I'm back!  After a bit of an absence to an abundance of business, I am back and more busy than ever.  If this is a bad market, I hate to see it good again. 

This morning, I showed a house to my neighbor.  The house was incredible but it had A LOT of stuff everywhere.  It wasn't tacky in the least bit but there was decorations on the walls, lots of pictures, and collectibles everywhere.  Naturally, I am suspicious of EVERYTHING and I started thinking...If I were the seller, I could hide cameras and microphones everywhere to record the showings and no one would know.

Surveillance technology has come a long way from the oversized black and white camera found in your local 7-Eleven.  Today, wireless camera systems with DVR's to accompany can be had for less than $500 from your local Costco.  Lots of homeowners are utilizing them to keep tabs on their property, spy on their neighbors, or out of paranoia.  In addition, most cameras and microphone systems can be wireless, have the ability for internet access, and can be hidden in just about anything from stuffed animals to smoke detectors. 

Ever wanted to be a fly on the wall during the showing?  You very well could learn much more than how much the buyers hate the drapes.  Often times, when showing a property, agents will talk specifics about an offer (price, terms, conditions, etc) or the buyer's intent inside the home.  A seller with a mild surveillance system could be monitoring the entire conversation from their laptop or have it stored on their DVR for later viewing.  This would give them a distinct advantage when it came time to negotiate. 

Don't believe me?  When my wife and I sold our real estate business in Maryland before moving here to Charlotte, a client called and asked me to sell their house.  Not knowing what the circumstances of how long we'd be in the state, I referred it to a colleague.  I went on the showing appointment with my colleague so that he knew I wasn't just handing him off.  While walking around his property, I noticed a number of bird houses around the property but didn't think anything of it...until we got back to his living room.  The seller then preceded to share with us about his system and replayed the visit around the property.  In each bird house was a camera and there were cameras hidden in many other places as well. 

The internet has a wealth of resources on buying these type of camera systems.  A good resource is www.smarthome.com, where you can purchase each one of the cameras shown here.  They even sell a 4 camera wireless camera with audio for less than $300. 

So just be forewarned that next house you're looking at could be bugged.

Jonathan Osman
Charlotte NC Homes, Charlotte Real Estate