The Broke Agent is a media brand that creates entertainment for real estate professionals. But the beauty of it is that you don't have to be in the industry to enjoy its content. Sure, that would unlock a deeper level of understanding and appreciation but it's not necessary.
Just look at its project Real Estate Fails, for example. Full of ridiculous architectural and interior design hiccups, it shares pictures from the ridiculous side of the housing market, proving that some agents don't have everything under control. Whether it's due to their own fault, the owners, or unfortunate circumstances, there are plenty of things that might deter potential buyers.
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Notice
We managed to get in touch with Eric Simon, founder of The Broke Agent, and he was kind enough to have a little chat with us.
"Just over six years ago, I started posting as The Broke Agent on Instagram, producing content that focused on the 'inner monologue' of a struggling realtor in Los Angeles. As a licensed realtor, I basically started making fun of everything that was happening to me and put it online in blog form, YouTube Videos, and short-form content like memes, tweets, and Facebook posts. It blew up really quickly and now has well over half a million followers across all platforms."
Even if we were to talk solely about its target audience, there's still room for The Broke Agent to grow as there are over 2 million active real estate agents in the U.S.
Who Needs Inspections?
We had a good example here at work. Dude owned a camping site with houses. The firefighters did a surprise inspection. Dude got fined for not having any fire alarms or smoke detectors. He then proceeds to glue smoke detectors to ceilings without connecting them to anything. The firefighters came back, opened the detectors and found his little scam. Dude got fined AGAIN and then called us to install things properly. 😂
Apparently The Description Read “Stainless Steel Appliances”
Simon started Real Estate Fails to grow The Broke Agent brand and to reach people who aren't necessarily just real estate agents but he quickly realized that it's just a really fun account to manage.
"Everyone likes looking at housing pics, especially luxury or real estate 'fails,' so it resonated with an audience outside of the real estate industry as well as real estate agents."
"Real estate agents love the account because it exposes marketing blunders, property description errors, and other mistakes agents make when uploading their marketing online. It also gives them a platform to submit all the crazy stuff they see in the field and out on showings. The account also casts a wider net on the industry, attracting contractors, appraisers, inspectors, handymen, etc."
This Might Be The Worst One Yet
Sick Flat Screen
Seen In Nebraska
According to Simon, curating the account is pretty straightforward because by now the community around it has gotten big enough for him to receive a steady stream of content.
"Most of my posts come from other realtors in my DMs, but I also get submissions in my Discord, through The Broke Agent and in our real estate Facebook pages and groups," he explained. "Like I said above, most of the photos come from agents actually spotting these crazy fails in the field on showings, inspections, or open houses. We also have a series called #ThingsWeSeeAtShowings on The Broke Agent stories."
Nah Nobody Will Notice
My Worst Nightmare
Get a doormat. If that is an important vent, get one with holes.
When Your Stager Goes A Little Nuts With House Plants
You couldn't find another person more suited to run the project. "Because I am a licensed realtor, I have developed a good eye for what is 'out of the ordinary' and what will perform well as a post," Simon said. "Also, I've been looking at and posting real estate content every day for 6 plus years so that helps with my judgment for what to post."
"The best performing content on Real Estate Fails is toilet content and anything that's sexual. If it looks like a penis or is provocative in any way, the audience goes crazy for it."
Another successful ongoing theme is staging fails where people try to cover up eye sores or contracting issues. The keyword here is 'try'.
No
The F**k Is This?
The Most Insane Apartment Complex Of All Time?
Simon constantly searches for ways to engage his followers. "The best way to [do it] on these posts is to say something in the caption like 'describe this like it's in a property description.' That way, agents can put their humorous twist on a housing feature and highlight it in a positive light like a realtor would do in their marketing."
The man behind the show also highlighted that The Broke Agent has much more to offer; it's a full-on real estate media company with Podcasts (The Over Ask Podcast), blogs, YouTube videos, contributors, and more. "Our goal is to make real estate professionals laugh through the daily stress of the industry and also help improve their business with our marketing, consulting, and content platform."
Light Mold
congratulations! you just got yourself a free houseplant! or dinner, if you’re feeling lucky
The Things We See At Showings…
bad idea, good execution. at least whoever thought of this was pretty good at drawing
You Keeping This Or Updating?
Thoughts On Photoshopping A Ferrari Into Your Listing Pics?
Wtf Is This
What The Hell Is This A Pyramid?
"Beautiful Balcony Looking Over The Palatial Entertaining Area"
Look Away
Genius Listing Photo Marketing
Innovative
Y
Is It?
Whoops
Maybe this is the bathroom from the story a few days ago about the anti-masturbation family.
What In The Fresh Hell Is This?
Ah yes, the sideways toilet. Sometimes you make it in the bowl, sometimes you hit the TP.
“4th Bedroom”
It's a room. There's a bed in it. The car's been repossessed anyway, so what the heck
Staging In Tampa...
I faked a bed in an empty bedroom with cardboard boxes and a couple of blankets. It's pretty common when occupants have already moved.
More Of This
at least they’re being honest…? unless it does suck of course
Nothing To See Here
This is a stupid inclusion. It wasn't a real estate listing; it was the Texas freeze in February 2021, which caused catastrophic damage due to two main reasons: 1. TX houses are not built for such weather (including water pipe insulation) and 2. MOST OF THE STATE WAS DUMPED OFF THE POWER GRID SO THAT IT WOULDN'T FAIL WHICH WAS COMPLETELY AVOIDABLE IF THE TX LEADERSHIP HAD WINTERIZED THE GRID AS THEY WERE TOLD TO DO A FULL TEN YEARS BEFORE BECAUSE EXPERTS KNEW SOMETHING LIKE THIS WOULD HAPPEN EVENTUALLY.
Exactly. Let us also not forget 200 people DIED. So how about we don't use pictures out of context. You don't post pictures of the twin towers and cite "horrible structure fails". F Abbot, vote Beto.
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For Sale: Renovators dream! Features include an indoor water feature. Heating system may need updating.
Exactly! And stupid this photo is even in this thread! It's NOT a realtor photo or even a photo that a seller used to sell the property. I think ALOT of these photos in this post are not realtor photos that were used to sell a property!
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Why don’t y’all go talk about politics somewhere else for f**k sake
people on this website are just desperate to yell about politics. They probably got banned off of facebook
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So many comments on the Texas freeze. This pic is old and has nothing to do with that. Cry me a "frozen" river
I agree; this is a very poor choice. I remember this from the many photos of people struggling in their homes in the unprecedented freeze earlier this year in TX. It makes me question just how legit any of these “real estate” postings are.
This picture is from 2018, there's a link for an article around here somewhere. I think it's somewhere in the top comments reply
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If I saw that I would have turned off the water supply, opened up the window, then taken a hammer to the ice and broke it up, then thrown it outside before it melted. After that do a clean up.
Wasn't this the event where a bunch of kids died inside due to parents attempting to heat their homes so their children won't freeze to death? This was such a Tragic event that including this is so beyond insensitive it's upsetting to Look at. I have to assume that the person who included it had no idea where the original picture came from or they would not have posted it.
Hmmmmmmm forgot to leave the heat on when we went out of town… oh yeah, Satan decided to turn down the thermostat in hell… This is what happens when you put water heaters in attics and the power goes out when it’s below 30 degrees outside (TEXAS Take note) too bad it wasn’t the governor’s mansion in Austin, but then again I bet Greg Abbott’s power didn’t go out.
finding dory be like : Client - "whats that" Agent - "just keep walking, just keep walking
Southeast Texas here. As was sad before this part of Texas is not built for the temps that we experienced. And yes ppl died. Pipes burst everywhere and houses flooded. Power outages Hopefully lessons were learned here. Not saying "woe is me" but have a little compassion that the rest of the country would like to have in trying times
bro i just wanna laugh. Why are people so aggressive. When someone tries having a good time atleast 1 person makes a big deal about it and the other is harassing someone about the big deal. Just freaking say “oh this was the texas freeze not a screw up” INSTEAD OF F***KING SCREAMING I SWEAR TO GOD GET YOUR ANGER ISSUES FIXED
"The property's kitchen has many cool and unusual features, and will be of particular interest to anyone who loves ice climbing."
KatHat is right....It was a disaster that easily could have been avoided with proper planning by officials.
Watertown N.Y. gets really cold in the winter. Really really cold...
This whole setup could be my old house. Kitchen setup windows the doorway ro in my case the laundry room w outdoor doorway there as well. Is there a basement door back here at the end of those cabinets?
Things like this happened all around the country one year. I was a victim of water pouring in so bad I had to move all my belongings to the center of the unit, remove everything out of the cabinets, what a mess.
I worked for a flooring company some years ago in Fairbanks, Alaska. Customer called and asked for an estimate on replacing all the flooring. I s**t you not, former tenants had left in winter, turned off all utilities. 60 below zero pipes burst, toilets exploded and then froze into a solid 4 feet of ice. Her grandkids were ice skating whilst I attempted to explain we wouldn't be able to provide an estimate until water/mold restoration had been completed and the property deemed safe to occupy. It was torn down when breakup started (spring, for those living in the lower 48)
i would have said what a beautiful ice sculpture that comes with the home
Why is the stove always so far away from the sink, in most houses I've been in. Even my current one is that way. I absolutely hate it since I have to walk across the kitchen if I need one of them.
1) So that you do not get splashed with hot fat when you are at the sink. 2) So that you do not splash soapy water from the sink into your cookpot. 3) So that you get some exercise when you are in the kitchen.
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I saw this pic several years ago. It's not the Texas freeze or some political loser.
A behind the scenes look in Princess Elsa's ice palace. #letitgohomeinspectorletitgo
I bet you didn't know that you could live in a Crystal ice cave, in Texas! This ice cave is equipped with all the amenities.. except running water is everywhere.. not just in the sink.
That's a two parter: step 1, flood the darn thing, step 2- how is it that cold in any house????
Nice icesicle tree you got there in the kitchen.....cost much to install?
I know someone who bought their grandfathers old house to DIY renovate and move into. Because they were living elsewhere and couldn't afford two utility bills, they turned off the heat to save money... but didn't turn off the water and winterize the plumbing. Similar result.
That happened to me once, while I was away for 2 weeks for xmas. I was rending.... they better try to remove that ice now before it melts or it's going to be a much worse, and wet, situation. Such a shame!
My Texas home last February 2021. Lucky I was there so I could really get the feel.
Received one of my few downvotes because this is NOT a real estate listing. This is from the TX freeze that ended in tragedy for quite a number of residents.
Hope you are doing alright, it was downright unconscionable what happened there.
Load More Replies... Why is this picture included? This is not a realtor photo to be placed on an add for a home for sale!
No, it was in Texas, in February 2021. BP had this https://www.boredpanda.com/winter-storm-cold-power-outage-us-state-texas-pic/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic
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Note: this post originally had 110 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
"Most Hectic Homes"? ..." I do not think that word means what you think it means." — Inigo Montoya
Well, the Bored Panda staff is Lithuanian, so...
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I want to briefly visit the minds who made some of these disasters, just to have some chance of understand what they were thinking, if anything.
Jo, can I listen in, on your conversation, it's bound to be interesting !!!
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I've seen every single one of these photos in multiple BP lists before. BP editors, get a grip. I certainly hope no one gets paid for this sh!t.
We just sold it so I can't take pics of it...wish I had...but our last house had some...interesting design choices. They left all of the paintings in the house when we moved in, and said paintings covered up some things like a misplaced vent, a corkboard, etc. There was a fully finished basement but the previous owners obviously failed at something because the shower was in the laundry room while the toilet and sink were in the other end of the basement. Oops. To make room in one of the basement rooms to call it a bedroom they put an indent into the furnace room to create the closet. We never used the room for anything but storage but I couldn't imagine being stuck between the furnace room and the stairs. Other than that it was a gorgeous house and we seriously sold it for twice what we paid for it because of location and the design of the house. But yes, we removed the paintings, we didn't want them to have the surprises we had.
I have not laughed so much in a long time! I feel sorry for the poor agents who had to try and sell those places!
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This post, was one of the strangest, without a doubt, somewhat interesting, there must be a great number, of weird carpenters, or should I say, wanna be carpenters !!!
If I could pick some bits at the cost of a random bit being included, I would love to buy a house made of these.
You can hire Henryclarkethicalhacker for all your hacking needs which include clearing of criminal and driving records, credit hack fix, college grade changes, cloning phones, spying on anyone, hacking all social media accounts, etc,. Reach him via Henryclarkethicalhacker @ gmail. com Text him,, Whatsapp,,+18134211326.
"Most Hectic Homes"? ..." I do not think that word means what you think it means." — Inigo Montoya
Well, the Bored Panda staff is Lithuanian, so...
Load More Replies... I want to briefly visit the minds who made some of these disasters, just to have some chance of understand what they were thinking, if anything.
Jo, can I listen in, on your conversation, it's bound to be interesting !!!
Load More Replies... I've seen every single one of these photos in multiple BP lists before. BP editors, get a grip. I certainly hope no one gets paid for this sh!t.
We just sold it so I can't take pics of it...wish I had...but our last house had some...interesting design choices. They left all of the paintings in the house when we moved in, and said paintings covered up some things like a misplaced vent, a corkboard, etc. There was a fully finished basement but the previous owners obviously failed at something because the shower was in the laundry room while the toilet and sink were in the other end of the basement. Oops. To make room in one of the basement rooms to call it a bedroom they put an indent into the furnace room to create the closet. We never used the room for anything but storage but I couldn't imagine being stuck between the furnace room and the stairs. Other than that it was a gorgeous house and we seriously sold it for twice what we paid for it because of location and the design of the house. But yes, we removed the paintings, we didn't want them to have the surprises we had.
I have not laughed so much in a long time! I feel sorry for the poor agents who had to try and sell those places!
How i become a lottery winner with the help of a spell caster calld Dr Ayoola, i meet this great man online when someone was talking about how this man help him to win lottery and immediately i contacted him and ask for help as well. and this great man promise to help me and assure me that i will win once he give me the lottery number, today i am here saying a big thank you to Dr yoola for helping me to win the sum of 50,000,000 dollars all thanks to you Dr Ayoola you can as well contact him today for help via drayoolasolutionhome@gmail.com or https://www.facebook.com/Dr-Ayoola-105640401516053/ text or call +14809032128
This post, was one of the strangest, without a doubt, somewhat interesting, there must be a great number, of weird carpenters, or should I say, wanna be carpenters !!!
If I could pick some bits at the cost of a random bit being included, I would love to buy a house made of these.
You can hire Henryclarkethicalhacker for all your hacking needs which include clearing of criminal and driving records, credit hack fix, college grade changes, cloning phones, spying on anyone, hacking all social media accounts, etc,. Reach him via Henryclarkethicalhacker @ gmail. com Text him,, Whatsapp,,+18134211326.
