A Landlord Explained Why He Deserves Tips Too & TikTokers Seriously Hope He's Joking
Imagine paying an 18% tip on your rent!
The TikToker in their skit.
Saving up for your rent is painful enough, but how would you feel if your landlord expected you to pay a tip on top of that?
A pair of real estate investors have people up in arms about the idea on TikTok, after they posted a video skit suggesting that landlords deserve a little extra recognition for the little things they do for tenants — and that recognition could be a tip.
Matthew Tortoriello and Kevin Shippee, the duo behind the account, typically share real estate advice on TikTok, YouTube and podcasts. However, they also clearly don't mind jumping in to act out their ideas, as their viral skit shows.
In the video, Kevin plays the landlord, while Matthew plays the tenant.
The video begins with the two completing a transaction for the month's rent and Kevin the landlord then pulls a barista move by handing over an iPad with a tipping prompt on it.
Matthew, who plays the tenant, then gets fake outraged. “A tip? I'm not tipping my landlord!”
The landlord shoots back at the tenant and says: “So, you’ll tip a barista who pours overpriced coffee into a cup, but not the guy who's on call 24/7 to make sure you have a safe home?”
@twoguystakeonrealestate When you’re paying your landlord the rent and a tipping screen appears… #investmentproperty #realestateinvesting #passiveincome
The adamant tenant reminds the landlord that he’s not at a restaurant.
“Okay, so you'll tip an extra 25% for somebody to carry you a basket of chicken, but you won't tip someone who responds for after-hours emergency calls?” the landlord asks him.
The landlord's question leaves the tenant stumped.
“I guess when it's time for your lease renewal, I'm going to make sure gratuity is included in your rent,” the landlord adds near the end of the video.
The video is played as a tongue-in-cheek skit, but with inflation and housing prices on the rise, TikTokers did not appreciate even the hint that they should be tipping for something else — especially not on rent.
One person wrote: “lmfao there's no way this isn't satire,” receiving over 12,800 likes.
Another user commented: “The tip is the rent.”
“Gonna tell my landlord he has to tip me 50% for keeping his property safe and secured as bodyguard work is not free or expected,” joked someone.
Another user made fun of the skit and landlords. “The hard hard life of a landlord, they have to WAIT for your rent money and believe it or not they have to take PHONE CALLS and proceed to do nothing.”
One commenter reminded the duo that “25% on a $1600 rent may be a little more than 25% on a $27 bill from a restaurant.”
“My landlord never fixes anything lol,” wrote one user. “My oven hasn’t worked for a year.”
One commenter reminded the investors that their income is nowhere near as low as that of a server, which is why servers receive tips, unlike landlords, who can afford owning extra housing.
“I’ll tip $5 to someone making $7 an hour instead of tipping any amount of money to someone making $1000+ just off of me,” read the comment.
The responses were equally as angry on Twitter.
"Landlords thinking they deserve a tip is actually crazy," read a comment on the video.
The video has been watched over 3 million times across Twitter and TikTok to date, and it's pretty clear that people won't be rushing out to tip their landlords in these tough times.
Matt and Kevin told Narcity that their goal with the video “was to showcase that there is a lot more work involved with being a landlord than one might think.”
“We also wanted to put a comedic spin on it by commenting on the tipping screen trend that shows up anytime you purchase something these days!” they said in an email statement.
Although they don’t expect a tip, they appreciate the tenants who go above and beyond and gift them things like “Christmas cards, cookies and hot chocolate in the winter months,” because of the high costs associated with being a landlord.
“Rent is high and a lot of that has to do with the very large expenses that landlords everywhere are paying,” Matt and Kevin told Narcity. “For example, our insurance costs have gone up over 40% year after year. In addition, maintenance, labour and supply costs have also doubled.”
The two also aren’t too fazed by the backlash the video has received since being posted on TikTok.
“The backlash is normal with a sensitive topic like this one,” they told Narcity. “We aren't new to videos going viral! Our 'cringe' or dorky humour has definitely received attention in the past.”