Anchorage Alaska Real Estate 907-720-4663: Anchorage, Alaska Be Sure to Check the Square Footage if you're a buyer (or seller if you want to reduce liability)!

I met a really nice man and his family at their garage sale. They called me a couple weeks after meeting because they wanted to put their home on the market. They bought the house for over $300,000 in 2006.  They wanted to be able to sell and get their $$$ money back (mainly their huge down payment). That may have been possible if the square footage of the home is actually what they thought thay bought it for. However, keep in mind that here in Anchorage, Alaska we have not experienced a substantial increase in home prices since 2006. Thank goodness, prices have not dropped dramatically like in some parts of the USA.

Let me explain their situation. When they bought their home they were told that the house was almost 2000 square feet. The house was a for sale by owner and unfortunately for them, they didn't use a realtor either. Well, when I was over at his house I could tell it was not almost 2000 square feet. And according to the city records, the house had a bit over 1700 square feet which is  a big discrepancy.

While I was at the house, he showed me some of the docs from their purchase. I noticed that the appraisal report said that the house had about 1720 square feet which is pretty close to what the Municipality of Anchorage records had. Unfortunately for the potential sellers, they didn't catch that at the time.  I know that they don't want to lose any money when they sell.  So I guess that they will just have to hold on a bit longer. It's just a sad situation because when they bought the house they thought they were paying less per square footage than they actually did pay. Lesson: make sure you check the appraiser's report... square footage can be a big factor when buying/selling a home....