER DANGER. Do not believe anything you hear from seller's or agents. You must check for yourself and agents also are told to SHUT UP because unless we are engineers or surveyors we cannot possibly give you ANY correct information.
So the only really accurate square footage we can supply you is the area dimensions of the Condo or Strata from the Strata Plan or the square footage of a property from a survey....And when it comes to Condo Act or Strata Act homes here is where the buyer gets shall we say..confused. You see there are NO RULES about what constitutes livable square footage.
New developers often include those outside balconys, especailly out to where the roof line juts over. So a 10 foot long balcony with a 3 foot roof overhang suddenly adds 30 more square feet to the size of your condo.

And how about all those stairs in the new "Elevator Shaft" town home designs?
3 flights of stairs takes quite a bite out of that 1500 square foot townhome measurement.

So the real problem withsquare footage is not your agent but that there are really no rules and no standards for what really makes up livable square footage.

Here in Vancouver I always order a floorplan from a professional company when I take a listing. They come in and measure the property. One can usually get a property site survey as well.
I feel more confident giving my clients the best info possible on the property.
As a buyer these things must always be checked in any case. Try not to be frustrated, it's the way some people work, or don't work and a waste of your good energy. Find a good Realtor who will search properly for you.
Good luck.
Yvonne

Wrong? Which method are you using to calculate what you need? The builders use one method. You may use another. Many buy and believe what the builders tell them, and it just gets worse from there. You can measure yourself or hire your a professional.

If you have signed into a contract with a Realtor either as a Seller or Buyer your Realtor can easily verify the square footage of almost every home you as a client request information on. There is a report available to Realtors from MPAC (Municipal Property Assessement Corporation) for a small fee they can obtain information such as Year Build, Square footage above grade, Basement Square Footage. I purchase these reports for all properties my Buyer Clients are considering to put an offer in, as well as I purchase this report for all my listings. In my opinion this should be a standared purchase by any Realtors working with CLIENTS.

I completely agree this is a poor practice that needs to be changed. Home values can be manipulated and uninformed Realtors and Buyers can over pay for properties. That's why it is vitally important to higher a local professional who knows the real estate in the area. A Realtor who focuses on one area can save you thousands of dollars.

You need to go measure yourself.