How TikTok may change property searches for some millennial and gen-alpha homeowners

In March 2021, real-estate agent Rochelle Atlas Maize was tasked to sell a 6,300-sqft house in Santa Monica, California for US$5.3m (S$7.2 million).

She decided to put it up on TikTok and within two weeks, sold it for US$5.1m.

The house itself is a dream - six bedrooms, nine bathrooms, Spanish contemporary-designed - with a double-storey waterslide that curved from the garage roof deck to the swimming pool.

It included a basement with a recording studio, art studio and movie room with a projector screen.

What Maize did was to make the house available as a free location for TikTok influencers to create social media content, with the condition that they use the specific hashtag #hypehousewest.

After some light renovations and repainting to make the house hippier and appealing to a younger crowd, Maize opened the house for different social media influencers to book time slots to film at the property.

She chose thirty influencers based on their follower base, subject to them agreeing to sign a release form.

Influencers like SM6 Band, a family pop-rock band with 2.6 million followers and Hillary Zinks (492k followers) danced (/twerked) and posed by notable features around the house, like the spiral staircase, pool and gym.

@sm6band

Our cartoon/celebrity look-alike‘s pt. We’re never gonna stop making these @rochellemaizeluxury #hypehousewest #sm6band

♬ Imma Be - The Black Eyed Peas

Here's Hillary Zinks' TikTok effort by the pool, with the waterslide as the backdrop. Zink then did a few TikTok segments within the interior of the house.

@hillary.zinks

If you're in the LA area, come film here before it's too late. @rochellemaizeluxury @danielsaywhatt #hypehousewest #vesta #hypehouse #FreeFreeDance

♬ Body - Megan Thee Stallion

The eventual buyers? A young couple who aren't influencers, but saw the ad on social media and wanted to create social media content of their own.

The trend of using influencers to sell something against a beautiful backdrop like an expensive house isn't new in the US.

It's similar to the concept behind "TikTok mansions" or collab houses - where ad agencies rent bungalows for their influencers to live in and create content for their brand clients.

What's new is Maize adapting to this trend. By putting her client's property for sale on TikTok, and engaging influencers to sell it for her, she's changing the way how agents are traditionally selling properties, at least in the US.

READ ALSO: Life after TikTok: How Indian influencers survived after Chinese apps were banned

Formula to selling a house on TikTok

Unlike traditional printed ads, YouTube videos or social sites like Facebook and Instagram, the working formula with selling a house (or at least generating buzz) to a younger audience via TikTok is usually a hit or miss affair.

For example, you may think you're putting a lot of effort into a particular video that you believe may go viral, but in the end, it's that quirky barn-door video that got you your views.

More often than not, it boils down to luck, ingenuity and timing.

Through a combined energetic act of dance, comedy or education, and the right soundtrack with floating text cues, a 15-second to three-minute short-form video could go viral really fast overnight, as long as it's done right.

Take Darren Kriz , a Los Angeles-based property agent who was just starting out in the business. While he's been using TikTok videos to promote his properties diligently, he only gained fame when this one went viral (earning him 500k followers):

@dkrizestates

 

♬ Toosie Slide - Drake

Here's another snappy one by Cash Jordan , who's earned over 600k followers since he's gotten on the platform. In an interview, he wished he'd gotten on the platform sooner, estimating that TikTok has doubled his number of clients.

@cash.jordan

Cheap Apartment! #nycapartment #nycapartmentcheck #apartmenttour #nycapartmenthunting #mycrib

♬ original sound - Cash Jordan

Another agent, Tatiana Londono in Westmount, Quebec, Canada, only began to seriously post her property listings on TikTok in November 2020. 

Her sixth post, which is about flipping a townhouse and making $100,000 profit, went viral with 9.4m views to date and garnered her 1.9m followers:

@tatlondono

Million $ flip. #realestatelife #success #realtorlife #realestate #luxuryrealestateagent #home #homeownership #4you #realestateagent #fyp

♬ original sound - Tat Londono Real Estate Coach

In an interview, Londono mentioned how a girl found her videos on TikTok and asked for her help to sell her mum's million-dollar home. "It's not about vanity," she said in the interview, "it's about monetisation and helping people."

More often than not, a successful TikTok video that goes viral has a unique personality, usually uplifted by an energetic (or controversial) host who isn't afraid to be forthcoming and blunt.

Toss in some grandiose or comedic elements, or never-heard-before tips and voila!

House selling via TikTok yet to catch on the same way in Asia

The influence of TikTok on the younger homebuying crowd (or youths who may influence their parents), isn't just popular in North America.

It's caught on somewhat in Asia, including China, Malaysia and Singapore. However, the impact hasn't grown to the extent of converting a sale like what we've been seeing in the US.

In China, property developers like Beijing-based Modern Land (China) were the first few to use TikTok to live-stream their sales pitches to potential buyers during the earlier months of the pandemic.

As showrooms were closed, sales agents had to devise new and interesting ways (like taking on song requests from their virtual audience) to engage with buyers.

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While those early efforts were borne out of necessity due to social distancing from Covid-19, we're not seeing any shortage of agents, including some in Malaysia and Singapore jumping on the bandwagon.

You'll see a few on TikTok - some good, some so-so, while some need improvement.

Most use the platform as an extension to what they already have - like listings on 99.co, YouTube videos, Facebook and Instagram.

What makes TikTok slightly different is that viewers get to see the agent's personality and sense of humour a little more.

The question remains: will we ever see the first penthouse, or even a Good Class Bungalow, being sold from a viral TikTok video?

Unless we can build a TikTok culture similar to what we're seeing happening among agents and their followers in the US and Canada, your guess is as good as ours.

This article was first published in 99.co.