TikTok is awash in video tours of homes described by real estate agents as “stunning … spacious … gorgeous.”

But “farkakte”?

This Yiddish word, which translates roughly to “foul” or “covered in filth,” might seem like a strange way to sell a property. But Stephanie Turk, a New York agent for Compass Real Estate, launched her TikTok account “Farkakte Apartments” because she didn’t like sugarcoating the truth about the properties she was shilling.

Instead, Turk joined a growing league of real estate agents brave enough to be brutally honest during their home tours. And weirdly, homebuyers are loving it.

In Turk’s no-holds-barred home tours, like the one below, she comments on the smell of cigarette smoke in the hallway and the kitchen’s “dirty stove.” She piles on the sarcasm when noting an apartment’s “lovely view” of the BP gas station. And she pokes fun at overpriced fixer-uppers selling for $1.5 million, asking herself, “Why did I leave Miami for this? Because I’m a moron.”

@farkakteapartments This 2 Bed in Bushwick for $3300 overlooks the gas station #winning #fyp #bushwick #brooklyn #nycapartment #nycapartmenttour #apartmenttour #viral #nyc #realtor ♬ original sound – Ultra Luxury Now!

“With me, I can only sell something I really love and if I’m fake, it shows in my face,” Turk explained of her inspiration for Farkakte Apartments in an interview with Forward. “I found that it’s refreshing to people, and they appreciate both honesty and humor.”

@farkakteapartments Did you see the vinyl siding?! Let’s see if they’ll let me film inside. #bushwick #realtoroftiktok #brooklyn #bushwickbrooklyn #nycrealestate ♬ original sound – Ultra Luxury Now!

Turk tells Realtor.com that her unflattering home tours have helped her drum up 48,000 followers.

“The tours have definitely generated a lot of interest from apartment seekers, as it’s a funny and entertaining way of touring the space,” she says. “We all know that many New York City apartments are less than perfect, so we may as well all join in on the take that it is what it is.”

The new type of home tour taking over TikTok

One in three U.S. adults uses TikTok, according to a Pew Research Center survey. And while a potential ban of this Chinese-run site could be wending its way through Congress, Bloomberg reports that 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.”

While many real estate agents still stick to a typically tepid home-tour script—”Here’s the fully modernized kitchen and entertaining-ready dining room”—agents who employ a quirky, less polished approach might gain something far more valuable: a potential client’s trust.

Carlos Lizma, a Texas real estate agent who goes by the handle “Closed By Carlos,” talks to his 34,000+ viewers in the same way your best buddy might banter with you over a beer.

“Your girl don’t want flowers, bro,” Lizma playfully jabs in one video. “She wants a house!”

@closedwithcarlos Ladies don’t settle! #realtor #fyp #hometour #texas #texasrealtor #newhome #sanantonio #viral ♬ redrum – 21 Savage

Doing tours … differently

Jeremy Moore, an agent based in Phoenix and Scottsdale, AZ, has garnered more than 6,600 followers with his dry humor and an apt tagline: “Doing tours … differently.”

In his “A Strange Home Tour” series, Moore zooms in on a property’s most entertaining shortcomings. In one video, he inspects a backyard overlooking a ravine and covered in rocks and sand.

“You can play out here with the soccer ball with your little friend Timmy, until the ball gets punctured or rolls over the side of the sheer cliff 300 feet below,” he quips.

@itwasjeremy #viral #funnyrealtor #arizonacheck #scottsdalearizona #oldhouse #midcenturymodern ♬ 4K – El Alfa & Darell & Noriel

In another post, Moore admits he’s “coming to terms” with the fact that he’s showing off the primary bedroom “even though there’s zero privacy” because of its open, loft-like layout. He also says that the “shining light” for this main bedroom is the “color-matched Chicken McNugget paneling and siding.” Not exactly a selling point but definitely spot on.

@itwasjeremy #viral #funnyrealtor #arizonacheck #scottsdalearizona #fyp #oldhouse #desertvitals ♬ El Mariachi Loco – Mariachi de la Ciudad de Mexico

D.J. Boyce, an agent based in Wichita, KS, also gives his 13,700+ viewers a cringingly honest assessment of a neighborhood, saying, “The only thing you can do downtown is eat, drink, and watch homeless people.”

@_djboyce I have been in Kansas for one and a half years now and these are the things that I have learned. I mean no harm just sharing my experience. #fyp #kansas #wichita #wichitakansas #chickennpickle #traffic #SelfImprovement #dreams #Motivational #goals#luxuryhomes #househunting #building #love #goals #future #growth #passsion #homesforsale #housetour #realestateagent #realestate #kansasrealtor #relocatingtokansas #ictkansas #movingtokansas #ictrealtor #ictkansas #buywithDJ #mortgage #mortgageofficer #mortgagelender ♬ original sound – DJ Boyce | The NICE Realtor

In the homes he tours, Boyce enjoys giving viewers a sneak peek at the potential family drama that might unfold in these spaces.

“Whatever you do, don’t put your problem child in this room,” he says in one video, pointing to a bedroom window. “It has a ladder.”

@_djboyce This realistic house tour is nice! All you need is some warm earthy home decor. This is almost a cozy home tour. How do you like your normal house tour? @DJ Boyce | The NICE Realtor #realestate #housetour #hometour #newhome #middleclass ♬ original sound – DJ Boyce | The NICE Realtor

Iain Phillips, a real estate agent in Orange County, CA, goes so far as to declare whether a property is worth buying. In his tour of a far-from-stellar fixer-upper, Phillips’ deadpan delivery reveals just how underwhelmed he is by the listing.

“Is it worth it?” he wonders. “Probably not.”

We have to agree.

@iainrphillips This condo needs a little more work than advertised #funny #realtor #housetour #realestate #tour #sarcasm ♬ original sound – Iain Phillips | OC Realtor

Phillips has recently transitioned from giving brutally honest home tours to giving brutally honest real estate advice to clients. For instance, in the video below, he admits that buying a home in California is about twice as expensive as renting.

@iainrphillips The cost of owning a home has never been this expensive #realestate #homeownership #housingcrisis #realtor ♬ original sound – Iain Phillips | OC Realtor

But does all this honesty actually translate to sales?

Cesar Gutierrez, a real estate agent Laredo, TX, thinks so. In February, at his wife’s suggestion, he ditched his generic walk-throughs and started adding his signature Spanish-language humor, calling his properties “casas mamalonas”—or “badass houses” in English. His videos now generate hundreds of thousands of views. He also told Bloomberg that they have led to 60 leads, nine contracts, and 12 pending sales. He’s even launched his own “casas mamalonas” T-shirt line.

Gutierrez says his honesty has prompted homebuyers to be more honest with him, too.

“I’m letting them say what they’re actually thinking instead of having them feel all tense because, ‘Oh, I’m talking to a professional real estate agent,’” he told Bloomberg. “They’re looser—more, ‘OK, let’s have fun with it.’”

@soldbycesar Casas Mamalonas: Part 14 Elm Cove, San Antonio TX $157,000 1 (maybe 1.5 or 2) recamaras 2 baños #realtors #mamalone #realestatelife #mamalonskis ♬ original sound – Cesar Gutierrez

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