Jokes, Pop Music and Radical Honesty: How TikTok Is Changing Home Sales

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Jokes, Pop Music and Radical Honesty: How TikTok Is Changing Home Sales

By Ella Ceron | Bloomberg Businessweek | March 26, 2024

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In an effort to court first-time buyers, some real estate agents are trying a new tactic: radical honesty.  Videos sprouting up on social media are relying on pop music, off-color jokes and unconventional commentary (“This kitchen’s turning me on”) to stand out from highly produced walk-throughs that promise seemingly perfect homes. Agents say it’s helping them reach clients where they’re most comfortable. On TikTok alone, 5.3 million posts now carry the hashtag #RealEstate; the platform reports a 40% increase in such posts during the first two months of 2024 compared with the same period in 2023.

Such posts tap into a time-honored tradition of being nosy about how other people live as well as changing behavior when it comes to TikTok, LinkedIn and Meta Platforms Inc.’s Instagram and Facebook. Increasingly, these networks are being used like search engines, and audiovisual media stands out in those queries, says Pinar Yildirim, an associate professor of marketing and economics at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Finding new buyers is critical. Last year, sales of previously owned US homes were the lowest in almost three decades, and a legal settlement by the National Association of Realtors this month may pressure commissions for agents. One in 3 US adults use TikTok, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted last year. Viewers also skew younger—62% of 18- to 29-year-olds use the platform, compared with only 10% of those 65 and older—which makes TikTok a good place to connect with potential first-time homebuyers in particular.

Videos are still at the mercy of algorithms, so there’s no guarantee that an audience that’s served a real estate clip lives in the target market. And the looming fate of ByteDance Ltd.-owned TikTok, which US lawmakers are trying to either ban or force a sale of, only reinforces the desire by agents to use as many platforms as they can to reach leads. Not everyone needs to be a comedian to successfully market their listings. Often, picturesque staging and soothing background music will do the trick.

The sheer amount of content on offer can make it tricky for listings to stand out, especially as more agents take to the platform. In a survey that the National Association of Realtors conducted last October, 15% of 2,600 respondents said they use TikTok as a business tool, up from just 5% in 2021. Over the 12 months prior to the 2023 survey, social media was the No. 1 source of quality leads for 54% of respondents.

3 key takeaways from the article

1. In an effort to court first-time buyers, some real estate agents are trying a new tactic: radical honesty.  Videos sprouting up on social media are relying on pop music, off-color jokes and unconventional commentary (“This kitchen’s turning me on”) to stand out from highly produced walk-throughs that promise seemingly perfect homes. On TikTok alone, 5.3 million posts now carry the hashtag #RealEstate; the platform reports a 40% increase in such posts during the first two months of 2024 compared with the same period in 2023.
2. Finding new buyers is critical. Last year, sales of previously owned US homes were the lowest in almost three decades.
3. Videos are still at the mercy of algorithms, so there’s no guarantee that an audience that’s served a real estate clip lives in the target market. And the looming fate of ByteDance Ltd.-owned TikTok, which US lawmakers are trying to either ban or force a sale of, only reinforces the desire by agents to use as many platforms as they can to reach leads. 

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Topics:  Technology, Real Estate, TikTok