Caleb Simpson has become the internet’s favorite real estate looky-loo based on the millions of views his viral video series of apartment and home tours has racked up. But instead of filming formal open houses, the New York City–based content creator stops strangers on the street and persuades them to invite him inside their living space and open up about how much they pay in rent.
He’s had his camera rolling to check out more than 200 properties that range in size and price. The cheapest so far? A rent-controlled apartment in downtown Manhattan that goes for $350 a month. Then there’s the most expensive: a $10 million property that real estate mogul and “Shark Tank” star Barbara Corcoran owns.
“I like to call it this generation’s ‘MTV Cribs,’” Simpson says.
As he hits the road in December to film abodes in Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco, and abroad, Simpson took time from touring to give us his insider take on what renting New York City real estate is really like, and what our personal spaces say about us.
In your videos, you begin by asking strangers on the street, ‘How much do you pay in rent?’ How do you convince them to share this private info, then give you a tour of their apartment on the spot?
When I first started, people didn’t really want to give away that information. But in New York City specifically, when you’re going over to a friend’s apartment, the first thing you ask is, “How much do you pay for this place?” Whether I run into someone on the street and we go do it right then or someone reaches out, I just show up at their home and I’m outside their door and I’m already filming. It’s very spontaneous.
