B
uying or renting a home without ever attending an open house, stepping inside a property, or meeting a realtor in person was once a bold experiment. Today it’s the norm. In New York City, roughly 126,000 licensed agents report that most buyers and renters browse listings, schedule viewings, and even close deals entirely through their phones.
That shift inspired Klipster, a new app that debuted today as the go‑to platform for the mobile‑first home‑search market. “We started noticing a pattern in the data,” says Eric Benaim, CEO of Long Island City‑based brokerage Modern Spaces. “People were making appointments over FaceTime and actually completing transactions that way.” Benaim cites the high‑profile example of Sylvester Stallone, who last year signed for a $24.95 million East Hampton mansion via FaceTime, paying a large deposit before ever touring the property in person.
While remote transactions were not unheard of for out‑of‑state buyers or those with deep local knowledge, the trend now extends to city residents who prefer impersonal, digital interactions. Benaim attributes this to the rise of short‑form rental platforms like Airbnb, which have normalized buying or renting based solely on photos.
More surprisingly, Benaim found that the traffic fueling these digital deals does not come from traditional listing sites such as Zillow or Trulia. Instead, it originates from social media, especially Instagram and TikTok. “Now 75 % of home shoppers are millennials and Gen Z,” he notes. “They spend most of their time on their phones, scrolling through video content on TikTok or Instagram.”
Klipster responds by consolidating the entire home‑search experience into one app. Users can filter listings by price, location, and property type—whether they’re hunting a West Village townhouse or a Bed‑Stuy two‑bedroom rental. Rather than static photos, the platform uses AI to generate engaging video walkthroughs. Brokers can also upload their own short‑form, real‑estate‑centric videos, host live open houses, or conduct video calls—all within the app. Transactions can be completed inside Klipster, making the process seamless. The company’s tagline, “Swipe, scroll, apply,” captures its streamlined workflow.
Founders Eric Benaim and Modern Spaces marketing executive Arlinda Dine believe the app’s addictive design will keep users scrolling late into the night. “We saw many agents using FaceTime for one‑on‑one tours,” Dine explains. “We wanted to create a platform where an agent could host a live open house, record it, and share it with potentially hundreds of thousands of viewers.” The app has spun off as an independent company, with serial tech entrepreneur Michael Taus—known for Rent.com—serving as Chief Growth Officer.
Klipster is actively scraping every listing in New York City, animating the photos into scrollable video content, and inviting brokers from all agencies to post. The company also partners with established social‑media influencers, such as Instagram star JulioJanPierre, who boasts 1.5 million followers. The goal is to make the app appealing to both tech‑savvy agents and traditional brokers. “Agents like Ryan Serhant naturally create content,” Benaim says. “But for those who don’t, we’ve built AI tools to help them produce engaging videos.” According to the founders, these tools can increase an agent’s reach by five times and close deals up to 30 % faster.
With its launch, Klipster curates real‑estate clips across New York City, the New Jersey metro, and South Florida, with plans for a rapid nationwide rollout. For anyone already addicted to real‑estate videos, the app offers a TikTok‑meets‑Zillow‑meets‑Facetime hybrid that delivers a dopamine‑rich, time‑sucking experience. “If you’re on social media, real‑estate professionals are already popping up in your feeds,” Benaim observes. “But a dedicated platform for real‑estate content has never existed—until now.”
