Singing Realtors Chris Morris, left, and Benji Perosin (Photo: Shayne Bampton)
By Kelly Putter
Realtors aren’t necessarily known for singing the blues, though you may have heard colleagues cry a river about a lousy commission split.
This pair of Realtors sings for their supper, quite literally. As a sales team with RealtySource in Kingston, Ont., Chris Morris and Benji Perosin are veteran musicians who will write and perform a custom-made song to accompany the online video tour of each property they market.
The singing salesmen brainstormed the idea for their unique musical offering in April after losing a listing to another agent.
“We were venting,” says Morris 33, “and we jokingly said, let’s write a song and we started riffing on that idea, saying the address can be the chorus and all the features can be verses.”
While both are experienced salespeople and musicians, neither knew much about professional video-recording. Since homes in Kingston sell for an average price of $275,000, hiring a videographer at $500 to $1,000 a pop would be cost prohibitive. So Morris tried recording and editing video with his own handy cam and the result surprised the tuneful duo.
“Because it’s not a professional videographer it has the effect of a home video and it’s a bit campy,” says Perosin, 39. “The quality of the video sort of complements these folksy, camp-fire type songs we do. They’re really fun and a unique way to market a property.”
The songs are little gems that impart a folksy-bluesy vibe thanks to the guitar and harmonica with lyrics that run from serious to sweet to comical. Here’s a taste of what they wrote for a listing on 480 Bagot St.:
“You can walk everywhere you need/It won’t be long now till you get the deed/This house at 480 Bagot/ It’ll be gone if you don’t soon snag it.”
Or this lyric from a condo they sold that closes with this line:
“Make sure you leave your fancy clothes in the closet/It just ain’t that kind of place.”
While the pair is well aware their songs hit your funny bone, they know they need to balance the humour with a strong sense of professionalism.
“One thing we emphasize is that it has to be a sales pitch,” says Morris. “As amusing and as much fun as it is to perform a song, it’s important to sell the house. We don’t want people to think we’re writing songs because we’re musicians and it’s all fun and funny.”
Morris has been working as a Realtor for 5 ½ years in Kingston, while Perosin has been at it for two. Both have been fixtures within the Kingston music scene for years, playing and singing in local clubs either solo or with other groups. Perosin was nominated for a Juno in 2008 for this work with the Toronto band God Made Me Funky. Morris, who’s been playing guitar for 20 years and composing songs, has performed mainly rock and blues in and around his native Kingston.
The pair originally met up as musicians within the city’s vibrant music scene. When Perosin, who studied music at Queen’s University, decided to move back to the Kingston area after being away for a while, he contacted Morris. The two ultimately teamed up to sell real estate together.
Their musicianship seems to be working. Listings and clients are coming their way thanks to their tunes. One client called the team solely based on the song they composed for 480 Bagot St. Out-of towners have even expressed interest in their services.
In the past, their virtual video tours might get 50 or 60 views and that’s sometimes over a period of a few years. But the new musically enhanced virtual tours get as many as 100 views, sometimes on the first day alone.
The pair considered using their customized tunes to sell income properties but decided against it for purely practical reasons.
“Triplexes aren’t really marketed on an emotional basis,” says Morris. “It’s all about the numbers. No one buys a triplex because they love the kitchen. We thought of singing about how much profit you would make, but we couldn’t wrap our heads around that.”
While creating a template tune for listings with fill-in-the-blank options about each home’s features would be easier than writing original scores for each property, Morris and Perosin think it would be the death knell of their sales strategy.
“Everyone does a video tour, but this makes ours stand out,” says Morris. “That’s one of the reasons we started doing these in the first place. I don’t think people would be as supportive if we did a template song. For me, it’s the originality of each song and each property that makes it fun. I like seeing what the property says to me musically. Often when we go to a listing the first two lines pop into my head right away.”
The team listed a high-end property recently but felt their campy tunes weren’t the right fit for the $600,000 home. Instead, they’re thinking of composing an instrumental piece that will score the home’s video tour.
“The most important thing is giving them something that’s customized and unique,” Morris says.
Perosin, who has written music for documentaries, is confident the duo can continue to produce songs indefinitely. As experienced songwriters, they have “thousands” of ideas to draw on. “We’ll never be stumped,” he says.
To see Morris’ and Perosin’s rhythmic listings visit www.chrisandbenji.com and click on the link to their YouTube channel.
