Creekside View – November 12, 2024 – "Measure Twice, Buy Once"

Tell me the truth now; when you are looking at a house do you decide as you are walking through it if the location and layout will work for your family, or is size important?

I have yet to see a buyer pull out a measuring tape and go around the outside, though I do admit there was one time a lady did measure an alcove in the dining room to see if her grandmother’s buffet cabinet would fit in it.

The Real Estate Council of Alberta (RECA) has mandated the use of a province wide Residential Measurement System (RMS) all Realtors must use when listing a house for sale.?

Nothing wrong with that, you are probably saying.?

True enough but consider this.? Appraisers don’t have to report it the same way as they are guided by their national accreditation body.?

Neither do home builders or condominium developers who direct sell to the public.

Or “For Sale by Owners”.

Saskatchewan’s Real Estate Commission expects its registrants to be professional and represent a property accurately.

Reporting on a single-family home is straightforward; essentially, it is all the usable space above grade measured from the outside perimeter.?

Plus, any window bays you can stand up in.? Less any second level space you can’t.? Let’s not talk about stairwells.? Walk-out basements don’t count.? Neither do unheated sunporches, covered in decks, or atriums.?

Attached dwellings, like duplexes and condos, on the other hand, are to be measured from “paint to paint” on the interior.?

Even if the registered condominium plan includes a storage locker, balcony, or garage, the RMS is for interior living space only.

I can support with these rules but explaining to a seller we must now list their three-bedroom unit as 900 square feet instead of the 1,130 they bought from the builder can be tense.?

Of course, here in the Border City, the rules technically only apply to one side.

The real estate community has taken the stance there needs to be a level playing field across the region, a practical policy in my opinion.

There are major regions in North America that don’t supply square footage at all through their MLS systems.?

Their reasoning?? If size matters to you, then measure it yourself which emphasizes the importance of a buyer being responsible for their own diligence.

I once chaired the farmland practice committee for the Saskatchewan Real Estate Commission.?

We received a complaint from a buyer about an agent who he felt had misrepresented the number of cultivated acres in a parcel of land listed for sale.

To back his claim, he supplied satellite imagery with spatial calculations.?

The registrant had used information supplied by the Saskatchewan Assessment Management Agency which is generally accepted as an industry standard.

Anyone who farms knows the number of cultivated acres can vary from year to year depending on several factors, the main one being Mother Nature.?

I look at satellite imagery as well when doing my diligence when consulting on land, but nothing replaces feet on the ground and eyes on the surroundings.?

Especially these days when many farmers have catskinners and mulching contractors on speed dial.

Other attributes are also just as important, including the quality of soil, access to an all-weather road, distance to market and dealerships, etc.

There have been some significant lawsuits over the amount of space within a commercial building.?

Where the residential standard is the square footage of the building’s perimeter, it is the amount of “leasable” space investor buyers want to know so they can use it in future multi-year rental contracts.

It has got to the point where personally I hire a surveyor to give me the measurements before our team presents a large building to the market.

Then we state both inside and the outside square footage supported by a real property report.

However, it doesn’t help when municipalities change their zoning bylaws during a building’s lifetime, and what was acceptable at the time of construction may now be seen as a variance or undesirable use of the structure.

Bottom line, if you don’t use your own common sense, please don’t expect others to think for you.

Vern McClelland is an associate broker with RE/MAX of Lloydminster, founder of ProgressiveTender.com, and an active partner in his family’s livestock operation.? Comments on this article are welcome either by emailing [email protected]? or calling (306) 821-0611.

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