Published by Michelle on 23 Feb 2011
Social Media Safety…Beware Buyers and Sellers!
We’ve all heard the saying “do as I say, not as I do.” As parents, we are constantly reminding our children of the potential dangers of the internet and to practice safe computing while visiting social media websites. If this is true, then why don’t we take our own medicine?
Our innocent posts and information that we share on social media websites can be used against you and could even place your family in danger. A few examples include:
- “I’m counting down the days to Saturday when we leave on our two week cruise to Alaska. Can’t wait to get out of here!”
- Including your home and/or work address in your profile.
- Posting photos of children with their school’s name visible in the photo.
More specifically, Buyers and Sellers also need to beware of the information they share. Buyers tend to get very excited once they found “the one” and sometimes share too many details of the transaction in a public forum. By doing so, it can compromise their negotiating position by indicating how badly they want to buy the house or even how much they are willling to pay.
For Sellers, it is required by law that you must disclose what you know about the property (via the Seller’s Disclosure). However, public posts that include your opinion of the neighborhood, your impending divorce, or how you would do anything to sell your home so you can move to Florida where it’s warm will compromise your negotiating position.
Human are very curious creatures. I’m guilty of looking up people on social media sites or “Googling” someone’s name to see what I can learn. It’s my responsibility as a Buyer’s Agent or Seller’s Agent to provide all the information that I find to my client so we can make an informed decision. If it’s out there for the world to see, those words can be used against you in the future.
Before you hit “share” the next time you create a post, re-read it to make sure the content is truly for the public to know.
Safe computing everyone!
