Skip to content
×
PRO
Pro Members Get Full Access!
Get off the sidelines and take action in real estate investing with BiggerPockets Pro. Our comprehensive suite of tools and resources minimize mistakes, support informed decisions, and propel you to success.
Advanced networking features
Market and Deal Finder tools
Property analysis calculators
Landlord Command Center
$0
TODAY
$69.00/month when billed monthly.
$32.50/month when billed annually.
7 day free trial. Cancel anytime
Already a Pro Member? Sign in here
Pick markets, find deals, analyze and manage properties. Try BiggerPockets PRO.
x

Posted over 14 years ago

Safety and Privacy During a Plano Home Showing

2222 Is your private information safe? Before a Plano home goes on the market and home buyers begin to come through the door, smart sellers will put away confidential and sensitive information. You might be astonished to learn what “home buyers” can learn about you as they are looking at your home.

 

 Your Private Documents·         Some potential home buyers will open your drawers and cabinets.
Buyers can innocently, or on purpose, pull open a drawer or cabinet to inspect its construction, or size and come across important personal documents that you might not intend for anyone to see. 
·         Don't leave mail sitting out where a potential buyer can find it.
Many sellers leave piles of opened mail stacked on their kitchen counter.  A potential buyer could find out how much you owe on your mortgage or how much money you have in the bank and other information you may not want them to know.  These sellers must believe that buyers, and their agent, will not read their personal mail, even when that mail is taped to the front of the refrigerator door.
Remove Photos and Diplomas from your Walls
Notwithstanding that all personal items should be removed before the home is shown in the first place, sometimes sellers leave diplomas on the wall. People may form biases and can carry a bias a little too far. As an example, the seller might be a lawyer, and there are buyers who might not feel comfortable buying a home from a lawyer. For whatever reason.  Wedding photos may give away the seller's religion or the fact that it is a mixed race marriage, as will certain religious artifacts left in the home. Sometime buyers can be prejudiced. Don't give buyers a way to form any opinion about you at all. It serves no purpose to let buyers form ideas, opinions and prejudice about you from the type of music you like or the type of books that you read.
The Contents of your Closets
Many time sellers who are separating or getting divorced feel pressure to sell their home quickly, especially if the partner who remains in the home cannot afford to stay in it. But that is not information sellers will want to share with potential buyers. Yet they do so by making simple mistakes like these. They may as well toss their wallet out the car window going down the highway for just anyone to find.  Don't leave any telltale clues around that could give away your motivation to sell. Before you put your Plano homes for sale on the market, get the home ready to show making it safe and secure by empting out your drawers, cabinets and closets and pack up all of your personal items away. If your house speaks to a buyer about you, it's probably saying the wrong thing.  I have seen Dallas foreclosures properties for sale that had many embarrassing items in the property that had once belonged to the owner.  So before your home shows as a make sure your safety and privacy are protected.
 

Comments