Thelife- Stephanie Leigh documented her
New York City apartment search onTikTok . - One video, which showed two apartments she said cost $8,000 and $12,000 a month, went viral.
A TikToker's video showing the inside of a New York apartment she said was available to rent for $12,000 a month has gone viral, as viewers said they were shocked by soaring rent prices in the city.
Full-time content creator Stephanie Leigh, who typically posts fashion and
As she viewed different apartments in the city, she filmed tours and shared her opinions on them with her TikTok viewers.
On June 3, Leigh, who has 47,000 TikTok followers, posted a tour of two apartments which she said cost $8,000 and $12,000 a month to rent respectively. While her videos typically receive only thousands of views, the apartment tours blew up, and currently has 6 million views.
@stephanieleighnyc nyc apt market is insane right now…. #nycapt #leasing ♬ original sound - stephanieleighnyc
The video, which had an on-screen caption that read, "COME APT HUNTING WITH ME IN NYC," showed the TikToker filming each of the two apartments, which both had two bedrooms and came largely without furniture.
Filming a small kitchen area in one of the apartments in the video, she said, "This is listed at $8,000, which is absurd. I mean, it's a nice apartment, but not that nice." When filming the master bathroom in the apartment she said was listed at $12,000, she said she felt it was nice but "not worth" the price.
The 28-year-old TikToker told Insider she has lived in Manhattan for eight years and noticed many apartment listings were unusually expensive during her search. In March, Insider reported that rent in New York is rising rapidly as the market rebounds from the pandemic. According to the brokerage Douglas Elliman, the average price of rent in New York was $4,000 in May, the highest median rent rate ever recorded in the city, the New York Times reported.
Leigh told Insider she thinks the video went viral because the high prices in the area "shocked" people, adding, "Most people would expect that you could get a little bit more bang for your buck."
@stephanieleighnyc This was the runner up apt. Can’t wait to show you the one we went with!!
♬ original sound - stephanieleighnyc
The content creator said she was "surprised" by the video's popularity, saying, "Every time I've moved apartments, I've always shared the apartment hunt process and I've never had a video get that much attention."
Many people commented on how expensive the apartments were under the video, with on top comment with 12,000 likes saying, "New York is literally not worth the price."
Other commenters pointed out that despite the high asking price, there appeared to be some garbage on the floors in the video which made one of the apartments look less glamorous. "$8,000 a month and they couldn't even sweep the floors," one top comment with 89,000 likes said.
Leigh said she aimed to provide a "realistic" perspective on
"I'm not a real estate broker trying to rent or sell these apartments. I'm just a normal girl trying to rent an apartment. I'm just showing what I'm seeing," she said.
@stephanieleighnyc the apartment that we loved but is gone already #nycapt #renting ♬ original sound - stephanieleighnyc
Leigh posted a series of videos sharing her thoughts on potential apartments with viewers in May and early June. She told Insider she has now found a new apartment in Lower Manhattan, also telling viewers that her "hunt is over" in a video uploaded on June 8.
Leigh told Insider she now plans to post lifestyle content about moving into the new apartment, showing her viewers how she will decorate it, for example.
@stephanieleighnyc ♬ Young Folks - Shindig Society
Overall, Leigh thinks her content niche is popular among her viewers because it is "fun" for them to get a glimpse into her life.
"People love to watch a day in the life of a girl who lives in New York. I think it's just it's fun to see what it would be like to live in the city," she said.
For more stories like this, check out coverage from Insider's Digital Culture team here.