Millennials Are Turning to TikTok to Find Their Dream Apartments

Long gone are the days of scouring newspaper ads in order to find your next abode. But if you thought that scrolling through listings on Zillow or other real estate sites was the future, think again: New Yorkers in their 20s are turning to TikTok to find their next apartment, reports ABC News.

“City dwellers—or those aspiring to be one—often flock to sites such as StreetEasy, Zillow, Compass, Trulia and Craigslist for apartment listings. But some say they are finding apartments on TikTok, the addictive video-sharing app, where brokers can offer a more thorough viewing and prospective tenants can virtually tour multiple places in just a few minutes,” the news organization reports.

While convenience and time saved are definite perks, the benefits of touring an apartment via TikTok don’t stop there. The popular video sharing app uses an algorithm to show off videos that are tailored to the user’s preferences and interests—meaning that if you watch a video of a pre-war Brooklyn two-bedroom on repeat, then it’ll likely show you similar listings in the future. TikTok also allows users to comment on the listings, thereby creating a conversations about the apartment (think: “does anyone know where the nearest subway stop is?”).

Brokers are using the app to show off apartments to prospective tenants, and StreetEasy has even created an account themselves.

Maddie Hiatt, a 25-year-old social media editor, told ABC that she found her apartment near New York's Herald Square while scrolling on TikTok. She credited the app with helping her find high-quality apartments that lined up with what she was looking for.

And hey, scrolling through TikTok can even help prospective renters avoid a bad living situation—just check out this video above from The New York City Realtor about the worst apartment in NYC. A tiny $1,650 studio with no oven, no freezer and no stove? No, thank you.