Sometimes people believe that what they discuss in Facebook groups doesn’t go any further. The other day some
neighbors were discussing their plans to buy or sell houses in the neighborhood.
None of them gave addresses but I was able to follow the conversation and use a property database to look up their addresses in seconds.
I don’t mean any harm it was kind of like a game. I challenged myself to find them all quickly.
There must have been some expectation of privacy because no one was publishing an address on Facebook but were offering to share it with individuals via direct message.
As a homeowner myself, I can’t see any advantage in selling the house to neighbors or friends of neighbors. Not during such a strong seller’s market. I don’t see any advantage in offering it to a small group of people on Facebook either.
Potential home buyers were giving away a lot of personal information including pictures of their children.
Sometimes people share a lot of details about their home buying and selling experiences on Facebook and in doing so they unknowingly give information that other parties can use to their advantage.
When you are sharing information on social media especially in neighborhood groups just know that it isn’t confidential.
We have also seen situations where potential buyers have made negative remarks about a home on Facebook and the sellers have seen it.
Also, see Social media dos and don’ts for home buyers and sellers
