Real Estate: Don't believe everything you read

Much of what you see in a listing is pretty straightforward and easy to check when you visit the property. For example, it's not hard to count the number of bedrooms and baths, measure room sizes and see what kind of HVAC system a house has. But even here, a listing might not be entirely accurate. A house with three bedrooms is more valuable than one with two. And many buyers won't even look at a house unless it has at least three bedrooms. As a result, homeowners and agents often stretch the definition of what constitutes a bedroom. Is that room down in the corner of a basement really a bedroom? The mere presence of a bed may not make it so. To legitimately be a bedroom, it must have a means of egress (and that doesn't necessarily mean a basement window well), it must have a closet, and you can't walk through one bedroom to get to another bedroom. A buyer may decide to use a room as a bedroom regardless of the rules. But when they eventually go to sell the house, they may find that they bought a two bedroom house, not a three bedroom house, and their resale value has been diminished.

Beyond something as simple as counting bedrooms, there are many other areas where a home's value can be significantly altered by inaccurate listing information or issues that could be unknown to the owner and their agent. This is especially true when you come to houses on or around the water. Many buyers have been dismayed by the promise of a water view. As we all know, a glimpse of the water can add big bucks to the sales price of a house. Yet "water view" is often one of the most abused parts of a listing. It may say water view in the listing, and there might even be a lovely picture of boats on the bay. But then you get to the property and find that you can only see the water from the third floor bathroom, and that spectacular picture was taken by someone who leaned out the window with a telephoto lens. Nevertheless, a visit to the house allows the buyer to assess the situation, and they can decide for themselves the value of what water view is present.

Other than the view, there are many less obvious issues that can be associated with water-oriented properties. Not all of them can be evaluated with visual inspection, and some can drastically affect what you can do with the property. Around these parts, we have numerous laws, rules and regulations governing what's called "Critical Areas." Paragraph 43 of the Maryland Association of Realtors Contract of Sale talks about this. In part, it says, "Buyer is advised that all or a portion of the property may be located in the Critical Area of the Chesapeake and Atlantic Costal Bays, and that additional zoning, land use and resource protection regulations apply in this area. The Critical Area generally consists of all land and water areas within 1,000 feet beyond the landward boundaries of state or private wetlands, the Chesapeake Bay, the Atlantic Costal Bays and all of their tidal tributaries to the head of tide."

Many homeowners, and some agents, may think a property isn't in the Critical Area, but that often isn't true. You may be surprised to find out that a whopping 60% of all the properties in Anne Arundel County fall within the Critical Area. And it's not as easy as just walking off 1,000 feet from the water to determine if Critical Area rules will apply. First, you need to know where to start walking from. If there's a steep slope between the property line and the water, there are some very complicated formulas used to account for how much of that slope is in the 1,000 feet. Second, similarly intricate formulas are also used if the property doesn't run parallel to the water. And third, if any portion of a property is in the Critical Area, no matter how small, ALL of that property is subject to Critical Area rules.

You can find maps online that show where the general boundaries of Critical Areas lie. For Anne Arundel County, go to www.AACounty.org/PlanZone/CriticalAreas/index.cfm. However, if you're considering a specific piece of property, it's best to have an architect and/or title company help you more accurately determine where the Critical Area lines are drawn and how it could affect what you do with the property. Don't rely on what the agent tells you or even what the homeowner thinks. By talking to an architect or title company up-front, it will help you better formulate what the property might be worth and perhaps save you the unpleasant need to talk to a lawyer after the sale.

The presence or impact of Critical Areas is just one of many important buying considerations that might not be fully disclosed in a listing. There can be many other issues lurking in the history of how a property, and the laws controlling its use, has changed over time. If you're buying a townhouse in some large development, there probably isn't much to worry about. But if it's an older piece of property, or something around the water, modifications to the deed may have taken place that the current owner might not even be aware of. Again, going back to the waterfront, a homeowner may think they have rights to use a pier, or riparian rights (exclusive use of the water front), only to find out in a title search that a previous owner sold those rights to a neighbor years ago. Such changes to a deed can have a tremendous impact on the value of a property.

Further inland, you could also find yourself running into things like forest conservation easements or agriculturally assessed property. These are also property conditions that might not be readily visible in a listing or property disclosure. So look before you leap, and remember that despite all due diligence, the seller and their agent might not know what they don't know. Get with the right professionals and make sure you know what you're buying.

Bob and Donna McWilliams are practicing real estate agents with more than 20 years of combined experience in the Annapolis area. Their Web site is