{"id":10576,"date":"2024-10-07T10:14:09","date_gmt":"2024-10-07T09:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/?p=10576"},"modified":"2024-10-07T10:14:09","modified_gmt":"2024-10-07T09:14:09","slug":"why-its-a-bad-idea-to-spy-on-property-viewings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/why-its-a-bad-idea-to-spy-on-property-viewings\/","title":{"rendered":"Why It\u2019s a Bad Idea to Spy on Property Viewings"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the past decade, millions of Brits have snapped up home tech gadgets to monitor their kids, cats, dogs and deliveries.<\/span><\/h3>\n

About one in five homes has a doorbell camera, while thousands more have pet CCTV or video baby monitors.<\/p>\n

With all this kit installed, it\u2019s probably no surprise that some people have taken to using it for another purpose.<\/p>\n

An increasing number of property sellers are using home tech to eavesdrop on property viewings.<\/p>\n

Should you do it, too? Here are three reasons why it\u2019s not a good idea.<\/p>\n

A game of bluff<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Some sellers think spying will give them the inside track on a buyer\u2019s motivation and budget.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s no guarantee that what a buyer says when they\u2019re in your home is true.<\/p>\n

Many online forums warn buyers that the owner could be listening in remotely.<\/p>\n

As a result, some people \u2018play to the camera\u2019 and say misleading things during a viewing to try and get the upper hand in negotiations.<\/p>\n

\u2018Real\u2019 feedback<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

You don\u2019t have to resort to spying to find out what buyers really think of your property \u2013 just ask your agent.<\/p>\n

Experienced agents are experts at drawing information from buyers and will always pass constructive comments on to you.<\/p>\n

Remember, agents are working to sell your property, so if there\u2019s a problem that needs addressing, they\u2019ll tell you.<\/p>\n

What they won\u2019t share are any spiteful or insensitive comments that a buyer has made (it sometimes happens) that have no bearing on the sale but could upset you.<\/p>\n

Ethically dubious<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

There are legal and ethical questions about listening to private conversations covertly.<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s not illegal to install a camera in your own home, it\u2019s best practice (and in some cases a legal requirement) to notify people working at a property if you have a smart camera in operation.<\/p>\n

So, at the very least, you should let your estate agent know if you have a smart camera on site.<\/p>\n

But also think about how buyers might feel if they knew you were surreptitiously watching or listening in to them. (How would you feel if the roles were reversed and someone did it to you?)<\/p>\n

Property transactions can be complicated and sometimes emotionally charged. It\u2019s important that all parties \u2013 the buyer, seller and agents \u2013 feel that everyone is acting in good faith.<\/p>\n

For a free property valuation, contact us today.<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the past decade, millions of Brits have snapped up home tech gadgets to monitor their kids, cats, dogs and deliveries. About one in five homes has a doorbell camera, while thousands more have pet CCTV or video baby monitors. With all this kit installed, it\u2019s probably no surprise that some people have taken to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":10577,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,3],"tags":[8,25],"class_list":["post-10576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advice-for-sellers","category-personal-advice-from-our-team","tag-advice","tag-jerry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10576"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10576\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10578,"href":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10576\/revisions\/10578"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}