- Former teen TV star Ainslie Allen uses singing to win listings in Wellington real estate.
- Her offer of a complimentary housewarming concert has secured two performances for clients.
- The unusual strategy helps differentiate her in a highly competitive industry.
Former teen star Ainslie Allen knew breaking into real estate wouldn't be easy, so she used her singing career to win listings from the competition.
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Her catchy marketing campaign, "Sell with me, and I will sing at your housewarming", even helped her land more gigs.
Allen became a household name virtually overnight when she appeared on McDonald’s Young Entertainers TV show in the 1990s with Jason Gunn at the age of 15.
“I was on TV at the time when we didn’t have any internet, we had no YouTube, there were no shows like America’s Got Talent. McDonald’s Young Entertainers was the show that everybody watched on a Sunday night.”
Allen spent several years on the show and then branched out into a solo country music career. But when the gigs slowed down several years ago, she decided to follow in her mum’s footsteps and give real estate a go.
Former McDonald's Young Entertainers star Ainslie Allen promises to sing for vendors if she manages to sell their home. Photo / Supplied
Allen pictured with host Jason Gunn on McDonald's Young Entertainers TV show in the 1990s. Photo / NZ Screem
Her manager at Bayleys Paremata was the one who told her she should sing in her video marketing campaigns to make them stand out. “I thought, 'Oh my God, no, please no,'” she said, but then she changed her tune.
She came up with the idea of putting on a free one-hour gig for vendors when she sold their houses. “It is a bit of tongue-in-cheek, really,” she said.
“It was just something different to help me gain some listings. This industry – it’s so competitive”
So far she's had two sellers who have asked her to perform.
The first invited their new neighbours for a large housewarming BBQ and had Allen sing in their backyard over summer, while the second was a more intimate gathering of about 20 people in the homeowners’ new lounge.
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“Just like I do for any other gig, I come around with my equipment and my guitar and play a set. That’s the deal I’ve got going with this – I play a one-hour set.”
Both events had been “really, really fun” and she encouraged any vendors to take up the offer, which is good for six months of her selling the house.
Some clients planned to book the complimentary gig but couldn't make it work time-wise. For others, it just wasn't their "vibe".
Someone had commented to her that they’d feel a bit uncomfortable if she came into their lounge and played some songs. However, after 27 years in the biz, Allen has learned to read a room and avoid any awkwardness.
Allen started as a Bayleys real estate agent 18 months ago to supplement her music work. Photo / Supplied
Not only are Allen's real estate ads helping her get listings, but they are also generating more music work too. Photo / Supplied
“I’ve got 700 tracks, so I can take old [songs], new, whatever. Give them a good time,” she said.
But it is not just the free gigs that are helping her stand out. People still recognise her and her trademark blonde curly hair.
“I did an appraisal the other day in Titahi Bay, which is where I grew up, on the fact that she saw one of my flyers in her letterbox and she remembered me from the television show.”
Allen said her two careers complemented each other really well.
“I’ve got gigs I do locally, and I always say ‘I can sing at your next event, or I can sell your house’, and they get a laugh. I mean, people know I’m quite humorous anyway, and I just didn’t want it to be serious; it was just more of a marketing angle that I thought right people remember me from singing, this is what I’m doing now selling houses so let’s list and let’s have that housewarming party.”
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