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Real estate pro Orion Moquin is turning heads with his 12-acre listing in Waterboro, Maine. Scroll through the property photos, and you may just catch a glimpse of a mysterious, hairy figure lurking in the woods.
Yes, it’s Bigfoot.
Moquin, an agent with Real Broker, First Hill Realty Group, in Portsmouth, N.H., knew he needed to do something creative to grab attention for the $165,000 land parcel.
“This is a vacant land listing,” Moquin says. “There’s no structure, no property, no improvements … and I thought, how do we get this in front of enough people? How do we get this out there in a creative way so that it’s shared by other people and they kind of do a bit of the legwork [for us]?”
Inviting Buyers to Check out the ‘Local Wildlife’
With co-listing agent Colin Amidon fully on board and behind the camera, Moquin donned a Bigfoot costume for a quirky listing photo shoot. In the listing photos, Bigfoot can be spotted wandering in between trees and meandering near the property’s stream. He’s even caught on camera in a snowball fight.
Moquin’s listing copy dares prospective buyers to come see the land for themselves: “You'll feel mostly alone in these beautiful woods, and you might even catch a glimpse of the local wildlife at the brook on the southern border of the property. Perhaps a deer, a fox or .... I HAVE BEEN ADVISED NOT TO ELABORATE.”
He wasn’t too worried about frightening off buyers. His real concern? Personal safety.
“My biggest fear at the time was that it was hunting season and I was wearing a Bigfoot costume in the woods,” Moquin laughs. “How would I have explained to my wife if I ended up in the ER because someone thought they found Bigfoot in the woods?”
Fortunately, he emerged unscathed. And the photos have been worth the risk, he says, generating national attention for his listing.
Real Estate as Entertainment
Moquin joins a list of real estate agents who’ve donned costumes to drum up interest in listings. From inflatable T-Rexes to panda suits to Spiderman getups, more agents are tapping into what Moquin calls “real estate entertainment.”
“It’s about being creative in terms of how we get exposure for our sellers,” he says.
A vacant parcel of land could be a tough sell with just photos of trees and dirt, he says. But Bigfoot hiding in the shadows? That might earn a second glance—or a social media share.
Casual browsing on real estate platforms is evolving, he notes. “A lot of times people are just poking around looking. I think of [scrolling for listings] more like a Facebook scrolling experience.” And that means giving people something to talk about and share.
Bigfoot Worked His Magic Once Before
Moquin is still searching for a buyer for the Waterboro property, but he’s hopeful that the extra attention on the listing will drum up interest soon. After all, this isn’t his first time around: About a year ago, Bigfoot helped him sell an 11-acre parcel in Northwood, N.H.
“We were way more subtle in those photos,” he says. “You really had to look. It took about four months on the market before people started to notice the Bigfoot photos and share them. [This time], we made it so obvious from the beginning.”
He wouldn’t be opposed to resurrecting Bigfoot once again and has even considered incorporating the hairy creature into his existing mountain logo.
“We may use it again on the right property,” he says. “Maybe Bigfoot will come back—or another character may come along.”
For Moquin, it’s about keeping scrolling buyers alert—and ready to take a closer look.
