A HEARTWARMING video shows an estate agent guiding viewers through her latest property – her own family home of 22 years.
Tanya Baker is an independent estate agent who advertises properties on her social media pages, where she guides viewers through the homes on in-depth tours.
However, her latest advert hits closer to home as the 30-year-old now faces selling her own four-bedroom family home in Eltham, London.
The video begins with Tanya showing the grey exterior of the semi-detached property as she makes her way inside, saying: “I didn’t want to sell this house because I knew these clients would be difficult.
“I know what you’re thinking, ‘Tanya, you can’t say that!’, well I can when it’s my parents house.”
Tanya invites the camera inside, continuing: “So my name is Tanya Baker, I’m not your usual estate agent and this is my family home.”
She walks through the kitchen and past a giant money tree, joking: “That money tree you just saw in the kitchen is actually older than I am which means that it’s probably time for its first course of anti-wrinkle cream.”
The tour moves into and through the large garden, which features a gazebo with a sofa and table to enjoy outdoor dining in comfort, as well as astroturf covering the lawn.
Tanya then leads the camera to a gate at the back garden, which leads directly into a dirt path running through Oxleas Woods.
She continues: “Anyway I digress – we’ve always loved living in front of the woods, we used to take our dogs here and ride our bikes out the back.
“I don’t want to hear anything about astroturf anymore, so please just don’t – this is a really lovely outside seating area.”
She then makes her way back through to the interior of the property via the porch and into the kitchen.
“Then through to the kitchen, they put in the bi-folds and the skylight to add a lot of natural light into the back of the home”, she continues.
“Front living room and lounge or through-reception and this is basically Battersea Dogs home”, she jokes as her parents’ three dogs make an appearance on the beige leather sofas.
She then makes her way through the hallway and up the stairs, saying: “Upstairs we’ve got three bedrooms and a family bathroom – my parents are that neutral beige family, or ‘greige’ even.”
The large bathroom shown offers house-hunters a spacious room that features a bath and a shower cubicle inside.
“This was my bedroom before I left home and then this bedroom at the front was my bedroom before that bedroom and then the bedroom next to this was also my bedroom once”, she giggles.
“That’s two double bedrooms, a single and a family bathroom and a partridge in a pear tree.”
All of the bedrooms shown on the second floor offer plenty of living space with lots of natural light seeping in through the large windows.
Finally, Tanya invites us to follow her up to the second floor, where the master bedroom is located at the top of the winding steps.
She remarks: “The main bedroom upstairs – it’s got lovely views over the garden and the woodlands and then the ensuite bathroom too.
“Can we all cry together about how sad it is that I’m selling my family home?”
Tanya uploaded to TikTok yesterday with the caption: “My Family Home, SE9, can we cry together? Someone hold my hand.”
The video has received over 240,000 likes and more than 1,300 comments from users who reacted to Tanya’s touching sales video
One user wrote: “Too poor for this house but here I am watching for small details.”
Another said: “Hope you’re feeling okay about the family home though, it’s a toughie but at least you can find lovely new owners to love it.”
A third commented: “Oh, to be able to own a beautiful house like this, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to buy one. I could only dream of this beautiful place.”
Another said: “It’s so nice to see a ‘normal’ family home on estate agent TikTok. They’re usually pimped up to the eyeballs with modern trends.”
A fifth joked: “£5 final offer.”
Speaking today Tanya said: “It’s been the family home for 22 years now and – you’re going to love this – my mum and dad only purchased it because it’s next to my aunt’s house, which is next to my uncle’s house.
“So there’s three siblings in a row. Which was lovely growing up.
“They’re selling because my brother and I left home and it’s just my parents living there.
“Knowing that eventually three flights of stairs will be too much for them, they purchased a bungalow on a nice plot in Kent.
“Christmas was lovely, we’d all just pop into each other’s houses next and next door but one, and if we ever ran out of sugar or needed an egg to bake with, they were there!
“They’ve since knocked the bungalow down and gone up to build a bigger home. They always wanted to build something of their own from scratch so this was a nice, well-deserved project for them.
“The home means a lot to me because it’s naturally full of memories. We’ve had wonderful Christmases there, lovely barbecues and sleepovers etc.
“It is sad to see it go but as I say to a lot of my clients (not just mum and dad), our homes outlive us – most of the time – so we have to accept that they get passed on to others to enjoy.
“That’s what we’re doing, we’re passing this home to another family who will love and enjoy it and that makes selling it so much easier.
“I am so glad I’m the agent acting for my mum and dad. I now work for myself but previously I worked for high street agents and they’re so transactional.
“My mum would have felt so stressed and overwhelmed being dealt with by five different staff members and feeling like just another number.
“So to look after my parents the same way I take care of my clients means a lot. It’s one less thing to worry about. I’d have felt so bad if they had a poor agent acting for them.”
Tanya continued: “It’s a 1930s built home and its best feature is its positioning – it’s right in front of Oxleas Woods which means rear privacy and also a magical place to walk dogs and learn to ride a bike right at the end of your garden.
“In recent years they added the bifolds and skylight at the back of the house which have made the kitchen a lovely family hub, especially in the summer.
“There’s lots of cupboards and storage too, which we loved growing up, lots of hide and seek spots.
“It hasn’t even gone up for sale as of yet…I actually have a buyer for it off-market who is another client of mine.
“Though I think I could have sold it through TikTok alone… I had countless enquiries asking for details/ viewings etc and it got 2 million views in 24 hours…it’s approximately £700,000.”
“TikTok is a platform I use to shine a light on my clients homes & I treat it as a tool to advertise and achieve the very best price.
“I view my page as a digital newspaper section. I’m an independent estate agent for those who want a fresh, personal approach to moving.
“I get a lot of comments about my social channels and I think I create very watchable content. People tell me they feel they’re being shown around by a friend due to the warm nature of the content.
“That makes people feel more relaxed and helps to build trust.”
