I have a property that has about 600sq ft of additions added to it. The owner is a contractor and did all the work himself. I am aware that building permits and such are usually required for additions, but I am not sure how the process works. According to the tax records it still shows as a 900sqft house. That is what caught my eye.

I want to make sure I know everything about the house but not sure where to look. Do I need to check on anything to make sure everything was done according to code and legally before listing the property?? Why would the tax records be different from the house if he got the correct permits and such??

I asked my broker and he told me to go measure the house and list it as what I measure. Then put the disclosure that its up to the buyer to verify sq footage. Was he correct in that is all that should be done??

I'm in the state of Florida.

Thank you!

I would follow your brokers advice as your liscense falls under there's. Having said that generally with additions you will have a built date in the tax record say the house was built in 1950 and then an effective year built which was say 1970 when the addition was added on.

The fact that it does not show in the tax record should be a red flag!

How long ago was the addition completed? Maybe if it was just recently it may not be updated in there system yet.

Contractor or not if permits were not pulled and it hasn't been inspected it could not be up to code.The buyers in the end have a home inspection to check everything. I would ask for permits from the contractor to show it was built correctly and signed off on.Sometimes they try to get away with no permitting because they don't want the tax assesor hitting them up on the new square footage.

Thank you very much I appreciate your quick response!! I am meeting with him in about an hour and I will ask for that information...

Justine,
I would never measure and report the sq ft myself. Either get the owner to give the sq ft, use the tax record, or get an appraiser to measure it. If you make a mistake and represent that the property is a given sq ft and it's wrong, and the buyer sues, you are in trouble. Anytime that I help someone measure, I always take the dumb end and make them do the math.

Here is a snippet from the article I read.

[quote]A recent Texas court decision held a listing broker liable for providing inaccurate square footage information for a listing. The decision has renewed concerns about disclosing the number
of square feet in a property.

The facts of this case are of particular concern because: (a) the
listing agent used square footage from the local appraisal district, which turned out to be inaccurate; and (b) the buyer signed a waiver of reliance upon the square footage information stating that they had not relied upon the information provided.[/quote]

From Hancock and McGill attorneys.

Of course this is in Texas, but I'd avoid stating the sq ft myself no matter what.

Joe

"A recent Texas court decision held a listing broker liable for providing inaccurate square footage information for a listing."

Justine's location is the state of Florida. A Texas court decision would not be applicable in Florida.

no legal advice