Real estate agency under fire after video hitting back at ‘couch critics' goes viral

News.com.au

a day ago

A Sydney real estate agency is copping significant backlash after sharing a 'tone deaf' video seemingly boasting about renting out a property.
The video, shared by CMP Real Estate property associate Jazmin Refik, references the leasing of a six bedroom, five bathroom home in Leppington, located more than 50km southwest of Sydney's CBD.
In the now-viral clip, Ms Refik stands outside the home with property manager, Natasha Pincevic, with the pair boasting about renting out the home for $1450 a week, despite saying it has 'no pool', is in 'the middle of nowhere' and has a 'job site next door'.
The video appears to be a follow-up to another post made prior to the home being leased, where the pair showed all the different features of the property and branding it a 'hidden luxury gem'.
'Would YOU pay $1,450 per week for this?' the video was captioned.
While the video gained some positive responses, there were quite a few social media users who baulked at the price.
'$1450 in the middle of nowhere lol,' one said.
'Man that's a lot for rent! Maybe if it had a pool then yeah agreed,' another wrote.
One added: 'No pool, no views and who's gonna clean all that space!'
Despite the criticism, the home did end up being rented out for the price listed, with the most recent video clearly in response to the negative comments.
However, many social media users clearly didn't appreciate the tone of the video, sparking even further backlash.
CMP Real Estate agency even jumped into the comment section and explained the context of the video, claiming it was a 'clap back to the couch critics'.
'Sarcasm included. And if you know the Sydney market, you'd know this price is actually standard for this type of house in this area. Wild, but true,' the agency wrote.
However, this explanation seemed to do little to quell the furious response, with people branding the video 'tone deaf' and 'cooked'.
'They're literally listing the disadvantages for the tenant & advantage for the owner, l‍ï¸�ike it's something to be proud of. I'm a homeowner, & literally feel sorry for the tenant who rented this,' one person wrote.
'Is this meant to be a joke?' one person questioned.
'This is supposed to be a flex?' one commenter asked, with another adding, 'I think you are meant to say this off camera guys'.
Amid all the criticism, there were some people who came to the defence of the agents, claiming they were just doing their job.
'Not the agent's fault it's the market price, supply and demand decides the price,' one person wrote.
'They found very good tenants that can afford $1450 p/w, it wouldn't have rented if it was over priced,' another said.
In a statement to the Daily Mail, the agency claimed the video had been taken out of context and was meant as a tongue in cheek response to critics.
CMP founder Christina Pincevic also defended the price of the rental, saying the agency has 'leased homes of similar size for over $2000 before'.