Viral Comedy Skits, Golf Pop-Ups, and Themed Coloring Books: Inside Real Estate Agents’ Most Creative Marketing Tactics

As the housing market enters the summer doldrums, with would-be buyers weighed down by rising borrowing costs and distracted by vacation plans, real estate agents are getting increasingly creative to drum up interest. Today's real estate professionals are turning to marketing methods that go far beyond a lone balloon tied to an open house sign at a street intersection and a plate of store-bought cookies in the kitchen.Realtor.com® asked agents and brokers from across the U.S. to share their most out-of-the-box strategies to cut through the noise and secure sales even as the national housing market is experiencing a seasonal pullback made worse by economic uncertainty.Here's how agents are turning garden-variety listings into eye-catching experiences—from upscale live-music property showcases and custom coloring books to themed gift baskets and viral comedian collaborations."Whether it's an extraordinary estate or a neighborhood bungalow, the goal is the same: Create an experience people remember," Maggie Bond, a broker with Onward Real Estate in Nashville, TN, tells Realtor.com. "Because even if the person walking through the door isn't the buyer, they may be the one who tells the ...