15' x 12,' Not 12' x 15'

Home Measurements &
Real Estate Conventions

Real estate marketing is all about "putting your best foot forward": accentuating (but not lying) about a home's strengths, while defusing any negatives (one of the best ways: tackle them head on, to get them out of the way).

That applies to a home's measurements, too.

So, Realtors will typically list a room as 15' x 12' -- not 12' x 15.'

It's the same room, either way, but leading with the bigger number has a subtle, psychological effect.

What's the exception to that?

Lot sizes.

Convention (or at least mine) is to list a lot's width first -- so it's 40' by 120', not 120' by 40'.

That's because you can see the width -- but not the depth -- from the street.

If the lot's especially deep, I emphasize that in the MLS "remarks" fields ("Agent" and "Public"), marketing supplement, etc.

Not all .5 Acres Created Equal

Similar Lots . . . Dissimilar Feel

Anyone who knows real estate knows that not all 3,000 square foot homes seem like they're the same size.

Due to floor plan, size and number of windows, ceiling height and other variables, some homes this size feel absolutely huge. Others have you scratching your head to see if the square footage can possibly be right.

The same variability is true of lots, too.

I just finished previewing a rambler sitting on a .5 acre lot for a client looking for a nice piece of land -- and in particular, a big back yard.

Notwithstanding the huge lot size, this home didn't have it.

Long and rectangular to begin with, the lot's narrow feel is accentuated by the (long and narrow) rambler's location in the center, back of the lot.

As a result, most of the acreage is on the front and sides, cut up into smaller pieces that seem to diminish the lot's overall size as well.

Multiplication-Challenged Realtors?

Real Estate Pet Peeves

Acres: 0
Lot Size: 132' x 120'

It's admittedly a pretty fussy pet peeve, but here goes: if you're selling a home on an unremarkable, 40' x 120' city lot, I don't really care or need to know that that's .110 acres (some Realtors tell you, anyways).

However, if you're selling a home on a huge, 132' x 120' lot -- literally triple the standard city lot -- how about actually telling someone that that's .36 acre??!!

The "O acre, 132' x 120'" (above) appears verbatim in a listing for a Hopkins home that just came on MLS tonight.

Giving the acreage (if it's meaningful) is important information for prospective Buyers.

It also is important to Sellers -- because it makes their home more valuable.

For anyone who doesn't know the math, here it is:

1. Multiply width x length
2. Divide product by 43,560'

Next: trigonometry lessons for especially challenging lot sizes.