Rapallo – Whose Square Footage is Correct? County or Wallace? Hmmmm

I traded some emails with Mr. Wallace, the developer of Rapallo on 2/15/2012 and 2/16/2012, to ask him some questions about the square footage discrepancies in his Rapallo units. (Discrepancies between the county records and the marketing flyers he supplied when the original owners bought )  Why the square footage on the marketing information he provided to his customers is different and lower than the numbers recorded with Lee County. 

Below is the Q & A that took place, with my editorial comments at the end.

Michael Burke:

Hello Jim,

When you have a moment, can you call me 239-777-0473?  I wanted to talk to you about the square footage of the Rapallo units.   For some reason when we take a listing in Rapallo the sellers believe the square footage is "X" from the marketing floor plans.  When we check the tax records for accuracy purposes, in all cases, the square footage (you provided to your customers) is always less from the county records.  While this may be good for tax purposes, we really do not know what the proper square footage is or should be, without someone coming in to certify the square footage.

How were the square foot measurements taken for the Rapallo units?  From the inside? From the exterior?  Can you help shed some light on this?

Thank you!

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Jim Wallace:

MICHAEL

The square footage for our marketing plans was derived from the actual architectural construction drawings.

We are aware of this issue with the county. In a couple of cases (The Rio Maggiore plan was one I remember) we reverified the numbers and found the county square footage to be incorrect particularly where the unit had square footage on the ground and second floor. Perhaps they did not count the stairway since it’s not designated to any floor.

Yes our measurement is from the inside block wall.

The simplist way to verify that on anyone’s plan is to measure the square footage allocated to the garage. You’ll often notice on a national builder (like Pulte, Lennar etc) floor plan their 18ft x 22ft garage is frequently shown at about 440 sq ft (110% of actual 396 sq ft). Measuring from the exterior walls is usually 109-111% of interior wall measurement.

This exagerated measurement for "condominium form of ownership" is incorrect but understandable. The majority of homes built by most national builders are single family homes or duplexes which are correctly measured from the exterior walls so it’s easy for them to err on concominiums.

Best way to understand size is a  2000 sq ft single family home is an 1800 sq ft condo.

Hope this helps.

JIM WALLACE      
Sent from Jim Wallace’s cell.

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Michael Burke:

Hello Jim,

Thank you for a quick response… maybe you can help me a bit further….when or if we find the county numbers wrong, how do we rectify them within the recorders office.  Tax records always supersede a companies flyers.  We have noticed the square footage on many units is less with the county versus the flyer (when they bought). The county has mentioned that the numbers they are using are the numbers that your company reported. 

Thank you again for your direction.

Michael

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Jim Wallace:

The county’s numbers did NOT come from us. I do not know how or where the county got their numbers. I can only guess it was a misread of the as-built survey drawings or the architectural drawings. I know the county has told homeownersthey got the square footage from scanned drawings. What drawings? Was scanning done correctly? I have no idea. I just know we built what our drawings promised.

JIM

Sent from Jim Wallace’s cell.

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Michael Burke:

Sent 2 times

Jim.

When we spoke to the county, they said the dimensions and square footage came of of the plans that were submitted prior to permitting.  While it is possible that the county could have misread or mis-scanned, but it appears the numbers came from your submitted drawings.  Can we take a look at them to help us and Rapallo homeowners out?  We really need clarity on this for marketing purposes.

Michael

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Jim Wallace:

Michael

We’ve already been down this road before with the Rapallo condo associatio and showed them our numbers were per the drawings (to their satisfaction).The condo association has a complete set of drawings. And of course the drawings are public record at the county. We do not lend our drawings. I suggest you pursue this with Sherry Slater, the association general manager.

Jim Wallace

Sent from Jim Wallace’s cell.

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Michael Burke:

Jim,

If you been down this road before, why is there still a discrepancy between the drawings and the tax records?  Who was responsible for making any corrections?   Rapallo?  The Developer? The County?    I find it very odd that you "been down this road before" and we still have discrepancies. 

I will contact Sherry Slater as you requested and get her input.  Please provide any contact info you may have for her.

Michael

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My editorial….. Many times when we take a listing in Rapallo we have conflict in the square footage as the home owner believes they have versus what the county has recorded.  County records always supersede marketing flyers.

I am a bit confused, Mr. Wallace said that he “guess” that the county misread or scanned incorrectly.   Mr. Wallace supplied the plans to the county prior to permitting and approval.  The numbers had to come from him.  “I know the county has told homeowners they got the square footage from scanned drawings. What drawings?”  The drawings that Mr. Wallace supplied to the county before the Rapallo project was permitted.  Maybe he forgot he had to supply the plans before permitting…

Mr Wallace states: “Was scanning done correctly? I have no idea. I just know we built what our drawings promised.”  I have to ask Mr Wallace…What drawings?  The Blue Prints?  The Marketing Flyers?  Can you be specific as to the the units being built, per the marketing flyers or per the plans submitted to the county?  WHAT IS THE TRUE SQUARE FOOTAGE AND WHO IS GONG TO PAY FOR VERIFICATION? 

The problem I have as a real estate professional, I have to market per the county records, until proven differently.   I can use the high square footage as sellers prefer, but if I sell a unit that is misrepresented, it could be a liability issue for me as well as the seller. 

Mr Wallace comments: “The simplist way to verify that on anyone’s plan is to measure the square footage allocated to the garage. “  Since when do you include garage square footage to living space?  Is this something new that was done at Rapallo that the real estate community is not aware of.  I am even more confused….

Mr Wallace indicates: “We’ve already been down this road before with the Rapallo condo associatio and showed them our numbers were per the drawings (to their satisfaction).”  Mr. Wallace still does not answer the question… he say “per drawings,” WHICH DRAWING?  THE BLUE PRINTS? THE MARKETING FLYER? WHY CAN WE NOT GET A STRAIGHT ANSWER?

In addition, IF we push the issue and find the units to be a higher square footage from the current county records, the units taxes can go up based on a higher square footage.  What do we do?  I have no idea?

I do know the sellers want to use the higher square footage and the buyers want us to verify the square footage, at the sellers expense.

As a Professional Real Estate Agent, I am bound to provide the best and most accurate data I can find on my clients properties.   Do you think these discrepancies have anything to do with the continued high inventory levels in Rapallo?  I don’t know… what I do know is that it takes team work from the developer, the buyers, the sellers and the REALTORS to have a successful transactions.  When any one of these entities are not cooperating to create a win / win situation, then we all lose!!!  

Rapallo Home Owners… do you have any ideas?  Help me help you!!! Please leave your comments below.