Surprise! You’re on Candid Micro-Camera

You just got done touring the perfect home. Now you are standing in the kitchen talking with your realtor. You talked about how much you love it and when you need to move and what your loan officer approved you to purchase.  This is all innocent enough, right? Surprise! You’re on candid micro-camera and you just gave up your ability to negotiate.

A hidden micro-camera in the house filmed your conversation. That micro-camera, connected to WIFI just shared it all. That candid micro-camera just shared every single tidbit of your information with the home sellers.

Micro-Cameras Are Everywhere 

In this day and age of micro-cameras, it is your best interest to wait till you are out of the seller’s property to talk about things that will affect your negotiation. When you tour a home please watch how excited or critical you are and please do not ever share your motivation. You might accidentally cause yourself to pay more for the home if you choose to put in an offer.

Surprise! Think this can not happen, please think again. 

All it takes is one micro nanny camera hidden in a teddy bear in the home you are touring.

Why a Micro Candid Camera?

Don’t discuss your terms while in a house you might want to buy.  Wait until you leave. It sounds strange and many clients ask why they should not discuss their situation while touring the home.

So let’s just play this out. You’re standing in a house you really really like, it is perfect. This might very well be your new home.  You think you want to put in an offer on it and your mind starts going over the date you would like to close.

Micro-Cameras Catch You Thinking Out Loud

You start to think about the move and the timing with your work. Thoughts come up about putting in your notice for time off and putting in notice with your landlord or even selling your current home. You are running over variables in your mind and want to discuss it. This is all common, you should want to talk about it with your Realtor and family and significant other.

Now let’s pretend there’s a hidden micro-camera in that kitchen and you just told all of that important information to the seller.  It’s amazing we don’t think about hidden cameras being in sellers’ homes.  Yet it’s perfectly legal for a seller to put a camera up in their home and record what’s going on there. It is their home.

Home Sellers Want To Know

Can you really blame them for wanting to record the multiple different realtors traipsing through their house with multiple different buyers, who they’ve never met?

Happily, I can share I’ve never run into a situation where anything has ever been stolen out of a home.  Most Realtors are honest people and they stay with their clients while they’re in the home. So we have not had problems in this area.  

However, with all the civil unrest and everything that’s going on, we are starting to hear stories of more people popping up with micro-cameras.

Candid Cameras Are Nothing New

But the accessability of micro Cameras has increased greatly since the surprise video program was on Television. Today you are on video far more than you know. It has been a good idea for years now but these days especially don’t discuss your terms while you’re in the house. I highly recommend to all of my clients to wait to discuss terms and confidential information until we leave the seller’s home.

Information Has Value

So when you start getting into terms, such as how much you can afford when you want to close, whether or not you’re furniture will fit, etc… These are all hardcore buying signs. If you’re standing in the middle of the living room sharing all this in front of a candid camera… Surprise! You just told the sellers everything.

If you start going into why this is absolutely the house you are going to buy and none of the others will work, they know they have you. When you told them you were actually approved for $40,000 more than you want to offer,  you just did yourself in. You will now not be able to negotiate as hard as you would like to under normal circumstances.

They know you can afford to pay full price because you told them.

Candid Talk Can Cost You

Now the home sellers will not be inclined to accept your offer that’s under their asking price.  You and your Realtor can and should discuss a reasonable offer after you leave. You can also discuss what you saw on their property telling you the seller’s motivation for selling and why they are moving. Remember Information has value for both a homebuyer and for the homeseller.

Don’t Let A Micro-Camera Surprise Turn Macro

Keep your confidential information confidential. Wait to discuss important details until you are in private with the people who need to know now. Make sure that you are not giving away information when you’re touring homes for sale. Candid cameras do exist in homes, don’t get surprised. Be aware and keep your negotiating strength.

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