An untrustworthy buyer makes selling your home are more stressful process than it needs to be, and nearly half (45%)* of buyers in the UK named ‘Gazundering’ – whereby a buyer lowers their offer at the last minute – as their highest level of concern when buying a home.

To help anyone looking to sell their home and determine whether a buyer is genuine or not, regulated property buyers, GoodMove has worked with body language expert Adrianne Carter, to reveal five top tips to spot an untrustworthy buyer.

Determine if their body language is open or closed

If a person is genuine and open, their body language will reflect this, such as having a relaxed posture, open hand gestures, and natural eye contact. Alternatively, if a person is tense, unsure, and nervous, their body language will show it too. Look out for signs such as tense posture and movements, limited eye contact and if they have their hands in their pockets or their arms crossed to detect an untrustworthy buyer.

Are they are smiling genuinely, or is it fake?

Being able to spot the difference between a genuine smile and a fake smile will also help identify whether a buyer is untrustworthy or genuine. Watch the smiles that the potential buyer shows when talking about your house to see if they’re genuine or not. Look for the following:

A genuine smile: Lip corners turned up, pushes the cheeks up so they are full and the eyes wrinkle
A posed/polite smile: Lip corners go towards the ears and don’t turn up and no movement around the eyes
Trust their body language, not their words

Asking questions to potential buyers and watching for their responses will reveal much about how they really feel about your home. People will often say polite things about your home, but sometimes it’s not how they feel – watching their face and body language will reveal the truth. If the words spoken and the body language don’t match, always trust the body language to identify a genuine or untrustworthy buyer.

Watch their feet…

This may seem a bit random, but make sure you watch the potential buyers’ feet. It’s said that the feet are the most truthful part of the body, and where the feet point the body wants to go. If a potential buyer has been to your home on a few visits but you’re not sure of their intentions, try asking some questions about their plans and then watch their feet. If the feet point towards the door or away from you, they probably are not going to follow through. If the feet point towards you, they are genuine.

Trust your instincts

If your gut is telling you that a buyer seems disingenuous, listen to it! Many people dismiss their gut feeling because they can’t rationally explain it, but what could be happening is your subconscious picking up on clues that your conscious mind hasn’t. Always trust your gut.

Commenting further, Nima Ghasri, Director at GoodMove, says: “An untrustworthy buyer is one of the biggest worries when selling your home and can add so much stress to an already stressful process. Being able to spot if a buyer is being genuine or not will help save you time, effort, and money, and leave time for you to concentrate on people who are only genuinely interested in buying from you.

“Thanks to Adrianne we’ve been able to collate five top tips to help anyone looking to sell their home on what to look out for in a potential buyer. From monitoring their body language to trusting your gut, we hope these tips will help spot an untrustworthy buyer, so you can sell your home fast.”