Grumpy guest makes surprise appearance in rental listing

A real estate agency has gone to surprising lengths to grab viewers’ attention this Christmas season. 

Dr Seuss’s grouchiest character has kickstarted a new career in real estate. 

The Grinch has been spotted in several London rental listings, hiding in cupboards, lounging on the balcony, and washing the dishes. 

The gimmick is the brainchild of Leila Matse-Orere, head of marketing at Legacy Property Consultants in London. 

She pitched the idea as a way to boost listing views over the December slump. 

“At first, telling the landlords that we wanted to photograph a Grinch in their property wasn’t the easiest thing,” she tells the New York Post. 

“But the more we could do, the more examples we had of how well it worked.” 

Several of the Grinch properties were rented out within 24 hours of the listing going live. 

Some saw a massive 840 per cent increase in clicks compared to non-Grinch rental listings. 

“The stats – it’s nothing we’ve ever seen before. They’re going crazy,” Matse-Orere says. 

In one canalside rental listing in Little Venice, the Grinch sunbathes on the balcony and reads a magazine. 

Meanwhile, a five-bedroom house in Edgware shows the Grinch warming his hands by the fire and relaxing in the bathtub. 

Matse-Orere herself and a number of colleagues have donned the costume for the photo campaign. 

The listings have garnered attention on Reddit, with one user joking, “EA misheard his boss saying ‘cinch the deal on the house’.” 

Another user commented, “I have to say, this marketing technique is working on me.” 

As well as featuring in rental listings, the Grinch has also hijacked the agency’s social media accounts, where he sits in board meetings and shows followers around London.