Have you ever been showing a house and you bring the buyer up to the door, the buyer starts talking about the property and they’re saying something bad about the property or talking about their negotiation strategy or how much they can afford, then you look down and right there on the doorbell there’s a camera?
I have run into this situation many times. You can hardly show a house nowadays without expecting to be on camera, and that could be a real issue for the buyer if they disclose information that they shouldn’t disclose. So, when I take a buyer into a property, I always recommend that they pay attention. See what they like, see what they don’t like, but save some of their commentary for later so we can discuss it off property. Because even if you can’t see the cameras, you just have to assume all the time if you’re on someone else’s property that there might be cameras recording what you do.
And so, it’s important for you as a buyer, when you’re going into a seller property and you want to protect your negotiating position, that you guard your personal information. Such as how much you can afford, your timeline for buying, and any other things about your life that are causing you to have to buy faster or slower. Judge the property on its merits, but maybe take notes on paper so that you can go talk about them off property, so that when you do decide to make a move your information is yours, private, and you can use that for a better negotiating position when you do go to buy. Every home in the modern day probably does have someone watching and someone listening, so watch out for yourself.