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Originally Posted by rolinda
I am confused about the sqaure footage issue that comes up in these condo projects. I understand the difference between the two, but why are the developers advertising the square footage that is against the DRE guidlelines just to make it look 100 sq feet bigger? And how are they getting away with it that it comes up every time? What is the legal position people are taking first of all? If I buy a unit what are the questions I should be asking to know which sq footage they are quoting me?And what are all those people at West Ocean doing about the fact that they signed contracts based on one fact and are now receving information that that is not actually the square footage? Or should this not really matter in the big picture? Just trying to keep myself informed so I make good buying decisions.
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According to the condo guideline, since we don't own the outer wall, living area should be measured from inner wall to inner wall. However, for the condo projects that I've looked at so far, all but one actually use the inner wall in their advertisement.
Most include the outer walls and some the balconies. To be safe, if you're concerned, you should just bring your own tape measure or check the LA county assessor website for a similar unit that is already sold in the building. You can ask all the right questions but short of checking it yourself, there is no guarantee that you'll get the right answer.
I am not sure how square footage will impact on the value; a lot of other factors such as view, floorplan, location and interior will also play an important role. However, for a small condo, off by 100 sq. ft can be a big percentage and most units are priced based on $$ per sqt. It seems like the developers are getting away with it all the time. I recalled that homeowners of Higgins in Downtown LA sued the developer on the square footage discrepancy and the homeowners lost the lawsuit. The developer is quite savvy in their advertisement or even contract; they have fine prints stating that square footage is approximate and floorplans varies and they can change w/o notice.