Square Deal? The Inexact Science of Square Footage

Posted on Fri, 03-05-2010

Buying a condominium in Manhattan is not easy. If there's one thing you'll hear from friends who've gone about purchasing a Manhattan apartment or NYC condo, it's that. But if there's one thing we keep going over here at the New Construction Manhattan blog, it's that buying NYC condos doesn't have to be quite as difficult as it is -- if you ask the right questions and work with the right real estate agent, buying an apartment in Manhattan can be satisfying and maybe even enjoyable. But, as proven in on the radically imprecise science of calculating the square footage of condominiums for sale, buying a condominium in Manhattan isn't easy. The good news, here, is that square footage numbers aren't necessarily the be-all and end-all when it comes to buying a condo.A square-footage number doesn't tell you home buyers anything that isn't more clearly communicated by actually visiting a condo, for instance. But given that square footage is one of the most basic bits of information home buyers know before checking out a given condo, it's strange to read just how radically subjective square footage numbers tend to be. "Unbeknownst to many shoppers, it's extremely difficult to determine the true square footage of a Manhattan property, experts say," The Real Deal's Candace Taylor reports. "Condo offering plans are required to list square footage, but each developer measures it differently, which is legal as long as they disclose their methods in the plan, Miller said." Again, it's not the biggest deal, but there's something amusingly postmodern and slippery about it all. And, of course, a valuable lesson that is another favorite point here at the NCM blog: namely, that it's a good idea to ask questions, work with a trusted agent, and take nothing for granted when shopping for a condominium in Manhattan.

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