VideoTalking headBuyer-Only Representation ExplainedVertical short-form video, 60–90 seconds, single-take or minimal cuts, TikTok and Instagram ReelsTikTokInstagram Reels

Week 3 · Tuesday

Convert obsessive researchers into DMs by naming the buyer-agent conflict most first-time buyers don't know exists, and offering a low-friction next step.

Posting window: Tuesday 7:30 PM PT

Posting times shown in Pacific Time (PT) — adjust to your audience's timezone in your scheduler.

Hook options

Pick the one you’ll use — the script opener updates to match

Contrarian

The agent at the open house does not work for you.

Direct question

Who does the open house agent actually work for?

Stop doing X

Stop treating the open house agent as your agent.

Nobody talks about

Nobody warns first-time buyers about dual agency.

Empathy call-out

If you've been talking to the listing agent, listen.

Script

Opener (0:00 – 0:10)

The agent standing at the open house does not work for you. They work for the seller, and most first-time buyers walk in assuming the opposite.

Body

That agent's contract is with the person who owns the house. Their job is to get the highest price on the best terms for that seller. Anything you say to them — your budget, what else you're looking at, how much you love the kitchen — is information they can legally use for the other side. Sometimes they'll offer to represent you too. It's called dual agency. One person, negotiating both sides of the biggest check you'll ever write. That is not representation. A buyer-side-only agent has a contract with you. Only you. I don't take listings, so I have no seller I'm quietly serving on the other end. When I walk a Garfield block at 9 on a Wednesday, or make you scope a sewer line on a 1920s Highland Park house, none of that has a second master.

Close / CTA

If you're relocating to the East End and you want a read that isn't a sales pitch, DM me the word EAST and I'll send you what I put in writing at a first meeting, before we look at anything.

≈ 206 words · about 83 s at single-take pace

Production paths

1.Set your phone vertical on a tripod or stack of books at eye level, about 3 feet from where you'll stand or sit. Frame yourself from mid-chest up with a foot of headroom.
2.Light your face with a window in front of you or a lamp behind the phone — never behind you. Check the preview: your eyes should be the brightest part of the frame.
3.Pick a background with real East End context — a window looking out at a rowhouse street, a brick wall, your kitchen with the neighborhood visible. Not a blank wall.
4.Do a 10-second test recording, play it back, check audio. If your phone mic sounds hollow, get closer — 2 feet is fine.
5.Record the full script in one take. This is a single-take format, so no cuts. If you flub a line in the last 10 seconds, restart the whole thing — the take needs to feel continuous.
6.Record 3 to 5 takes. Pick the one where the opener lands sharpest and the dual agency beat gets the pause it needs.
7.Import into CapCut. Trim the head and tail so you start on your first word and end on 'anything.' No B-roll, no zooms.
8.Push the file through Submagic for captions. Use a clean, high-contrast style — white text with a black stroke, centered lower third, one or two words at a time.
9.Back in CapCut, review the captions in a full playthrough for typos, especially on 'dual agency,' 'Garfield,' and 'Highland Park.'
10.Export at 1080x1920, high quality. Save the final file with a clear name so you can find it in Later.

Platform captions

TikTok

The agent at the open house isn't yours. They work for the seller — and if you're a first-time buyer in Pittsburgh's East End, that's the mistake I see cost people the most. DM me EAST if you want the read I give at a first meeting.

Hashtags

#pittsburghrealestate#firsttimehomebuyer#movingtopittsburgh

Instagram Reels

Most first-time buyers assume the friendly agent at the open house is on their side. They aren't. Their contract is with the seller, and anything you say in there can be used on the other side of your offer.

I'm buyer-side only. No listings, no second master. DM me EAST and I'll send you what I put in writing at a first meeting, before we look at anything.

Hashtags

#pittsburghrealestate#eastendpittsburgh#firsttimehomebuyer#buyeragent#movingtopittsburgh

Thumbnail brief

Build this in Canva — it's a design brief, not a prompt to paste.

Save a still of your face from the recording (Record → Save a frame) and open it in Canva — the brief builds everything around the face. Which frame: The beat right after you say 'does not work for you' — eyes locked into the lens, mouth closed or just settling, expression flat and certain, not smiling.

Crop: 9:16 vertical, crop tight from mid-chest up with your face on the right third of the frame and clean space on the left for text
Words: THEY WORK FOR THE SELLER
Placement: Overlay text stacked on the left third, large, three lines: THEY / WORK FOR / THE SELLER. Small arrow or tick mark pointing from the text toward you on the right.
Colors: Cream or off-white background wash behind the text block, deep charcoal text, one accent in a muted Pittsburgh brick red on the arrow
Element: A single small arrow pointing from the text block toward you — nothing else

Scheduling

Tool: Later

1.Open Later and upload the exported video plus the thumbnail image to your media library.
2.Create a new post for TikTok. Paste the TikTok caption. Set the custom cover to your thumbnail. Schedule for Tuesday 7:30 PM PT.
3.Duplicate the post for Instagram Reels. Swap in the Instagram Reels caption and hashtags. Confirm the cover is the same thumbnail. Schedule for Tuesday 7:30 PM PT.
4.Double-check both time zones read as 7:30 PM Pacific and confirm the posts are queued, not saved as drafts.
5.Set a reminder on your phone for Tuesday 7:15 PM PT to be near your phone — you'll want to reply to the first wave of DMs within the first hour to catch the algorithm push.

Lead capture

Where this should drive

The DM itself is the destination. Viewers who message the word EAST get a reply from you (or a saved DM template) with a short intro, the one-page 'what I put in writing at a first meeting' document, and a soft ask for their timeline and target neighborhoods. From there, live buyers move to a scheduled 20-minute intro call. Keep the doc on Google Drive or as a hosted PDF via your Linktree so you can send the same link every time.

Set up with Instagram DMs + Linktree + Mailchimp

1.Write a one-page PDF titled something like 'What I put in writing before we look at a single house' — pull directly from your intake process (sewer scope requirement on pre-1950 homes, closing cost budgeting at 3–4%, pre-approval timing, buyer-side-only representation agreement).
2.Upload the PDF to Google Drive, set sharing to 'anyone with the link,' copy the link.
3.In Linktree, add a hidden or unlisted link labeled 'First meeting doc' pointing to that PDF. This gives you a clean short URL to paste into DMs.
4.In Instagram, set up a saved reply (Settings → Business tools → Saved replies) with a shortcut like 'east.' The message should read: 'Hey — thanks for reaching out. Here's what I put in writing at a first meeting before we look at any houses: [Linktree URL]. If you want, tell me what neighborhoods you're looking at and your rough timeline and I'll send back a real read.' Save it.
5.On TikTok, set up the same saved reply under Settings → Business Suite → Quick replies with the same shortcut and message.
6.In Mailchimp, create a simple audience tag called 'DM inbound — East End' so that when a DM conversation turns into a real lead and you get their email on the intro call, you can tag them and drop them into any nurture sequence you build later.
7.Tuesday 7:30 PM PT onward: monitor DMs, fire the saved reply for anyone who sends EAST, and follow up personally within 12 hours on any reply that comes back with a timeline or neighborhood.