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For one Sydney-based real estate agency, Halloween offers a unique opportunity to bring residents together.
Elara Village in the north-west Sydney suburb of Marsden Park might not be the first thing that springs to mind when you think “community”. Like many other large suburban estates comprised of new-build detached homes, duplexes and townhouses, Elara might appear cold and unwelcoming at first glance.
However, according to Urban Real Estate residential sales agent Theesan Pather, this could not be further from the truth.
“Our ethos as community developers is to assist the cultivation of healthy community interaction,” Mr Pather shared. “These interactions are what really make a new development a great place to live.”
In fact, the agent and north-western Sydney local explained that developments like Elara offer unique opportunities for community building. He emphasised that “new estates and suburbs typically comprise over 70 per cent families with young children (two kids under 12) in their first homes”.
“They are proud of the first home and eager to create lasting memories for their children to look on,” he said. “Estates like Elara provide the backdrop to create these memories.”
For the last six years, Urban Real Estate has held what it describes as “Sydney’s biggest Halloween event”. With craft workshops, monster stilt walkers, face painting, estate-wide trick or treating, house decorating competitions and even an agency-designed map, perhaps it’s unsurprising that Urban Real Estate expects over 3,000 parents and children to attend.
The Marsden Park Halloween event is not just a community-building event, however, it’s also a savvy sales strategy.
According to Urban Real Estate, the event has historically drawn visitors from all across Sydney. Mr Pather recalls that the event has “attracted participants from as far afield as the inner west, eastern suburbs and Penrith who hear about it via work colleagues and friends.
“Some have even decided to sell and move to Marsden Park after experiencing our community engagement activities.”
As a former nightclub operator in Sydney’s music scene, Mr Pather knows the importance of drawing a crowd. The agency also uses bonuses like discounts on local restaurants and vouchers to make Elara stand out from the crowd.
“Marsden Park’s Halloween event has turned into a suburb-wide event and a major date on locals’ yearly calendar that everyone looks forward to, even people that never participated because they didn’t understand the meaning of Halloween,” Mr Pather said.
He even revealed that “some home owners are known to spend over $40,000 on Halloween decorations to participate in activities”.
“The event provides the opportunity to meet neighbours, embrace the local community and create incredible memories of Halloween that kids will remember and cherish into their adult life. The community is the driving force behind this highly successful event,” the agent concluded.
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