Y’all. The one thing I cannot impress upon you enough when you’re buying or selling a home is not putting your house business on social media. If you are the buyer – the seller is going to look you up. Trust us, buyers lookup the sellers too.
Why? Because they want to find out any info they think will give them a leg up on negotiations. Also, general human curiosity gets the better of them. They want to know who will be taking over the house they love. Or, in the buyer’s case, they want to see if you’ve said anything about the place as well.
Let us give you some examples as to why it’s a terrible idea to put your home woes on the internet.
Example #1: A Roof issue
We had some buyers under contract on a house that I knew the home seller from social circles. During inspections, we found out that the roof needed a total replacement. When I asked the seller’s agent about this issue that arose – he came back and told me that they weren’t aware of any roofing issues.
I knew this wasn’t true.
So, I went back through her Facebook page and screenshot all of her posts about the roof leaking. I then sent these screenshots to the listing agent. He was shocked when I showed them to him. However, the seller knew she was wrong. She immediately unfriended me and never spoke to me again. I was ok with that because I protected my client from the FRAUD she was committing. Without her posts, my client may have moved forward, and we didn’t know what else had been lied about.
Example #2: Divorce
I have first-hand experience with divorce. I know it’s not easy. But when it comes to Facebook and divorce – it’s a no go. Leave all the drama off of social media.
We had a buyer who was under contract on a house and looked up the sellers on Facebook. What he found was that the sellers were divorcing, and it was UGLY. They kept bashing each other and talking about just needing to get rid of the house ASAP.
Due to this, my buyer lowballed them on the price and asked for everything during inspections because he knew they just wanted to get rid of it.
And guess what? It worked. He got it all.
Example #3: You’re going to rent the house after you buy it
Most recently, we had a house listed that the buyer was purchasing for his college-age son. The son was going to rent the other rooms. Before we got to the closing table, the owner and I saw that the son had posted on the internet that the house was for rent and gave a move-in date.
Unfortunately for the dad, we weren’t past the inspection period yet. Everything they asked for regarding repairs was a hard no because the seller knew they were already invested in the house.
Example #4: Before we accept an offer
We once had a seller who posted about every single offer we received – including the price and any concessions they included in the contract. She would also comment on what she was willing to accept. Now, her FB page was private. But, as you would assume, people screenshot it and sent it to other friends who were interested in the house. Everyone in her circle knew her bottom line because she put it out there.
Example #5: You mention you’ve lost a lot of homes
If the seller can see your FB page and see that you’ve lost a ton of bidding wars – they may think you’re desperate. And desperate buyers pay more than other people.
How do you avoid these issues?
Scrub your social media before starting the home buying process. You don’t want anyone thinking they have an advantage over you ever. You can still be yourself – just leave the home buying and selling info very private.
If you need someone to discuss it with, call your bestie, contact your agent, or holler at ya mama. But DO NOT tweet it, put it on the gram, or anything else like this!
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