Selling with a song
Kye Sampson puts a ‘Caraoke’ spin on real-estate deals
In the competitive world of real estate, Kye Sampson has found a fun way to sell homes.
It’s a take on James Corden’s “Carpool Karaoke” series, which features celebrities from Sam Smith to J.Lo.
The 37-year-old Realtor launched her “Neighborhood Caraoke” video series, set to a backdrop of jamming music, to showcase Houston homes. She’s even sold a few properties from the series, she says.
“People are looking for an experience,” Sampson says. “I’ve found people are intrigued by the energy that comes across on camera and want to be a part of it. I don’t like anything boring. With this, clients really have a good time. ”
In one episode, she drives the car as Cliff and Marina Roberts and their kids rock out to Taylor Swift’s fingerpopping hit “Shake It Off ” on their way to view a Richmond house. In another, she and radio personality J-Mac, of KBXX (97.9) The Box, vibe to Bruno Mars’ “Finesse” as they walk through a custom townhouse in Meyerland.
Sampson, who styles her own looks in the videos, appears in everything from fun T-shirts and ombre hair to stilettos and a chic green coat with a black-and-white-striped dress.
It’s no surprise Sampson was tapped to star in an episode of HGTV’s “Lakefront Bargain Hunt” last May. She was challenged to find a lakefront home for less than $350,000 for a buyer, and she did. She’s currently working on an episode of the network’s “Lakefront Bargain Hunt Renovation.”
Maybe one day, she says, she’ll have her own TV show. But up next, Sampson is working on becoming a broker and is partnering with her identical twin sister, Tye Phelps, who lives in Dallas, on a cookbook.
Sampson, a native of Dallas, worked in the lending and loanservices industry when she was transferred to Houston. She studied business management at LeTourneau University and got into real estate after buying her first house in 2006.
“I really ended up doing all the work on the sale, and I wanted to do better and advocate for buyers,” she says. “It’s not as easy as people think. If you don’t know what to do when you buy a home, you can get taken for granted. I don’t want that for anyone.”
Sampson says she’s always advocating for the underdog — including her own daughter, Madison, 7, who was born three months premature, weighing a little over 1 pound. One doctor said she’d have major health challenges and could never be a ballerina.
Yet Madison is the author of a book, “My Mirror and Me,” which she wrote at age 4. In the book, she appears in a photo taken at her first ballet recital.
A second book, “My Mirror and Me: The Champion Side of Me,” will come out later this year.
Today, Madison’s only health issue is vertigo. For that reason, Sampson volunteers and gives to charities that help build selfesteem in children — including Triumph Over Kids Cancer and March of Dimes.
But in 2016, Sampson’s husband, Terrel, got a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. The couple has been married for 12 years.
Sampson talks openly about her family’s health challenges with the hope it inspires others.
“When you share your story, you may run across someone who needs to hear it,” she says. “I think that’s how you help.”