Watching apartment-hunting films keeps Gen Z’s dream alive

In the past year, the property market has been notoriously hellish. The median rent in cities across the United States has grown to absurd levels, making basic housing unavailable to the vast majority of young people seeking to move away from home. The #apartmenthunting and #apartmenttour hashtags on TikTok have received 261.4 million and 1.9 billion views, respectively.

There is something very gratifying about gaining an insider’s perspective on how other people live and tapping into a desire that many young people find increasingly unattainable: living alone.

As rents and inflation continue to climb, more and more members of Generation Z cannot afford their own apartments. A research conducted in 2022 revealed that approximately 30 percent of Gen Z in the United States between the ages of 18 and 25 still reside with their parents or relatives, primarily due to the difficulty of affording escalating rent prices. With so many young people living at home, Generation Z has gone to social media to explore the fantasy of living independently.

Enter apartment-hunting videos.

How the image of a dream home captivates us
Taylor Bell pays $1,875 a month for a one-bedroom apartment that she shares with a roommate.
Courtesy Taylor Bell

“Whenever I visualize my future, I always picture myself living alone in a spacious home. Sundus Abdi, a 21-year-old who presently resides with her parents in Birmingham, UK, said, “While viewing these apartment vlogs, I gain ideas for my future living place.”

As someone who has always shared a room, these videos bring her vision to life by depicting interiors and layouts that she often fantasizes about. She told Insider, “There is definitely a sense of fantasy in my life.”

This fulfilling of desires is a major factor for many. Apartment-hunting films provide a glimpse of what their ideal living quarters may be.

This is where 25-year-old artists like Taylor Bell come in.

The number of views on Bell’s most recent New York City apartment tour video is nearly 15 times her subscription figure. In it, she provides a comprehensive tour of the $ 3,750-per-month apartment she lives with one roommate in lower Manhattan. According to Bell, the couple hired a huge one-bedroom and then installed a flex wall to transform it into a two-bedroom apartment. Bell contributes $1,875 to the monthly rent.

“I believe apartment searching films give viewers a sense of ‘guilty pleasure’ since they get a glimpse into the private lives of others,” Bell told Insider.

Caleb Simpson, 30, agrees.

Caleb Simpson’s YouTube channel showcases luxurious apartments as well as people living on a budget, such as a man who converted a decommissioned ambulance into a residence.

Thanks to Caleb Simpson

Simpson is the founder of NYC Diaries, a YouTube series featuring the living spaces of young New Yorkers with approximately one million subscribers. Simpson begins the majority of his videos by asking random strangers how much rent they pay. Then, he will request a tour of their apartments.

“I suppose that’s the hook, right? What is the person’s anticipated response?” Simpson revealed to Insider.

The 30-year-old, whose own $7,000 per month flat was once featured on the channel, says he approaches his apartment tours as if he were visiting a friend.

“I enter these homes as if this person is already my best friend, and I’ve known them for ten years, and I’ll treat their flat accordingly,” he stated. Simpson does not tiptoe around the room; rather, his signature move is testing out the mattresses of each of his subjects.

Simpson has shown luxury apartments on his channel, but the most popular videos are those in which he interviews someone living on a shoestring budget. Simpson interviewed a Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, resident whose rent was $500 per month in a recent video; the neighborhood’s median rent is $2,900 per month.

The video depicting a T-Mobile sales representative in Egypt’s pink micro-space received more than 360 thousand views.

One commenter on the clip remarked, “These are the people who do the most with what they have, and it’s really impressive and cool to look at because they have very little space, but still manage to balance their budget with necessities, decor, etc., and they’re always the coolest people to be around!”

His program has covered individuals who live on boats, in trucks, and even an ambulance.

Simpson believes that these videos are so successful because “people are generally fascinated about how other people live, particularly in New York City.”

Bell was also inspired by his voyeuristic curiosity.

“Before I got to New York City, I recall being fascinated about the lifestyle of a conventionally successful twentysomething in the city. She said, “I stumbled upon a few apartment tours with floor-to-ceiling windows and views of the Empire State Building and thought it would be cool to live like that for a few years.”

She continued, “I believe because I’m in the same position, I’m eager to demonstrate what it looks like for me.”

The video by Bell demonstrates how glamorous a New York City apartment can be, but her clips also conceal the sacrifices some young New Yorkers make to live “on their own.” Due to the fact that she and her roommate converted a one-bedroom apartment into a two-bedroom dwelling, they have almost no shared living space.

From idealistic to realizable
Mohuya Khan desires apartment-hunting information to be readily available. She said, “I knew from personal experience how important it was to give Gen Z, people of color, and those from low-to-middle income families a renewed sense of hope.”

Kindness Mohuyeen Khan

In order to afford rent, many would-be New Yorkers are forced to convert one-person apartments into accommodations for two, three, or even four individuals.

And that is among the most Providing uncensored information about the rental market and what living on one’s own may look like is perhaps the most useful service these videos provide for young people.

Mohuya Khan, age 24, is a content producer and artist who was born and raised in New York City. She has made multiple videos about her apartment hunt and space renovation, and she claims that viewers are drawn to her content because she demonstrates a lifestyle that is accessible.

In one of her most famous films about apartment shopping, Khan explains just what financial details renters must offer to acquire residence. As she remarked, this can be especially challenging for a large number of young gig or creative workers who likely have not yet amassed significant funds.

Khan told Insider that she enjoyed watching influencers’ high-end apartment-hunting films, but found them discouraging because she lacked the means to live as they did.

“I’ve noticed that there is a large divide in content between apartments that are extremely luxurious and ‘unattainable’ to the immigrants, younger people, and blue-collar workers that make up NYC, and videos that provide more information on apartments that would be more affordable for “everyday” people.

“I have nothing against hustle. If you are wealthy, I want you to live in a luxurious apartment. You are aware that you can pay $14,000 every month if you like. Mohuya stated in a recent video, “That’s amazing, you know, that’s always a dream.” “However, it is also unrealistic. For these people who want to live in the city, who want to move out into the city, or who are coming from Oklahoma or another country and are watching these videos, they are so disheartened that they don’t believe they can make it because these apartment tours only feature the apartments of the wealthy.”

“I began generating my apartment searching and NYC material because I understood from personal experience how vital it is to give Gen Z, people of color, and those from low-to-middle income households a renewed feeling of hope that they can actually move out and pursue their aspirations.”

Yusra Malik, a 20-year-old student residing at home in Karachi, Pakistan, values Khan’s approach.

The majority of the time, I watch apartment tours to compare the cost of living between a foreign city and my hometown, and to gain inspiration for my future house.

She adds that her desire of owning a home is only a fantasy.