Floor area

phoebe1989seb

It is funny how some EAs big up the room sizes (to the point of exaggeration ), yet others don't......

When selling our last house which had some quirky room shapes/sizes, our chosen (independent) EA opined that he was unable to describe a room as (for example) 18' x 12' if it was an *L* shaped space - and wouldn't even use the term *narrowing to* or *decreasing to* in his blurb, instead listing the room by its smallest dimensions - although thankfully our excellent floor plan told a different story and the house sold within two weeks......

On the subject of KFH, DS has just had them (plus Foxtons and one other) round to value his two-bed flat in SW London. Curiously his experience was that they came back with the lowest valuation, Foxtons of course being the highest (£399,950, £375,000 and £340,000 were the three valuations given) - which surprised us all as we also believed KFH to be akin to Foxtons these days His neighbour has just accepted an offer of £335k (against an AP of £340k) for his slightly smaller (but only one-bed) flat on with KFH......

captainhindsight_2

I know the property mis-descriptions act dosen't mean much to a lot of estate agents but I would have thought an EA would be in breach if they are giving misleading information about a properties dimensions.

I try to have as little to do with estate agents as possible and always try to do business with chartered surveyors instead as they have professional standards, they do cost more but worth it.

googler

captainhindsight wrote: »

I know the property mis-descriptions act dosen't mean much to a lot of estate agents but I would have thought an EA would be in breach if they are giving misleading information about a properties dimensions.

I try to have as little to do with estate agents as possible and always try to do business with chartered surveyors instead as they have professional standards, they do cost more but worth it.

What's it got to do with the EA? Won't the EPC (from 5 years ago, so presumably produced long before the current EA was hired) have been produced by a surveyor or energy assessor?

captainhindsight_2

googler wrote: »

What's it got to do with the EA? Won't the EPC (from 5 years ago, so presumably produced long before the current EA was hired) have been produced by a surveyor or energy assessor?

Yes

If you read post 12 it was talking about how some estate agents exaggerate room sizes, I was addressing that point.

benjus

Just received a copy of the mortgage valuation survey, which puts it at 117 sq m. I guess that one should be more accurate than the EPC, although I still think they've overestimated a bit.

moneyistooshorttomention

googler wrote: »

Even if the EPC has an incorrect floor area, do you care? Does anyone (whose opinion matters) care about the detail of the figures in the EPC?

Yes.

Many of us do care.

I had the reverse problem when selling my last house, that I could see the measurements of a couple of rooms and resultant square meters of house as a whole had been understated. I figured out that the reason seemed to be down to the (fair-size) alcoves hadn't been included in the measurements and changed my house details before they went on the market. I, very meticulously, had one of those descriptions that went "x' feet at maximum length" or something along those lines. Probably the main reason could have been they used one of those pointer gadgets to measure the room, whereas I was using a measuring tape.

With that, those measurements made it plain that my house was bigger than many 2 bedroom houses.

Though, having said that, I wouldn't be at all surprised if its more the norm to overstate how big a place is.

Re the EPC, I'm inclined to think they are pointless too. I think they are deemed to have a "shelf life" of 12 years??? which is, of course, ridiculous if the house has been altered in some material way in the meantime. The one plus point to EPCs in my book is that the vendor probably had one done at the time they first put the house on the market and the date on the EPC is therefore a more reliable guide to how long the house has been on the market than some other factors. Some EA's have obviously found out a way to manipulate the "Property Bee" add-on on Firefox, for instance, as I have noticeably often realised that a house has been up for sale for longer than Property Bee says it has.

benjus

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

The one plus point to EPCs in my book is that the vendor probably had one done at the time they first put the house on the market and the date on the EPC is therefore a more reliable guide to how long the house has been on the market than some other factors. Some EA's have obviously found out a way to manipulate the "Property Bee" add-on on Firefox, for instance, as I have noticeably often realised that a house has been up for sale for longer than Property Bee says it has.

In my case the EPC was from the last time the flat was sold (so doubly useless, as the current owner installed the double glazing). Also, many EAs don't put the full EPC on the listings, just the energy ratings and environmental impact parts. I didn't see the full EPC until my solicitor received it from the vendor's solicitor.

DRP

googler wrote: »

Even if the EPC has an incorrect floor area, do you care? Does anyone (whose opinion matters) care about the detail of the figures in the EPC?

^^agree.

If i wanted to fit furniture into the house, I wouldn't trust EA/EPC measurements.

If i was worried about energy costs, I wouldn't be buying a period home.


Good call from moneyistooshorttomention on the possibility of using the EPC date to work out when the house was first marketed. On a similar point, aren't EPCs meant to be re-done if material changes affecting the energy rating are carried out? ie. you shouldn't be using an old one if double glazing has been fitted...

googler

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Yes.

Many of us do care.

I had the reverse problem when selling my last house, that I could see the measurements of a couple of rooms and resultant square meters of house as a whole had been understated.

I fear you may be missing my point - when the individual room sizes are available, when the OP can view the rooms and measure them himself as part of the buying process, when he's been in the property .... why would he or anyone else in the same situation, or any professional whose opinion about the house matters, care about the figure in the EPC?

moneyistooshorttomention

The whole point of room measurements/house measurement overall is to help buyers winnow out places not worth looking at in the first place (eg 3rd bedroom 5' x 7' type detail written down on EA details). The bathroom size of my current place is only 5' wide:eek: for instance and I have had to be very "clever" to get round that fact and a new bathroom was a necessity, not a want, accordingly. Just to give 2 examples of why size matters.

Then, there's the "double bedrooms" only just about big enough for a 4'6" bed (when many people have 5' wide beds and some even have 6' beds).

In my last place, the kitchen size mattered. It meant I was very restricted as to which cooker I could have (could only choose from ones 50cm wide) and what size fridge and freezer space I could have.

etc etc