According to a new research, the temptation to secretly check out prices of homes owned by neighbours, friends or family has increased in times of easy online research.
In the past year, more than 38% of Britons have checked prices of houses owned by someone else online. According to data collected by insurer Direct Line, the secret sneaking around included properties of friends, family and neighbours.
Out of the 19 million Britons who decided to check out someone else’s home, 52% revealed the target of their research to be their neighbour’s house, 38% reviewed their family’s home and 31% had a closer look at property owned by their friends, the survey found.
Furthermore, the research also suggested that a total 0f 10% looked at homes owned by colleagues online.
Another 10% admitted to looking at properties owned by potential new partners, whilst 9% may be slightly more reminiscent when the revealed they checked out homes of ex-partners.
One might think the price might be the sole reason for someone snooping around, however, the research suggested that the motivation behind checking out someone else’s property ranged from simple nosiness to advance fantasy.
The insurer also revealed that a total of 63% of Britons admit to window shopping online for property without any intention of ever buying.
Katie Lomas, head of Direct Line Home Insurance, said: ‘We are a nation of property obsessives with very good reason. Our homes are our castles and becoming a homeowner or even climbing the ladder in the UK is a huge challenge and aspiration for many.”
“Property sites are a source of information and inspiration and browsing these sites has become something of a past-time for millions of people. The flip side of this trend is that those who list on these sites exhibit their homes and belongings to millions of strangers every day.”
Her basic suggestion was that buyers adopt a common-sense approach to any images presented on the web by avoiding any kind of image that shows expensive personal possessions or personal information.
Other reasons why people use property websites include assessing future potential areas of where to live, looking up local prices or daydream about homes they can’t afford.
Daniel Bailey, of mortgage brokers Middleton Finance, said: “We are a nation obsessed with property and with technology at our disposal it is so much easier to keep in touch with the value of our property and those of our neighbours and friends.”
“When a for sale sign appears on our streets we all jump on our laptops to seek the asking price of our neighbours’ property.”
Source: Daily Mail
