Inman

Ever show the wrong house? This agent did — and it went viral

Screenshot of TikTok video

A TikTok of an unidentified real estate agent showing the wrong home has gone viral, garnering more than 16 million views.

The homeowner posted the video on TikTok, which was captured by her Ring camera. In the video, a man rings her doorbell while she and her husband are at work and her son is at school. Four other people show up. The homeowner, whose other videos indicate her first name is Linda, receives an alert from her Ring camera and sets off the alarm.

The man then proceeds to go to the back door, lets himself in and lets in the group through the front door to show the home.

@busymomonli Had I not had a Ring camera I would never have know this happened at all!! #ringdoorbell #houseforsale #realestatescrewup ♬ Oh No – Kreepa

“Now mind you, my dog is home,” Linda says as she narrates the video. “Apparently not a very good guard dog, but she’s home. They proceed to go in, they spend about 20 minutes opening every closet door, cabinet, you name it. They leave. They lock up like no one was there.”

In follow-up videos, Linda said she immediately called the police when she saw people entering. The mic on her Ring camera hadn’t been working, so she wasn’t able to talk to the intruders through the camera. She set off for home and met the police there. She said “many” police officers showed up in about seven police cars and were talking to the man when she arrived.

@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


“My teenage son uses the back door because it opens up to the driveway and he often leaves it unlocked, which I have told him not to, but you know, teenage boys they do what they do,” she said.

“It happened to be unlocked on that same day that this Realtor was showing the house next door. The Realtor claims that the neighbor told him to enter through the back door because he wasn’t going to make it home in time. So it’s kind of like a weird stars-aligned type thing.”

@busymomonli Part 3 questions answered about my last two videos. #ringdoorbell #houseforsale #realestate ♬ original sound – user1163656031937

The homeowner later added in the video comments that her neighbor had confirmed the agent’s story.

“I made sure nothing was missing,” she said. “But the police did say that there was really nothing that could be done. They did say charges wouldn’t really be appropriate because they believed it to just be a complete accident.”

She said the agent “apologized profusely” and complimented her on how sweet her dog was.

“He said in 27 years he’d never made such a mistake,” she said. “I don’t believe that they were casing my house or that he was trying to sell my house out from under me. He did seem sincere. He made a joke about how his buyers weren’t really interested in the house.”

She said she hadn’t decided what to do about the incident but that she will probably contact the licensing bureau in her area to let them know about what had happened. “But I don’t think charges are really necessary,” she said.

@busymomonli Reply to @busymomonli ♬ original sound – user1163656031937


The four videos Linda has posted about the incident have garnered some 40,000 comments combined, offering her mixed advice about how to handle the situation. Some urged her to press charges while others said she should move on.

“Since there was no harm done, or intended, it would be a shame to take someone’s livelihood for a mistake,” wrote one commenter.

A commenter who identified himself as an agent said, “[T]his is insane. We book showing with the listing agent. So no way he could have mistaken this house for sale.”

Another said, “Honest mistake or not seems legit enough to file a complaint to his boss at least.”

The TikToker’s user name was @busymomonli but she appears to have changed it to @honeysmyguarddog after posting the videos. Attempts to identify the homeowner, the agent and the location of the incident were unsuccessful.

What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.

Email Andrea V. Brambila.

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