Social Media could kill your home purchase or sale
How Social Meda Killed the Deal- Negotiation Killers in the Social Media Age
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn- everywhere we go people seem to be tweeting, facebooking or posting status updates on some kind of online group or social network. Unfortunately, many of these seemingly innocuous updates could cost you as home buyer or seller thousands (or hundreds of thousands) of dollars, if not an entire deal.
Recently I have seen updates similar to these on social networks I participate on:
From a Home Buyer
From a Home Seller
“Looks like we are getting an offer on our house this afternoon. About time.”
From a Seller’s Real Estate Agent
“Sitting at an open house AGAIN. This listing is totally over priced.”
From a Buyer’s Real Estate Agent
“Writing a counter offer for a client. Hope they get it. We have written 5 offers and they have to move next month!”
You can probably see how all of these different scenarios could impact how negotiations happen if the other party (or their agent) happens to see your message. Do the updates make you appear desperate, motivated, anxious? As a buyer or seller, your social status updates can have serious and significant ramifications in your home sale or purchase. Your words in online forums can and will be used against you when you negotiate on a home purchase if you have a savvy and aware negotiator on the other side. The key in negotiations is knowing the motivations of the other party. Social status updates of both you and/or your real estate can inadvertently provide information to the other party that could be costly.
Case Study
Consider Jane (name changed for privacy sake). Jane had been looking for a new home in the lovely town of Mill Valley for eight months. We looked at home after home until one day, we found the perfect home. The right number of bedrooms, a lovely back yard with a swingset, even a basement area- perfect for games, television and play. She was so excited about the home, she ran home to tell her husband. She also posted an update on her Facebook account about finally finding her dream home in the xxxx neighborhood. Unfortunately, this neighborhood was highly coveted and one of her Facebook “friends” happened to have another very close friend (we’ll call her Buyer 2) looking to move to the same neighborhood. This so called friend notified Buyer 2 about the house and at the end of the day, that second buyer, Buyer 2, was the one who walked away with keys in her hand. Buyer 2′s agent was not aware of the home even being on the market until the Facebook post by Jane was shared.
While in the world of transparency and social networking it might be tempting to talk about the ups and downs in your home sale or purchase, it might pay to keep quiet until the transaction is closed.
“Have to vacuum and clean up the kids toys AGAIN. So tired of showing this house, I hope we sell it soon.”
While we like to think we have some sort of privacy in online forums, our social networks may not be as tight as we deem them to be. This same situation applies to our offline activities and interactions as well, but social networks magnify your message, however unintentional it might be. Use your words cautiously as you make a move- it is possible it could have a significant impact on your bottom line and the success of your real estate transaction.
P.S. Before you hire your real estate agent, you may want to look and see what they are posting on Facebook, Twitter, etc. Do they talk about their clients and transactions? Even “generic” complaints or comments can harm a transaction. Sure, they didn’t post the client’s name or address, but hey, they only had one listing! Which listing do you think they might be talking about? Yours? Make sure their words in online forums don’t cost you too!
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Jim Duncan
Both of the cited agent statements are most likely violations of agency as well, at least in Virginia.
Why is confidentiality so hard to understand?
Comments like those above are beyond transparency; they’re signs of stupidity … Social networks or not.
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Ginger Wilcox
Jim, I couldn’t agree more. Sadly, this is something I see on an almost daily basis. The casual nature of conversation in venues like Facebook makes common sense fly out the window. They are violations in California as well.
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Monika
I see those types of updates/tweets all the time… makes me cringe! Some serious issues & violations happening all over cyberspace.
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Kelley Skar
Great Post Ginger! It happens all too often especially in todays market with lots to choose from and a longer days on market listing time.
This is an issue I think a lot of sellers and buyers never really think about, that they could potentially lose a sale or a purchase of a dream home by opening their mouths on Social Networking sites and not realizing the echo effect those sites have.
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Jim Sparrow
Good timing Ginger – it seems there are many naive buyers & REALTORs on the loose these days! I wonder how many of them actually stop to think there are literally 1,000′s of eyeballs reading their tweets ……
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Dennis
Great article! Its funny how common sense isn’t always so common. And on the other side of the coin I think the Social Channels are a super way to position an offer in the buyer or sellers favor. Of course you need to be very “strategic” in regards to the messages that get sent out. For sellers and or Realtors announcing when an offer is coming in on a property through Twitter, Facebook etc.. may help to generate other offers and or interest. For buyers its also a way to voice concern on pricing, market conditions, work that will be required to make the property work etc.. and best of all I think its a great promotional tool for Realtors and or their clients to celebrate a completed Sale or Purchase.
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Monika- Thanks, it is cringe worthy!
Kelley- You are right on- many people are unaware of the reach of their comments.
Jim- True, and even if only one or two people see the message, it could still hurt the negotiations in the end or as Jim Duncan pointed out, be a violation of the agent’s fiduciary or agency if an agent made the commentary.
Dennis- Excellent points. The tools can be strategically used. The problem is with the unaware who just don’t understand the possible implications of their “casual” conversation in online forums. -
Les
Good advice, Realtors should always watch what they say, and advise their clients to do the same.
Especially when they are using social media!
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Jeffrey Douglass
Ginger, Congratulations on #1 place Carnival of Real Estate #170 hosted by Zillow.
My personal policy has always been to never mention either buyer or seller during the course of a transaction. Rarely do I even mention something after close of escrow, and if I do it is pretty vague and with the permission of the Client.
While tempting to tweet out just closed, just offered, etc., I can’t see any compelling reason as a professional to possibly breach ethics or put your Clients in a weak position.
The agent that tweeted that the listing was overpriced if working for the listing broker is in clear violation of their fiduciary to the Client.
Thank you for the excellent article, good for us all to think before posting something to the world.
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Carnival of Real Estate #179
[...] 1st Place goes to Ginger Wilcox and her SF North blog for “Social Media Could Kill Your Home Purchase or Sale” [...]
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October Carnival of Real Estate (#179) posted! - Carnival of Real EstateCarnival of Real Estate
[...] 1st Place goes to Ginger Wilcox and her SF North blog for “Social Media Could Kill Your Home Purchase or Sale”. [...]
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Lizblogsla.com · Social Media and House Hunting/Selling
[...] Social Media could kill your home purchase or sale By Ginger Wilcox [...]
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Carmen Brodeur
LOL I see posts like that all the time. What are these agents thinking? They are giving all agents a bad reputation.
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Rachel Vanderveen
I totally agree that agents need to be extremely careful with confidentiality! Having a blog that is pretty candid, myself, this article will certainly be a sharp reminder of the pitfalls of “over-sharing!”
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Jacqueline McKinnon
It’s not surprising that there are pitfalls for novice users of social networking, but it’s unfortunate that people can have something as important as their new home sale or purchase impacted by a single comment.
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[...] not quite the point of this post from a San Francisco based real estate blog, Blog by the Bay, but you get the idea: Do the updates [...]
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