PHOTO BY DANIEL BROWN / VANORSDALE PHOTOGRAPHY / COURTESY OF EMILY FRASER

Adorned with a pastel rainbow wig that shakes with every step, a handbag dangling from his elbow, Sal Bucci, part of the Fraser Team at Piatt Sotheby’s International Realty, clutches the arm of fellow real estate agent Kristen Davis, cackling as they walk down the street in an Instagram reel. 

“Serena Williams kicked my ass at pickleball practice,” Bucci cries as the duo enters a Sewickley cafe.

Trading wigs as he swaps personas, Bucci alternates between emulating his satirized, celeb-obsessed mom — “You know, Sidney Crosby has been coming here every single day at 11:52 a.m.” — before throwing back some cocktails as a St. Stephens camp mom, then channeling a Sewickley work-from-home mom.

It’s a bit that some might struggle to connect to real estate, yet the “Pittsburgh Moms” series is the most popular recurring post for the Fraser Team’s Instagram account. Dubbed The Slaygents, the team leverages social media to market themselves in an out-of-the box, humorous, way that’s paying off — literally. 

With more than 5,000 instagram followers, The Slaygents are among Pittsburgh’s top realtors, a feat that associate broker and team lead Emily Fraser attributes to the success of what she calls its “parody social media presence.” In July, The Fraser Team hit $32.5 million in homes sold or in escrow for 2024.

Fraser says her aversion to the cold calling and door-knocking of traditional real estate marketing is what spurred her to find a new way of garnering brand visibility for her team.

“We were trying to think of a creative, funny way to put a spin on talking about Pittsburgh and traditions and culture that’s entertaining,” she says. “Being Pittsburgh influencers of sorts was [how] we were going to be in front of people.”

With a moniker like The Slaygents, it’s obvious that the Fraser team’s humor is one of its greatest strengths. Though the comedy runs a little risque at times, Fraser says the skits chip away at the professional divide, transforming her team into familiar faces to prospective clients who want to hire the realtors they just laughed with on Instagram. 

“You really have to build a kind of rapport with people who start following you and it takes time,” she says. “I think now we’re starting to see that we’re getting actual business and leads from what we’ve done on social media.”

PHOTO BY DANIEL BROWN / VANORSDALE PHOTOGRAPHY / COURTESY OF EMILY FRASER

From skits on Challengers to takes on Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” and the Met Gala, the team’s marketing manager Anne Singer blends pop culture phenomena with Bucci’s theatrical background to churn out a wealth of comedic content. 

With each new reel, Fraser says her team gains more followers.

“We’re pretty excited to be taking over as kind of industry leaders, bringing listings to life and marketing them in a way that’s a little bit different than most other agents,” she says. “I’m not someone who’s super schmoozy. I’d rather just be myself and put out a brand that I’m really proud of that reflects my life and my family and my lifestyle.”