San Francisco real estate agent uses drag persona to help advertise homes

In one of the most competitive real estate markets in America, getting buyers through the door is half the battle. But realtor J. Conrad Frank has found a colorful way to drag them in.

His secret weapon? Katya Smirnoff-Skyy. Aunt Katya, if you will. She grabs their attention on social media, then Frank swoops in and closes the deal. And the best part? Smirnoff-Skyy doesn't take a commission, mostly because they're the same person.

A fixture on San Francisco's drag scene, Katya has taken her act off the stage and onto the market. With more than 200,000 followers, her house tour videos have become must-see real estate TV, part open house, part one-woman show.

"If I can get a property seen by 40,000 people, that's 40,000 people who hadn't seen it before," She said.

But Smirnoff-Skyy doesn't just happen. There's the eyeshadow. The lipstick. The Joan Crawford dress. And then the transformation.

"You pop on the hair and she becomes her," she said. "And then she's ready to do whatever it is she does."

Today's listing, 1220 Russia Avenue, a 1933 Spanish Mediterranean in San Francisco's up-and-coming Excelsior neighborhood. And while Smirnoff-Skyy gets them through the virtual front door, Frank takes it from there.

Marcus Dawson, a tech executive who'd already thrown in the towel on finding a home, stumbled onto one of Smirnoff-Skyy's videos and said something just clicked.

"It was a way of getting me re-engaged to see what was out there," he said.

As for whether Smirnoff-Skyy's flair might give some buyers cold feet, listing agent Adelaida Mejia of Vanguard Properties isn't losing any sleep over it.

"It showed me that he was willing to really put in an effort and that's a benefit whenever someone does something highly creative in the space," she said.