Sometimes quirkiness works to sell houses

SPIDER-MAN, couldn’t find one with a full body cover, so a unicorn was the next best thing,” Dudley said.

In the photos, the unicorn performs ordinary life tasks around the home in a way that accentuates the amenities — walking dogs out the front door, playing Twister in the finished basement and getting into a car parked in the private pad in the rear.

The house went under contract for sale in one day, Dudley said.

In October, the team took over a listing for a home in Canton that had languished for months.

The sellers agreed to try the fun photo strategy to freshen the listing and attract foot traffic from social media.

Soon an agent friend of Dudley and Frank was donning a Spider-Man costume after studying which of the comic book character’s signature poses might translate around the house.

The photos, posted online Wednesday, featured the webslinger crouched atop granite countertops, perched on railings and sprawled seductively across the hardwood floors.

“We don’t expect anyone to buy because of Spider-Man, but it’s more fun than your standard room-by-room shots,” Dudley said.

Realtors trying out unconventional marketing strategies is a reaction to rising interest rates, which may be starting to drag on the housing market, said Karyl Leggio, a professor of finance at Loyola University.

But it’s smart marketing in the internet age.

“We're in such an era where people like to go viral,” Leggio said of using unorthodox characters in real estate photos.

Previously, real estate agents used various strategies during open house events to attract buyers, such as baking cookies in the home to produce a pleasant smell or playing music to distract from traffic sounds. Dressing in costumes is a way to get buyers in the door, Leggio said.

“These are all good things when you're trying to sell a home in a market with high interest rates,” she said. “It's an easy thing to post. I bet you'll see this become a major trend.”

The house has become less about needs and more about desires, said Ross Mackesey, manager of Long and Foster Real Estate’s Lake Roland office. “You’re actually selling a lifestyle as much as sticks and bricks,” Mackesey said. “Fun does sell to some people.”

Dudley and Frank also have staged more conventional scenes featuring cocktail parties. Still, the Spider-Man and unicorn pictures are as much about selling the personality of Baltimore, with all its quirks and charms, as they are about selling the property.