I signed a contract on a house and later found out that the square footage was wrong- can I get out?

Question

I recently put a contract on a house. A week later I looked up the deed online and found out that the square footage on the deed is 200 sq ft. less than what was advertised for the house. Can I get out of the contract? There is no mention of sq footage it in the contract.

Answer 1

maybe.
Where is your buyers agent? they should have pulled the tax assessors records for you. This would have given you the correct square footage.
If you do not have a buyers agent, it is up to you to do your own due diligence. It clearly states at the bottom of each mls sheet to do your own research. If you do not have an agent, you are out of luck for not doing this. If you do, you MAY be able to get them to reimburse the deposit you will lose when you back out. After all you are losing it because they did not do their homework and protect you.
RE Agent,
Remax

Answer 2

I would write the broker and seller of the real estate and
cancel the contract due to the error in square footage.

This is a material fact and should have been disclosed to you.

Make sure you are correct, prior to your letter as the deed may not be accurate and its possible there was an addition of square footage over time.

if you are correct, no seller or brokerage wants to be sued over the square footage error. Even 200 s.f. can be a costly error.

If you have challenges, call a real estate attorney.

Answer 3

The deed can be wrong too. You need to wait until the house is appraised. Even then you are going to have to prove that the sellers knew the listing was incorrect. The listings usually are not though, as they actually get that information from the county tax records, not the sellers directly.

Answer 4

Sounds like they may have added on to the home without obtaining permits.

Talk to your real estate

Answer 5

If if falsy advertised then that is what you can take to court.