Ontario team creates buzz with music videos that let listings steal the show

“Home is where I want to be, but I guess I’m already there,” croons Ryan Malcolm.

Now a real estate agent, but perhaps best recognized as the season one winner of Canadian Idol, Malcolm is using his musical past in an unconventional way, getting creative with his colleagues to market listings on social media. 

His soft cover of the 1983 Talking Heads song, used to advertise a million-dollar home on a vineyard property in Prince Edward County, Ont., is part of a growing strategy by Malcolm Fitz & Doseger Real Estate Group to feature homes with custom-made music videos.

A surprise success 

Jen Fitzpatrick, one-third of the group along with Malcolm and Jake Doseger, said they first had the idea in June when a friend was listing their home.

“We thought we’d do something a little bit different, so I said to Ryan, ‘Why don’t you bring your guitar and we’ll just do like an acoustic version of a song, just to promote her particular listing?’”

Fitzpatrick said the home sold within 12 hours.

Since then, they’ve produced music videos for almost every listing – about 30 – with total social media views hitting 350,000.

From concept to finished product

The songs are sometimes covers, often chosen by the client and then stylized with lyrical and melodic tweaks to fit the particular listing, and other times they’re originals penned by Malcolm.

The home always serves as inspiration.

“We’ve got a listing coming up in the spring that’s basically got a bit of a western town in behind it, so we’re going to tailor that musical experience to something more country and western,” said Malcolm.

He said they’re starting to branch out more with visuals as well.

“We did Ice Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice, and we had costumes, the whole thing. It’s more than just the music aspect,” he said.

Malcolm says after more than two dozen videos, they’ve “got it down to a pretty good science,” with the help of recording engineer Annelise Noronha and videographer Connor Mitchell.

It only takes about two hours for Malcolm to perfect the song and record it. The longest part is editing the video, which can take up to four days.  

The team says others in the field have taken similar approaches, but many use AI to generate videos quickly. AI isn’t used in any part of their process, says Malcolm.

The ROI

Malcolm said the videos have increased their media budget by about 25 per cent.

The team agrees it’s worth the expense and the effort. Malcolm said strangers have stopped him on the street to say they’re enjoying the videos. 

“We’re getting a return on investment. We’re finding now we’re actually getting referrals or clients just because of the music videos,” said Fitzpatrick. 

Malcolm said he can think of four or five times when some reached out directly because of a music video. Often, direct messages come in through social media, especially Instagram.

The same treatment for all clients

Malcolm said whether it’s a $300,000 or $1.5 million listing, all videos are given the same level of attention detail. 

“Our marketing costs are our marketing costs, and we don’t really tailor that to the price of the product. The less expensive entry homes still get their time to shine online, and the clients still get the same treatment no matter what the house is worth,” he said.

The team is considering other streams of content that showcase the markets they serve, in order to showcase smaller and rural communities to city dwellers. 

“We’re thinking of different ideas that we can do to expand, not just on the listing videos, but to promote living here as well,” said Malcolm. 

Music video marketing contributed to the three-person team surpassing $32 million in volume in 2025 and 64 ends. Total sales volume since the team formed in 2023 is more than $74 million.