TikToker Catches Realtor Showing Her House Even Though It’s Not For Sale, Documents Everything In A Viral TikTok
InterviewThe real estate business is hotter than ever — prices have ballooned, demand is high and the supply low. Hence, it’s twice as competitive as it was a day before: according to recent data, there are about twice as many working real estate agents as available listings. No wonder then that some of them will be willing to cut some corners to push out the competition and stay in the biz — no matter at what cost.
As TikTok user ‘busymomonli‘ shared in her viral video with over 8 million views, her doorbell camera captured a bewildering sight: random strangers casually heading in and out of her home in the middle of the day. “Had I not had a ‘Ring’ camera, I would never have known this happened at all!” the author says in the video, claiming this is the fault of a real estate agent who decided to do a little tour of her house without anyone’s permission.
Now, not only do the homeowners know about this ‘accidental’ intrusion but also millions of TikTok users who are glued to this ongoing four-part saga which only keeps on giving.
A video of a nondescript real estate agent went viral after he was caught showing a house that wasn’t listed
Image credits: busymomonli
The doorbell camera’s footage, which has 13.5 million views on TikTok, shows the real estate agent making sure there’s no one home
Image credits: busymomonli
Soon, a car pulls up and the real estate agent begins the tour
Image credits: busymomonli
Image credits: busymomonli
Random strangers are seen moving in and out of the house while the homeowner is watching everything through her doorbell camera
Image credits: busymomonli
Image credits: busymomonli
Image credits: busymomonli
Bewildered by this strange occurrence, the homeowner shared the recording with her followers who were no less startled than her
@busymomonli Had I not had a Ring camera I would never have know this happened at all!! #ringdoorbell #houseforsale #realestatescrewup ♬ Oh No – Kreepa
In the second video, we see that the police have arrived to see if the homeowner’s worries are real
Image credits: busymomonli
Image credits: busymomonli
When the dust settled, the realtor went back in and apologized for causing all this trouble
Image credits: busymomonli
@busymomonli Part 2 of the day the real estate agent showed my house even though it’s not for sale. #ringdoorbell #houseforsale #realestate ♬ Oh No – Kreepa
Image credits: busymomonli
Later, the author answered people’s questions to fill the missing gaps in
@busymomonli Part 3 questions answered about my last two videos. #ringdoorbell #houseforsale #realestate ♬ original sound – user1163656031937
In the end, the homeowner believes it all comes down to this incident being a stroke of strange luck
@busymomonli Reply to @busymomonli ♬ original sound – user1163656031937
According to statistics, knowing how to properly showcase a listing is one of the make-or-break factors responsible for finishing most real estate agents’ careers within a year. Presumably, most don’t accidentally break into homes that aren’t for sale. On the other hand, these not-so-friendly stats help to explain why hustling estate agents would come up with sleazy tactics, such as “ghost” listings, in the first place.
In order to learn more about the code and ethics of this vicious industry, Bored Panda has reached out to the National Association of Realtors (simply ‘NAR’) for a comment. Besides informing us that there were a record number of realtors in 2021, NAR pointed out that there’s a difference between a realtor and a real estate agent. “Realtors are members of the National Association of Realtors and [they] abide by our Code of Ethics,” explained Spencer High, the Director of Media Communications for NAR.
According to their website, only about half of licensed real estate agents in the US — or around 1,522,801 million agents to be precise — are members of this longstanding organization. And the NAR ethics code is what separates realtors from non-member real estate agents who aren’t obliged to be on their best behavior and not cut a few corners from time to time.
People urged the homeowner to press charges and start locking the backdoor
Asked what would happen to a realtor who accidentally showcased a property that wasn’t listed, as per the titular TikTok video, Spencer said that would likely go before the NAR’s tribunal. “If someone believes that a realtor has violated one or more articles of the Code of Ethics,” High explained, “they can file an ethics complaint alleging a violation(s) through the local association of Realtors where they hold their membership.” Ranging from $500 to $10,000 fines, breach of the code can also mean suspension or removal of one’s precious license.
One thing is clear: with far more real estate agents than homes for sale, competition can be fierce. Hence the importance of being careful with whom you trust to provide you with the best (and fully legal) home buying experience. More importantly, one that doesn’t involve you being an accidental star of a viral TikTok video.
yeah it is...i'm pretty sure that's BP's doing. they typed out a transcript for the lady's video so we don't have to watch it. i don't know why they decided to keep in the filler words though
Load More Replies...A certain teen needs to be seriously grounded for everyone's safety, since he's obviously much too careless/lazy to be trusted without parental supervision.
I don't know about grounded. More like since you can't be trusted you don't get to have a key and thus can't be home alone.
Load More Replies...This whole story sounds fishy. Accident or not, that was still unauthorized break and enter. The excuses don't add up. It's not smart of her to announce to the world that a specific door to her home is usually left unlock while she's away and her teen is home alone. Even if the realtor wasn't trying to be malicious, doesn't mean no one in the viewing party wasn't. Some robbers take advantage of home viewings to scope out houses. This could have been a well-organized stake out for all anyone knows. She should definitely press charges.
I don't buy it for one second. The RE agent will come see the house first AND THEN schedule tours. They have to meet with the seller and understand what that house looks like, its floor plan, etc because they need to be prepared to answer questions from potential buyers. This agent knew he was in the wrong house, and these kind of scams happen all the time.
Load More Replies...Correct me if I'm wrong but the worst charge that could possibly be brought against the real estate agent and company would be trespassing. The door was unlocked so it's not breaking and entering. The penalty for trespassing on private property is a fine, ranging from $25 to $1000 dollars. Thus we can safely say that the people telling OP to file charges didn't think far enough ahead since those charges are absolutely not worth the headache of going through the court system. Especially since they were not asked to leave the property prior to the cops arriving. They'd get off with a slap on the wrist in all likelihood.
It's likely that it's more the fact that this intrusion of her house was so easily dismissed that bothered her the most. It does sound like a strange and unprofessional happenstance on part of the realtor that's not worth filing charges over; still if it were me, I'd have liked an immediate and sincere apology, and acknowledgment by the police that this was not okay. Just my thoughts on why she couldn't let it go rightaway.
Load More Replies...All of this could have been avoided if Mr. Teenager would have locked the door as asked. Sounds like legally nothing serious can be done and okay, whatever that's fine but her son needs a week or two of "home alone" probation to learn a lesson in locking doors.
I'd have confiscated video games and other items a burglar might have taken and explained that since he obviously doesn't value those things enough to secure the house, guess he doesn't need or want them.
Load More Replies...Why didn't she speak to the realtor through the ring device and tell them to get off her property? Was she hoping to get a viral video out of it?
Where I live there is a Key lock box on all listings. You have to be an agent with the app to open it. This is so it will record every single agent going in and out of the home. The time they went in and the time they left.
I was once remodeling an appartment /long distance/ in a forgein country. One morning the guy I hired for laying the tiles calls me, very angry saying that I have to pay him compensation for his costs since I have hired another company and their worker is already laying tiles in my bathroom. I assured him I didn't hire anyone else and asked him to inquire from what company he is. My guy calls me twenty minutes later in a very good mood, telling me that there was an misunderstanding and the man missed the house, came into our unlocked appartment that was under construction and started to work. Luckily the adhesive wasn't set and he could remove everything and find the right house. I felt realy powerless because of the distance till everything cleared out. But as it seems these kind of things happen...
I watched the video and it raises a few questions. Agent claims the house next door told him to enter through the back door. The owner thinks it's a coincidence that her son left their rear door open. My question is if the agent was truly showing the house next door and this was an accident why did he first go to the front door and ring the bell, check the door. If he was supposed to go to back door why didn't he go right there? This would probably not meet the legal criteria for B&E but it should have been a trespass for sure. Police probably chose not to proceed because the owner seems to believe the agents story. If she did indicate this to the police they would have said no charges. Just my thoughts.
Neighbours have no right to give someone permission to enter someone else's home.
Usually there is a sign in the yard from the agency that is listing the house if that house is on the market.
I’m sorry, but I have to bring race into this. No one is addressing the elephant in the room: Do you HONESTLY think that if the realtor had been African American the outcome would have been the same? If you do, your naïveté is showing. If 7 cop cars showed up, like the OP said, or even just 1, somebody was going to jail. No way would the police have accepted that crappy explanation. No disrespect to to the homeowner, but would she have been so nonchalant if the realtor had been a person of color? 🤨
Still, because of the agents mistake and her families clumsiness, she made 8 million views in tiktok. Will she give part of the money she gets to the agent?
This happened in our region too. Turned out Fake real estate agents showed houses not for sale at a quite good price. said to the interested clients if they want to reserve the property, they have to pay deposit 1-2% of the price. And then disappeared with all the money. 10-20 clients paying 5000- 10000$ was a good money for 1 hour of showing a house.
I've seen agents jump through hoops for clients. I've also seen an agent I hired leave my unoccupied house unlocked and open overnight. I decided that day to insist on a box for the key. Didn't matter. The box with my key was left hanging open on the front door. We paid the realtor per the contract agreement. I didn't try to hurt her or the business. I'm just glad I finally sold that place.
So he was at the wrong how? He made a mistake and showed the wrong house and somehow this lady goes with her house was being shown when it's not for sale? So she's lying and not telling what actually happened. Which was the real estate agent accidentally entered the wrong house and he was supposed to be at this ladies neighbors house. Why lie like this and say an agent was showing her house when it's not for sale? Just why? Tell the truth and say it was an accident and dude was supposed to show the house next door. My goodness some people deliberately twist things into something they are not for the hell of it. That's not normal at all.
She's aware it's an accident. There's still a feeling of being violated. Our garage was "broken into" once (we each thought the other locked it). That was unnerving enough. . Don't you agree that it's daft that not one person out of the five noticed? She said it's similar in style to the neighbor's, but it's incredible that no one questioned the layout. Even if they didn't bring the listing information, someone (especially the agent) should recognize that the house didn't match the description or the photos. I do wonder why she didn't sound the ring alarm again before she left work to go home. Even if you wouldn't be upset/have felt violated, understand that it's a feeling people have with intruders (intentional or not).
Load More Replies...Sounds like an accident. Fortunately, it was a real estate agent instead of someone robbing her house. They left their own door unlocked. No need to go after his license. Petty and silly.
"Traumatizing" "Tresspassing" "charges" Calm down, dramaqueens. The realtor made a mistake. It happens. You can't sell a house withouth necessary paperwork either way, even in the US. To press charges you need intent. He came in the wrong house, it's going to be real hard to prove intent to tresspass. Maybe you all need to calm down and accept that sometimes, crazy errors happen. Have a laugh, drink a beer and stop being pusillanimous little brats.
I can't believe anybody's really believing this staged story. Somebody's breaking in your house you're going to be calling the police. What a gullible lot LOL
There are always more details to every story. It would be nice to have a detailed account from the realtor. And of course the police don't want to arrest this guy if he was mistakenly at the wrong house. Maybe the agent was just contacted about the house that day and there were no pictures taken yet. There are a multitude of things that could have contributed to this incident. It's like this country is full of people who act like piranhas that want to attack everyone for everything.
yeah it is...i'm pretty sure that's BP's doing. they typed out a transcript for the lady's video so we don't have to watch it. i don't know why they decided to keep in the filler words though
Load More Replies...A certain teen needs to be seriously grounded for everyone's safety, since he's obviously much too careless/lazy to be trusted without parental supervision.
I don't know about grounded. More like since you can't be trusted you don't get to have a key and thus can't be home alone.
Load More Replies...This whole story sounds fishy. Accident or not, that was still unauthorized break and enter. The excuses don't add up. It's not smart of her to announce to the world that a specific door to her home is usually left unlock while she's away and her teen is home alone. Even if the realtor wasn't trying to be malicious, doesn't mean no one in the viewing party wasn't. Some robbers take advantage of home viewings to scope out houses. This could have been a well-organized stake out for all anyone knows. She should definitely press charges.
I don't buy it for one second. The RE agent will come see the house first AND THEN schedule tours. They have to meet with the seller and understand what that house looks like, its floor plan, etc because they need to be prepared to answer questions from potential buyers. This agent knew he was in the wrong house, and these kind of scams happen all the time.
Load More Replies...Correct me if I'm wrong but the worst charge that could possibly be brought against the real estate agent and company would be trespassing. The door was unlocked so it's not breaking and entering. The penalty for trespassing on private property is a fine, ranging from $25 to $1000 dollars. Thus we can safely say that the people telling OP to file charges didn't think far enough ahead since those charges are absolutely not worth the headache of going through the court system. Especially since they were not asked to leave the property prior to the cops arriving. They'd get off with a slap on the wrist in all likelihood.
It's likely that it's more the fact that this intrusion of her house was so easily dismissed that bothered her the most. It does sound like a strange and unprofessional happenstance on part of the realtor that's not worth filing charges over; still if it were me, I'd have liked an immediate and sincere apology, and acknowledgment by the police that this was not okay. Just my thoughts on why she couldn't let it go rightaway.
Load More Replies...All of this could have been avoided if Mr. Teenager would have locked the door as asked. Sounds like legally nothing serious can be done and okay, whatever that's fine but her son needs a week or two of "home alone" probation to learn a lesson in locking doors.
I'd have confiscated video games and other items a burglar might have taken and explained that since he obviously doesn't value those things enough to secure the house, guess he doesn't need or want them.
Load More Replies...Why didn't she speak to the realtor through the ring device and tell them to get off her property? Was she hoping to get a viral video out of it?
Where I live there is a Key lock box on all listings. You have to be an agent with the app to open it. This is so it will record every single agent going in and out of the home. The time they went in and the time they left.
I was once remodeling an appartment /long distance/ in a forgein country. One morning the guy I hired for laying the tiles calls me, very angry saying that I have to pay him compensation for his costs since I have hired another company and their worker is already laying tiles in my bathroom. I assured him I didn't hire anyone else and asked him to inquire from what company he is. My guy calls me twenty minutes later in a very good mood, telling me that there was an misunderstanding and the man missed the house, came into our unlocked appartment that was under construction and started to work. Luckily the adhesive wasn't set and he could remove everything and find the right house. I felt realy powerless because of the distance till everything cleared out. But as it seems these kind of things happen...
I watched the video and it raises a few questions. Agent claims the house next door told him to enter through the back door. The owner thinks it's a coincidence that her son left their rear door open. My question is if the agent was truly showing the house next door and this was an accident why did he first go to the front door and ring the bell, check the door. If he was supposed to go to back door why didn't he go right there? This would probably not meet the legal criteria for B&E but it should have been a trespass for sure. Police probably chose not to proceed because the owner seems to believe the agents story. If she did indicate this to the police they would have said no charges. Just my thoughts.
Neighbours have no right to give someone permission to enter someone else's home.
Usually there is a sign in the yard from the agency that is listing the house if that house is on the market.
I’m sorry, but I have to bring race into this. No one is addressing the elephant in the room: Do you HONESTLY think that if the realtor had been African American the outcome would have been the same? If you do, your naïveté is showing. If 7 cop cars showed up, like the OP said, or even just 1, somebody was going to jail. No way would the police have accepted that crappy explanation. No disrespect to to the homeowner, but would she have been so nonchalant if the realtor had been a person of color? 🤨
Still, because of the agents mistake and her families clumsiness, she made 8 million views in tiktok. Will she give part of the money she gets to the agent?
This happened in our region too. Turned out Fake real estate agents showed houses not for sale at a quite good price. said to the interested clients if they want to reserve the property, they have to pay deposit 1-2% of the price. And then disappeared with all the money. 10-20 clients paying 5000- 10000$ was a good money for 1 hour of showing a house.
I've seen agents jump through hoops for clients. I've also seen an agent I hired leave my unoccupied house unlocked and open overnight. I decided that day to insist on a box for the key. Didn't matter. The box with my key was left hanging open on the front door. We paid the realtor per the contract agreement. I didn't try to hurt her or the business. I'm just glad I finally sold that place.
So he was at the wrong how? He made a mistake and showed the wrong house and somehow this lady goes with her house was being shown when it's not for sale? So she's lying and not telling what actually happened. Which was the real estate agent accidentally entered the wrong house and he was supposed to be at this ladies neighbors house. Why lie like this and say an agent was showing her house when it's not for sale? Just why? Tell the truth and say it was an accident and dude was supposed to show the house next door. My goodness some people deliberately twist things into something they are not for the hell of it. That's not normal at all.
She's aware it's an accident. There's still a feeling of being violated. Our garage was "broken into" once (we each thought the other locked it). That was unnerving enough. . Don't you agree that it's daft that not one person out of the five noticed? She said it's similar in style to the neighbor's, but it's incredible that no one questioned the layout. Even if they didn't bring the listing information, someone (especially the agent) should recognize that the house didn't match the description or the photos. I do wonder why she didn't sound the ring alarm again before she left work to go home. Even if you wouldn't be upset/have felt violated, understand that it's a feeling people have with intruders (intentional or not).
Load More Replies...Sounds like an accident. Fortunately, it was a real estate agent instead of someone robbing her house. They left their own door unlocked. No need to go after his license. Petty and silly.
"Traumatizing" "Tresspassing" "charges" Calm down, dramaqueens. The realtor made a mistake. It happens. You can't sell a house withouth necessary paperwork either way, even in the US. To press charges you need intent. He came in the wrong house, it's going to be real hard to prove intent to tresspass. Maybe you all need to calm down and accept that sometimes, crazy errors happen. Have a laugh, drink a beer and stop being pusillanimous little brats.
I can't believe anybody's really believing this staged story. Somebody's breaking in your house you're going to be calling the police. What a gullible lot LOL
There are always more details to every story. It would be nice to have a detailed account from the realtor. And of course the police don't want to arrest this guy if he was mistakenly at the wrong house. Maybe the agent was just contacted about the house that day and there were no pictures taken yet. There are a multitude of things that could have contributed to this incident. It's like this country is full of people who act like piranhas that want to attack everyone for everything.
93
55