Davelle Morrison, a sales representative with Bosley Real Estate in Toronto, knows the value of creating a bond between buyer and home. What better way to do that than to help potential buyers imagine what it’s like to live there?
Morrison created a lifestyle video for a 5,400-plus-square-foot home she recently listed. She hired an actor to play the role of Dad and two 11-year-old girls to be his daughters and then filmed the “family” at home.
“I really wanted to tweak my real estate marketing and do something unique and different to help sell this house and break through the media clutter,” Morrison says.
Davelle Morrison
She was inspired by a lifestyle video created by U.S. Realtor Joy Kim Metalios for an 8,000-plus-square-foot house in Greenwich, Conn. The video shows children playing hide and seek to showcase the home and property.
When she told the owner of her listing about the idea, he was delighted. “I love both the originality of the idea and how it would make the house come alive,” the homeowner says. “A house can be beautiful but the story line adds the personality. It’s easy for people to identify with the characters and lifestyle in the video and as a result it’s easy to imagine living there, which is huge.”
Morrison created the video with marketing consultant and video producer Lisa Reis. Morrison made suggestions about features she wanted highlighted in the video. Filming took four hours one Sunday morning. Hot button words and music were added later.
Concept 1 was for a dinner party. “I was going to get a bunch of friends and ply them with food and alcohol and shoot the party,” Morrison says. However “the homeowners liked the concept with the two kids more.”
One of the girls, Ava Siskind, is the daughter of one of Morrison’s friends. The other girl is Ava’s friend. Hiring friends helped keep the budget in check. (Morrison declined to discuss the cost of the video.) However she says it was worth it to help make the $2.595-million property stand out. She will also use it on future listing presentations to help set her apart.
As well as posting the video on her personal and business Facebook pages, Morrison tagged Ava’s mother and the owners of the house so all of their friends could see it.
In addition to the video, Morrison created a news release for the house and sent it to several media outlets. “I knew to do that from my advertising background,” she says.
When she was in advertising sales with the W Network, it was her job to come up with marketing ideas. “Now I come up with marketing ideas for houses or myself,” she says.
For another listing, Morrison had a barbecue so people coming through the open house could see the great backyard. People came in, saw people flipping burgers and sat and ate lunch. “You’re asking people to make a huge decision and the more time they spend in the house the better,” she says.
She ensures cookies, candies and nuts are set out at her open houses. “Food and treats keep people hanging out and make them feel comfortable in the space. They enjoy catching a little nibble in the middle of the day.”
Morrison has been an agent for three years, targeting first-time buyers and investors in Toronto. In 2014, she ranked in the top 20 agents in her office. A real estate investor, Morrison will write a chapter in the upcoming book Success Today, by author and speaker Brian Tracy. She will also be featured in Success Today with Bob Guiney. The show will be aired on ABC, CBS and NBC affiliates in the spring.
Connie Adair is a contributing writer for REM.
