Buyer Strategy
The Three Most Common Showing Mistakes
You walk through a home. You love it. You turn to your spouse: "This is it. We need to move fast." The Ring camera caught everything. The seller knows you're emotionally invested before you've even made an offer.
Over the last decade I've helped hundreds of families from all over the U.S. and the world move here. In that time I've watched the same handful of mistakes cost good buyers the homes they wanted. Today I'm going to share the three biggest ones I see buyers make during a showing or an open house — and exactly how to avoid them.
Mistake One
Cameras Are Everywhere
The home you're touring is almost certainly recording you. Doorbell cameras, indoor cameras, and audio devices are standard now, and many sellers watch the footage. Every reaction, every aside to your partner, every "I love it" is captured — and it shapes how the seller reads you before a single number is on the table.
The way I address this with my clients is simple: we assume we're on camera the entire time, from the driveway to the door and back. We save the real conversation — the excitement, the concerns, the strategy — for the car or a phone call afterward, where it's just us.
Mistake Two
Telling the Listing Agent Too Much
The problem is that you don't know how what you said will be taken, or whether it will be used later when the seller is deciding between you and other offers. What you say can and will be used for the benefit of the seller. That's simply the way agency works.
So we're polite, we're nice — but we stop short of discussing the home. If you like it and you're asked whether you do, a good answer is: "It's very nice. My partner and I will need to talk about it." If the questions persist, just politely say you'll get back to the agent once you've had time to discuss it with your partner.
Mistake Three
Being Too Critical — or Pretending You Don't Like It
This is the old-school sales tactic we've all seen a million times: act unimpressed, pick the place apart, pretend you could take it or leave it. The real mistake is that you think you're negotiating. The reality is that in the first 30 days, you're competing.
Negotiation is dead. Strategy is where buyers win in today's market.
When a home is fresh on the market and other buyers are circling, leverage doesn't come from playing it cool or talking down the property. It comes from understanding that you're in a competition — and positioning yourself to win it. That's a different game, and it's the one I prepare every client to play.
Ready to Get Started?
If you're getting ready to tour homes here, don't walk in without a plan. I work with relocating families across the Gold Coast to build a showing-and-offer strategy that wins the home without giving away your hand. Reach out and let's talk through your search.
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