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11 Comments on Aren't We Paranoid With Privacy?
Jon, I haven't had a chance to read Bob's blog yet but I find your perspective interesting. I think that as a society we are more paranoid. I think that too much information and the ease of sharing information has bred that. I'm afraid that this is a trend that will get worse, not better.
Jon: I know that much of what is often said about "privacy concerns" can really sound paranoid. BUT... we live in a different age than we did forty or fifty years ago. Case in point. three days ago a friend asked me to lend him fifty dollars... which I did. He gave me a check to cash... in three days (today) to get my fifty dollars back to me. Well... just to be nice, I went to HIS bank... Bank of America... to cash it. For the ease of doing so, and of course to make sure he had the money to cover it.
Well... all went fine... they had even counted out the fifty dollars. They wrote down my name... my Texas DL number. All still fine. And then... they asked me for my thumb-print. I must admit... I went more than a little nutz on them. I refused. I made some remark about "this is why I don't have an account at Bank of America." They were just about as nasty as could be. They gave me back my check, and out I went. My thumb-print is private. I don't care. It was fifty dollars... not fifty thousand. I don't know if this would qualify me as paranoid... but I DO have a privacy hot-button. Grrr. Now you have it... my two cents. Take care... and thanks for sharing. By the way... please do NOT try and be logical with me about this. I just don't want to hear it !
Kate - I understand the sentiment and I am divided on this myself. It is sort of trying to gain privacy in a glass home when everyone can see you no matter what you do. When there is so much data on the net, there is very little privacy. So, the problem is with taking photos of the bookshelves or the kitchen? Hey, for a small fee I could get the owners naked photos, so what are we talking about?
Karen Anne - I won't. I go "nutz" (like this word) when I am buying a toothbrush and they need my phone number.
BTW, try getting paid back by cash next time. Old style, but lets you sleep better (LOL)
Jon: That's my next move. My friend was trying to make it easy on me by giving me the check when I lent him the money. I'll see him tomorrow... and everything will be fine.
Yeah... buy a toothbrush... "uh... what's your phone number ?" I just want to slap them ! Grrrr.
I think the next time someone asks for private info I don't feel like giving... I will simply ask them for a piece of paper... then quietly and gently write... NOYFB on it... just the initials, not the words, and give it back to them. Then... give them my sweet, crinkly old lady smile... and calmly walk out the door... LOL. Take care...
I don't see much of an issue with inspectors taking photo's of homes during a routine inspection... that's very much the norm here, although perhaps I should add a paragraph (or snippet) to our listing addendum's that speaks specifically to that.
As for taking photo's of homes for out of town clients, or clients viewing properties... I always ask, and rarely object when someone asks me. I counsel sellers to remove everything of value from prying eyes anyway. Expensive antiques, jewelery, guns, etc. should, in my not so humble opinion, be moved out of the house when it goes up for sale. Once it's been 'sterilized' to an extent, folks are welcome to take all the photo's they want... or for more practical matters, they're free to open cabinets, drawers, etc. and the sellers won't have to worry about an expensive bracelet walking off.
Hi Jon ~ Couldn't have said it better myself. I think it's good form to ask the listing agent - if he or she is there - if it's ok to take pictures but aside from that don't have any concerns. We're at a *very* odd place in terms of privacy nowadays - we voluntarily give up our privacy regularly - in the name of convenience, to save a dime or two, or for supposed security - and at the same time get bent out of shape over what to me are often far les invasive examples.
Liz
Jon,
Funny you write this post as I was thinking the same thing when you were taking all those pictures for our customer this weekend. Not because you were taking them, just because of security issues if someone else - perhaps a customer did.
Great to meet you and your wife this weekend.
Karen
Jesse - I think this is a very good point about preparing the house for showing so that the Sellers remove certain things.
Just today I got a call from my out-of-state customer who wanted me to go and take photos of the condo and send it to her. And that's what I did. I called, told the agent that I need to take tons of pictures of every corner, plus to get the floor plan with dimensions plus the info.
I had a few times when agents told me "no photos". I wished them good luck and walked away. The funny part is that now you can even take photos with your phone camera, and it is not easy to detect. I sometimes do it when there is a decorative element in the restaurant, and I do not want to take out a camera and stare in someones direction, but the phone works fine.
Liz - you are right. Information is allover, and we do give it up for conveninece. You can Google anything now. Listing is an attempt to sell the property, and if people are looking for properties on the internet before getting the agent, you may want to have photos on the internet and everywhere.
Karen - to tell you teh truth I did not even think that it could be a problem. Wrong assumption. I still think that it should not be.
There is an oceanfront condo project in Daytona. Given to market to a West Coast company. I had their information on my website. Their broker called me and asked me to remove it, which we did. 3 years later they are going to have an auction to sell off the first batch of their unsold units. They have not sold 47 out of 108. The auction is absolute, so it is quite possible that people would be able to buy for 30 cents on a dollar.
2 similar developments never had a problem with outside brokers and they have sold practically all their units for 70c on a dollar.
I think partially because they did not care that other people had the information about their development on their agent's websites.