Recently, RECA (Real Estate Council of Alberta) released to guidelines for the Real Estate industry to be used when measuring properties. It is called the Residential Measurement Standard or RMS for short. In my opinion, it’s been a long time coming.

In the Past

I know for a fact that many Realtors® in the past did not physically measure properties. The most common practice was to call the City to find out what the size was registered as. While this was generally fairly accurate, it was not without issues. I’ve seen quite a few properties listed as 2000+ sqft stating that the measurement came from the City. However, when walking the property, I knew right away it wasn’t. The most common cause is the builder registers the size the home is going to be then makes changes when actually building the home. If they do not correct the size with the city, then obviously the number is no longer correct.

The really lazy people would just take pull up the old listing if there was one and assume that the previous Realtor® had done their due diligence. I don’t think I need to really explain why that isn’t the best idea.

So What Now?

RECA’s goal is to create a consistent, accurate measurement guideline that everyone adheres. Every Realtor® must physically measure each property using the RMS, or pay a professional measurement company to do so. Basically, what it boils down to is we will have a consistent way that every professional measures every property.

What Does this Mean for You?

For the most part this should not affect the consumer much. The one area I could see some issues is when properties that were initially misrepresented are being re-sold. If you bought a house that was listed as 2210 sqft, but upon measuring with the RMS it is found to be 2153 sqft, obviously the home has to be listed as 2153 sqft. You are essentially losing out on 57 sqft (although you never really had it in the first place).

It’s important that when choosing a Realtor® to represent you, you make sure that they adhere to the RMS.

The goal is accurate, consistent information, which I think we can agree will benefit everyone in the end.

If you have any questions about the new RMS, feel free to contact me.