The walls have ears.
Your grandmother told you that. What she didn’t mention is that these days the ears are made by Amazon, the walls come with a companion app, and the whole house can send the vendor a push notification while they’re at brunch.
A new LendingTree survey out of the US just put numbers on what those walls are hearing – and what sellers are doing with it.
56% of recent sellers kept recording devices active during open homes. Not nanny cams hidden in teddy bears – Ring doorbells, security systems, the camera in the corner of the living room that was just… left on.
To be fair, most of them weren’t playing spy. The top reasons sellers gave were exactly what you’d expect – keeping an eye on a vacant property, protecting valuables. Cameras are part of the furniture now, and nobody rips out their security system just because the house is on the market.
But here’s where the survey gets properly interesting: buyers already know. 72% of recent buyers said they saw or suspected recording devices during a tour.
And a meaningful slice of sellers have worked out what else the footage is good for.
Among those who kept the cameras rolling:
- 18% admitted they used the recordings to gather negotiating intelligence.
- Another 18% watched to gauge how keen buyers seemed, and 19% reviewed the footage to learn what buyers liked or didn’t.
- 45% of those sellers said what they saw or heard directly influenced negotiations.
- 43% said it changed their staging or repair decisions.
- 35% said it affected their pricing.
Buyers are already adapting
The survey also found 22% of buyers deliberately avoided discussing budget or offer strategy during tours. The same number hid their excitement. 19% walked out of an open home because of recording devices, and 18% decided not to offer at all.
And this is the stat every vendor needs to hear: 34% of respondents said knowing a home had active recording equipment would make them less likely to make an offer.
Think about that for a second, because it’s all in the same dataset: sellers using cameras to gain leverage, and buyers – knowing it – walking out the door, offer unmade.
Yes, it’s US data. But how many doorbell cameras did you pass on your street this morning? The hardware is here, the habit is here – so why would the outcome be any different?
If you’re a buyer’s agent
The briefing before the first inspection is now simple: assume your clients can be heard from the moment they get out of the car until they’re back in it and around the corner.
No talking about pre-approval amounts. No guessing what the bank valuation might come in at. No “we have to have it.” No relocation deadlines.
All of it waits for the car.
If you’re the listing agent
Let’s be clear about what this isn’t: nobody should be telling vendors to rip out their security. Most cameras are there for exactly the reasons you’d hope, and that’s fine.
The real questions are disclosure, and what happens to the footage.
Disclosure first. In the US survey, about seven in ten buyers got advance warning that devices were present. Here, that’s more than a courtesy. Every Australian state and territory has its own surveillance devices legislation, and audio is where it gets sharp – in several states, recording a private conversation you’re not a party to is against the law, doorbell or no doorbell. Which turns “should we mention the cameras?” from an etiquette question into a compliance one. A line on the listing, a mention at the door, a sign at the open home – it’s cheap insurance, and it’s the transparent thing to do anyway.
And then there’s the question someone will ask at your next sales meeting: “Hang on – can we get the audio of the footage? Surely it’d help the negotiation.”
Tempting. It’s also exactly what those 18% of American sellers were doing. Before anyone goes there: depending on your state, that recording – especially the audio – may not have been legal to make, let alone review and act on. And remember the other side of the ledger. A third of buyers say active recording makes them less likely to offer at all, so footage that tells you one buyer’s ceiling isn’t worth much if the next three never walk in. If a vendor offers to hand you intelligence, the first question isn’t “what did they say?” – it’s “are we allowed to have this?”
Get proper advice, know your state, and sort it out in the listing presentation rather than mid-campaign.
And now the bit nobody wants to say out loud
Those cameras don’t just record the buyers.
They record you, the agent.
Every hallway aside. Every “look, between us, I think there’s movement on price.” Every moment where what was said at the open on Saturday doesn’t quite match what lands in the vendor report on Monday.
Because if vendors are reviewing footage to read buyer body language, they’re also watching their agent work. If the report says three strong parties and genuine interest, and the footage shows two people who left after six minutes and one who asked about the flight path… that’s not a reporting problem. That’s about to become a trust problem.
Here’s the reframe, though – and it’s genuinely good news for most agents. If your vendor reports already reflect what actually happened, the cameras are working for you.
Every recording becomes independent verification that you said the same thing to the buyers, the vendor, and the market. In an industry that runs on trust, that’s not a threat. That’s an audit you pass by default.
The takeaways:
- Brief your buyers before the first inspection. Assume everything is live from kerb to kerb. Strategy talk happens in the car.
- Have the camera conversation with every vendor – early. Not to talk them out of security, but to sort out disclosure, the legals, and whether the footage is something you can even touch.
- Know your state’s rules on audio before anyone hits play. Video of your own home is one thing; recorded private conversations are another.
- Write every vendor report as if it will be checked against the tape. Because now, sometimes, it will be.