What happens when a Twin Cities home listing goes viral
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Going viral can help sell an eccentric home, but brace for snark, says Twin Cities real estate agent Alec Roth.
Why it matters: "Screen appeal is the new curb appeal," Zillow senior economist Orphe Divounguy tells Axios.
What they're saying: Commenters scoffed at the stonework and location of a $1.6 million Minneapolis home Roth shared with an Instagram account last fall that features historic homes.
- "You have to have a really open-minded client," Roth, with Edina Realty, tells Axios.
- "People are tough, and those from other states don't realize what you spend there is not the same as in Minnesota."
Reality check: The house ended up selling for slightly under the asking price. Roth says quirkier homes seem to get the biggest boosts from social media.
Follow the money: "Zillow Gone Wild" creator Samir Mezrahi parlayed his popularity into a new HGTV show that cashes in on viewers' nosiness about other people's houses.
- He posts what he calls "the most interesting homes across America," from castles to brightly colored mansions.
- "When I'm bored on my phone, I like to look at houses everywhere. And I think other people do that, but there wasn't a space for people to talk about that," he said at a South by Southwest panel.
What he found: "I realized people really love libraries, so if the home has a really nice library, that's an automatic post," Mezrahi said at SXSW.
Between the lines: A manicured Excelsior mansion caught Zillow Gone Wild's attention last fall, and it's still on the market for nearly $9 million, according to the listing.
The big picture: More agents are catering to those who scroll listings on their phones by capturing vertical videos of a home, Roth says.
- TikTok saw a 40% increase in posts tagged #RealEstate during the first two months of 2024 compared with the same period in 2023, Bloomberg reports.