Homeowners

How Real Estate Agents Are Using Humor on TikTok and Instagram to Sell Homes

What do you get when you combine a questionable kitchen, a tiny bedroom, and a TikTok-savvy real estate agent?

Potentially, tens of thousands of views and a buyer.

In today’s housing market, that kind of attention is hard to come by. With many buyers hesitating thanks to high home prices and mortgage rates, sellers need their listings to stand out.

So, some agents turning to humor. On TikTok and Instagram, they’re trading polished listing tours for memes, skits, and the occasional roast of the home. It’s also a way to use social media to reach younger buyers where they already spend their time.

Harmony Edwards has made comedy the centerpiece of her strategy. She is Realtor in Berkshire County, Mass. with more than 153,000 followers on Instagram and TikTok.

“Humor is my main marketing tool in this tough market,” Edwards said.

When the home listing becomes content

Edwards’ approach is deliberately unpolished: meme-style edits, self-deprecating jokes, and “real talk” about buying and selling. It's also what performs best.

One of her recent memes received nearly 49,000 likes.

She brings the same thinking to her listings. One video for a home priced under $235,000 opened with a line built for the scroll: “A home in the Berkshires for under $235,000 is not a myth. It is this house.”

Edwards said the post did five times better than her typical listing content. It also led to direct messages booking private showings that same weekend.

Other agents lean on playful property tours, trending audio, or pop-culture references. The common thread is making a listing feel less like an ad and more like something worth watching and sending to a friend.

The upside of a punchline used to sell homes

That shareability of these social media posts is the payoff. Social platforms put a home in front of people who weren’t actively searching for it, including first-time and younger buyers. Every share extends that reach for free.

Humor also makes a home memorable. After a weekend of showings, buyers may struggle to tell one gray-and-white kitchen from the next. They’re more likely to remember the one that made them laugh.

The best jokes tend to be grounded in something real: an awkward layout, a dated kitchen, or a bedroom that’s cozier than roomy. Calling out a quirk upfront can even work in the seller’s favor. A buyer who has already seen the tiny bedroom won’t be caught off guard at the showing.

Still, views alone don’t sell houses. Direct messages, saves, questions about the property, and showing requests are better signs that a video is working.

When the joke about the listing goes too far

There’s a fine line, however, between making a home memorable and making it sound undesirable.

A joke that makes a buyer laugh could make a seller cringe. Overly negative videos can also backfire. They can leave viewers fixated on flaws or turn off the buyers most likely to make an offer.

Edwards learned where to draw that line through experience.

“Sellers mostly love it because it makes their listing memorable, but I’ve learned the hard way to keep the joke on the situation or me and never the property’s flaws the seller is sensitive about,” she said.

That’s why the conversation about humor should happen before the camera starts rolling. Sellers can ask their agent:

• Which features are fair game, and which are off-limits?
• Will the tone appeal to the buyers most likely to want this home?
• Can I review the video before it posts?
• How does it fit into the overall marketing plan?

That last question matters most. Humor should complement the basics, not replace them. Good photos, accurate information, smart pricing, staging, and a clear call to action still do the heavy lifting.

But in a market where buyers have plenty of listings to scroll past, a little personality can give a home what many listings lack: a reason take a closer look.