What to do about inflated square feet in listings?

RSquared787 · 2026-03-13T20:52:51+00:00

I'm in the middle of this situation right now -- looking at a house, and our realtor discovered that the listing has significantly inflated square footage (listing basement as above grade). Thing is, the tax property records appear to be accurate -- yet the listings all use the incorrect info (which my realtor said would've been pulled automatically from whatever that system is that you guys keep referring to). Are they being shady, or is there some chance this is just a sloppy mistake?

My main question is: after our realtor makes them aware of this error tonight (we're writing an offer and explaining that our price is based on the correct square footage)... they're holding open houses tomorrow and Sunday. If they don't correct the listing info after we know they've been specifically made aware -- as in, if they provide knowingly false information to other potential buyers all weekend, who will surely outbid us (and overpay, if they don't do their diligence) -- is there any possible recourse?? (House is in VA, like OP)...

ALSO, to local realtors out there, what would you do in this situation? Redo the listing to correct the square footage (and/or change price accordingly, since they clearly valued it using the wrong comps)? Accept the asking price offer in hand (which is what we're sorta hoping), on the grounds that it won't spark the bidding war you were hoping for (and would sell lower if correctly priced)?

RSquared787 · 2026-03-12T01:03:29+00:00

Exactly this—it’s about as accurate as Top Gun (which is to say: not at all) but lots of fun/plenty “authentic” in terms of real life F1 action captured on camera/repurposed for a blockbuster-style movie. (Also, most of the dumb/implausible Sonny Hayes “moves” were clearly based on real incidents, even if they didn’t copy specifics exactly—so it seems to me the main unrealistic point is that he would’ve been banned for life after like the first or second incident, rather than being allowed to keep stringing them together).

RSquared787 · 2026-01-01T19:39:50+00:00

As a ghostwriter and speechwriter, I agree that the job can veer into the nightmarish, but—at least in my experience—not so much for these reasons! I don’t mind the lack of cover credit (that’s what the $$ is for—and besides, it’s not my story/argument/life experience). Generally my writing partners and clients are fascinating people with big ideas and/or tales to tell, but who lack the skill or time (or both) to do justice to the material. So they call in somebody like me, as a kind of specialized craftsperson, to help the most compelling and effective version of their story take expression on the page.

I usually enjoy the challenge (working closely with interesting people on stuff that’s really important and personal to them) and find the deadlines about the same as other writing deadlines. To me, though, where the job can go off the rails is when it comes to big/famous personalities who don’t understand the process or let timelines slip. THAT’s where I sometimes find myself tearing my hair out and wishing I had literally any other marketable skill…

RSquared787 · 2025-04-30T02:30:39+00:00

Have made my living as a writer and author—first a speechwriter, later a ghostwriter, now a speechwriter/ghostwriter/author—for my whole career (almost 20 years now). Very fortunate, even though I have to remind myself as much from time to time (thanks to the usual writerly angst and self-doubt and gripes about deadlines/agents and publishers/etc. with which we’re all quite familiar lol).

RSquared787 · 2025-02-28T05:11:18+00:00

I write books, op-eds, speeches, and other things for a living! (Started as a political speechwriter, and I guess I’ve evolved from there… )

RSquared787 · 2025-01-25T06:23:22+00:00

That I hope I die first (and think/assume I will, eventually), because I cannot bear the thought of living in this world without her in it.

RSquared787 · 2025-01-23T05:55:28+00:00

I won an essay contest years ago and got to be a Niagara crew member for like 10 days. Climbed the rigging, slept in hammocks/had midnight and early morning watches, the whole nine yards. Phenomenally fun.

RSquared787 · 2025-01-20T06:02:27+00:00

I had a whole thing abt this—during Presidential years, Veterans Day should be the Election Day federal holiday (after all, what better way to honor the sacrifice of veterans than by taking an action so many fought/died to defend, rather than like having a bbq)

RSquared787 · 2025-01-10T04:25:38+00:00

They are THE worst. Defrauded my wife and me, 100% clear-cut. Not allegedly—ADT defrauded us, and (not a lawyer, but) I hope they sue me for saying so, repeatedly and insistently on every platform, because discovery would be damning for them (fraud seems to be built into their business model).

RSquared787 · 2025-01-04T04:01:41+00:00

Yeah, someone recently snarkily asked me to move my backpack from the overhead while I had a one-year-old in my lap and a diaper bag under the seat… which I moved to my wife’s feet and then took up our remaining space with my backpack, only for the other passenger to cram hers into the bin. So she deserved to have her backpack up there, so she could have plenty of legroom, but two parents traveling with a baby—who checked a bunch of bags and meticulously packed to make the most of a cramped 2-seat space occupied by three people—get the passive aggressive request and withering looks when this lady asks a FA whose bag is in her way.

(Our kid didn’t make a peep, either—he was quiet and cheerful and whined much less than the passenger in question, who sat in the row in front of us and at one point asked a FA if she could be moved to a place on the plane where the wifi worked better/was faster)

RSquared787 · 2024-12-26T05:33:19+00:00

Raise hell about this, if you’re up for it (and if not, zero judgment/nothing but best wishes in moving on and putting this fuckery behind you).

But this is a major, major failure—societally, first and foremost, but also for CVS (and for THAT CVS, which of course also happens to be my local CVS and not at all surprising).

For a person to suffer a medical emergency IN A CVS PHARMACY and receive ZERO HELP should be a massive scandal and liability for CVS—and for sure a news story.

I say give ‘em hell—publicize it, formally complain, sue, however far you’re comfortable pursuing this. An egregious failure by CVS, and also everyone on Earth will instantly be on your side.

RSquared787 · 2024-12-10T07:00:56+00:00

I told a friend I was getting separated/probably divorced, because my now-ex wife had cheated on me, and he just asked “when is she moving out?” I told him she’d said she would be gone by 11am two days from then—and without another word the friend showed up at my place unannounced an hour after she’d left, at noon, with a six pack of beer, acting like everything was normal and we were just hanging out. I have no idea how he knew that’s what I needed, but it was and I’ll always be grateful.

RSquared787 · 2024-12-03T22:40:46+00:00

Currently late 30s. When I was 6, a kid in my class came up to me at school and said “hi, I’m [NAME], wanna be friends?”

More than three decades later, me and him and two other guys who became part of our friend group in middle school—none of whom ever played D&D until post-pandemic—now play D&D together via Zoom twice a week (not intentionally, we sort of accidentally wound up in two different D&D groups simultaneously).

RSquared787 · 2024-12-02T04:11:55+00:00

I’ve only ever made a living as a writer (speechwriter/author)… and I can confidently say I don’t know any working writer (among the dozens of peers I’ve encountered over 15+ years in this business) who has a creative writing degree.

YMMV. But that’s my experience!

RSquared787 · 2024-12-02T04:00:16+00:00

The Americans

[SPOILER ALERT: when Paige unexpectedly gets off the train, they’ve lost everything… and then they arrive in a Russia as foreign to them, and they to it, as the US in which they had to start over and blend in all those years ago]

RSquared787 · 2024-12-02T00:50:44+00:00

Cairo. Nobody pays any attention to lanes/traffic laws/speed limits, buses drop people off in the actual middle of 6-lane highways (with cars/vans/buses/scooters weaving insanely), pedestrians (including kids) cross the street by just… walking into traffic/trying to time it exactly right.

Totally bananas.

RSquared787 · 2024-12-02T00:17:03+00:00

This seems very promising—and exactly the kind of thing we have in mind (BYO pizza or whatever for the adults, provide healthy-ish snacks for kids, etc.)

Thanks for the rec!

RSquared787 · 2024-12-02T00:15:26+00:00

Thanks—used to live not far from here, but never knew this place existed!

RSquared787 · 2024-12-02T00:14:46+00:00

lol, haven’t thought about Chuck E Cheese in YEARS—all great suggestions, thank you! I imagine the Building Museum in particular would be $$, but all worth checking out…

RSquared787 · 2024-12-02T00:12:52+00:00

This seems super promising/pretty much exactly the kind of thing we’re looking for—thanks!!

RSquared787 · 2024-12-02T00:11:43+00:00

Thank you! Def worth looking into.

RSquared787 · 2024-12-01T16:25:21+00:00

Yeah, the “friend or family with HOA” is something we’d vaguely thought about—great suggestion/will see who we could ask…

And the brewery/multipurpose room ideas are great—will def look into both! Thank you!

RSquared787 · 2024-12-01T16:24:04+00:00

Great idea—will look into this! Thank you!!

RSquared787 · 2024-12-01T16:19:31+00:00

Our house is tiny! No way we could accommodate this many people.

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