Missing SF. Developer stealing SF. Be aware

so the developer shouldn't "sell" the common areas? he/she should just "give" you the hallway, elevator, stairwells, lobby, etc?

Yes the developer should 'give' you the common areas. They 'give' you the common areas by charging a higher price per sq ft because you the consumer can see value in the other aspects of the building that you are buying into. That makes building A different than building B because the common areas are nicer, or there are more amenities that you want. You do not need to pay twice...meaning a higher price psf and an inflated sq ft number. That is just wrong. Developers who do this really think that the consumer is clueless in this market.

lets say the developer sell us common areas. let us than with that reasoning take garages from him and lobby that he stole and rents as duane reade

I agree...I think its totally faraudulent to show someone a floor plan with a square footage number that is made up of anything other than the interior square footage of the apartment you are looking at. Its completely misleading and cheesey. The Edge in williamsburg is guilty of this. In reality, thier apartments arent even close to what they list. I think the AG should look into this and stop it.

Caveat emptor, no?

Measure the floorplan, read the docs. It's all spelled out. I agree that it is bad practice, but at the end of the day, you'd do best with paranoia and watching out for yourself rather than relying on regulation, ethics, and laws doing your due diligence for you.

most people wouldnt think to bring a tape measure to an open house...I did becuase someone posted it here. The misleading square footage figures cab easily be stopped. Also, why would a developer like at 80 Metropolitan chose to use interior square footage numbers? As a buyer I am much more inclined to business with the more honest group.

You'd think some things could be taken for granted, but no. E.g., in another thread a buyer at a new condo discovered -- too late -- that the closets were only 19" deep. This when the standard for 100-odd years, ever since the hanger was invented and people stopped hanging on hooks, has been 24".

I even take a tape measure to rental apartments but you are right most people are too trusting. I don't trust brokers.

i was surprised when after i bought and was measuring for furniture, every room was about one and a half feet short of what the floor plan had said. not a big deal for me personally but still.

marco, are you saying you found the 80 met floorplans to be accurate and honest in square footage?

I did. whereas The Edge was totally ridiculous. The excuse the sales people at The Edge gave was that "everybody does that"

i guees that makes the edge's price point even more outrageous than it already is--sounds like you are basically adding 10-20% to price on psf basis if comparing to another property that measures based on interior sq footage

anybody else have first hand experience on new developments assessment of square footage

my negotiations with the edge were a complete joke. ill revisit them when they finally come clean about whats going on over there...

Guys,
before you rent or buy go and measure every SF. You will see that most likely developer (new buildings) will try to scam you for 20% less space.
It usually goes like this

800 sf condo is 600 sf condo
600 sf condo is like 450 sf condo

You should check with your lawyer and make sure you state that you will pay the price per sf based on independent measurement and not offering plan (gross footprint)

It will save you 200k

:)

"most people wouldnt think to bring a tape measure to an open house...I did becuase someone posted it here. "

Yep. That's me. Along with a clipboard and calculator.

And when the measurements fall short (and they ALWAYS do), I point it out to the agent, and everyone else at the open house.

Don't contracts on new construction have some allowance for recission if there are significant diffences in the final product and the offering plan --ie I have seen >5% deviation in square footage could trigger the right to rescind contract

the floor plan with sf numbers is in the offering plan, and the offering plan will indicate whether the number includes common areas...so it is not the basis for recission (and the contract will override any oral statements about sf from the broker or seller)

and i think the offering plan provides something saying that room dimensions may differ up to 10% from the floor plan specs..so they are covered for that as well

some developers are famous for cutting corners short