Can real estate agents make prospective home buyers give their contact details on Open Days?

Real estate agents regularly have a ‘sign up’ sheet to record the details of visitors to an open home by name or description. Every sign up sheet, under principle 3 of the Privacy Act, is required to have a statement setting out why the information is being collected, who is going to see the information, who is going to hold the information, as well as a statement outlining the rights of access and correction.

The purpose for collecting this information needs to be made clear at the point of entry – visitors not wanting to record their details can then opt not to enter. If you do not want to provide your details, the real estate agent supervising the open home can prevent you from entering the property, if it’s one of the conditions of listing set by the agency or owner.

Common purposes for collecting information like this are security (to provide the details to Police in case of theft or other crime) and marketing (by contacting people after the open home). If you are a real estate agent, you might want to create a privacy statement by using our Privacy Statement Generator tool.

An ‘opt out’ tick box for marketing should be included so that people providing their details can choose whether they want to be contacted or not.

Real estate agents need to protect the personal information they collect. Prospective homebuyers may be concerned that having their contact information recorded on a sheet means that people can see each other's information. One option is to use separate forms which can be placed in a folder or box.

Updated November 2025