Time to read [4 minutes]
Takeways
- Breanna Banaciski uses deadpan, crude humor on social media to market Tampa Bay real estate, blurring the line between parody and reality
- Her comedic videos help listings stand out in a crowded Gulf Coast market
- Her bold style grabs attention in a confusing housing market, but isn’t for everyone
It’s all getting so serious. My kids grew up getting their news from The Daily Show and South Park on Comedy Central. Nighttime network news is a shadow of its former self, while cable news isn’t news at all. On my first podcast, The Housing Helix, which ran from 2009 to 2011, I once had a guest who was a stand-up comedian and also a real estate agent in Boston. Today, real estate agent social media wants in on the comedy action, starting with an hilarious (NSFW) Tampa Bay agent, Breanna Banaciski. Earlier this year, she appeared out of nowhere in my feeds, and I was instantly hooked on her deadpan, crude, sarcasm. Up until this week, I was never quite sure whether she was a parody account or the real deal, but her timing and editing were perfect. As it turns out, it’s legit, and she’s off to a strong start in her career. If the real estate agent thing doesn’t pan out, she’d be a terrific insult comic. Here’s the fun New York Times story about her: She Found a New Way to Sell High-End Houses: Mock the Rich [gift link].

Is The Tampa Housing Market Struggling?
In a simple Perplexity.AI search, the three big real estate portals (see below) show three different price trends for the market: Prices are falling a lot, prices are falling a little, and prices are rising a little. How can a consumer make sense of this? As it turns out, consumers don’t always need the property details or market feedback if they see pictures in social media and get the joke. The sole idea is to get the consumer to call the agent to cause a sale. Marketing 101 is just trying to stand out from the pack. It’s a listing style that may not be suitable for everyone. Remember that her goal is to get consumers to look at the listing.

Final Thoughts
Think about Breanna’s social media style while spending your day playing all her clips on Instagram and TikTok. She is breaking away from traditional property marketing. Consumers get to see the property through video while listening to a humorous soundtrack. With the recent rise in listing inventory on the Gulf Coast of Florida, standing out from other listing inventory is essential in a crowded housing market. It’ll be interesting to see whether her ascerbic wit will hold up when the market tightens.
I sure hope so.
The Actual Final Thought – Thinking about the aspirational housing fantasy created by humor helped me dig up and dig this classic.

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HGAR’s IMPACT: The Member Experience

I’m excited to speak at IMPACT: The HGAR Member Experience on September 29. I’ll be joining real estate professionals from across the region to explore what’s next in the housing market, economic opportunities and building community. Join me and be part of the conversation that’s shaping what’s next. Learn more and register.
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Did you miss the previous Housing Notes?

Housing Notes Reads
- Closed Colleges: List of Closures, Mergers, and Trendline [Best Colleges]
- July: Willpower can't keep The King's College from looming closure [University Business]
- Tracking college closures [The Hechinger Report]
- Postsecondary Enrollment Before, During, and Since the Great Recession [Census.gov]
- U.S. College Enrollment Decline: Facts and Figures| BestColleges [Best Colleges]
- Transforming college life: Housing and the student experience [SBF]
- Make it count: Measuring our housing supply shortage [Brookings]
- A Park Avenue Scuffle Over an $80 Million View [Curbed]
- Zeckendorfs out billionaire as unhappy buyer of $80M penthouse [The Real Deal]
- Sellers are struggling to listen to the market [Sacramento Appraisal Blog]
- What Is By-Right Development? [Planopedia]