Mark Josem sold a five-bedroom Kew home for $4.75 million in just 14 days after two previous campaigns didn’t secure a buyer — achieving $150,000 more than the previous highest offer with a story-led campaign that has since been named a finalist in the 2026 REIV Awards for Excellence.
Mark had worked with the vendors of 92 Parkhill Road before and knew the home well. When it failed to sell across two campaigns despite strong buyer interest and a highest offer of $4.6 million, the family faced a decision: stay with what was familiar or follow Mark to his new independent agency, Storyhouse Real Estate, which had no track record of its own.
They chose Storyhouse.
The home hadn’t changed, the story did
Mark started at the breakfast bar. Standing there, he recognised a place where family life naturally came together — coffee poured, homework spread, conversations happening in between. He called it the Heart House. Not a name developed in a marketing meeting, but a moment of recognition that became the idea shaping the campaign.
The video followed the same instinct. No scripts, no production crew. Mark walked buyers through the home the way he’d show it to a friend, weaving in the story of the family who had loved the property so much they’d once considered buying it back, and then transformed it.
Facts, features, and the third dimension: feeling.
“Content that moves people, moves the algorithm,” Mark says.
“Authenticity is what drives that. No script, no polish, no cinematic sameness.”
Taking the Heart House beyond active search
The fundamentals were covered with premium placements on realestate.com.au and Domain. Then Storyhouse took the campaign further.
The story-led video put the Heart House in front of buyers beyond those already searching for property in Kew. It generated 59,300 organic social views compared with 4,788 views on realestate.com.au — 12.54 times the portal audience.
Every one of those views was earned, not bought. No paid media, no boosts, no press spend. The reach came entirely from people choosing to watch and then to share.
The campaign has since been recognised as a finalist in the Residential Marketing Campaign Under $10,000 category at the 2026 REIV Awards for Excellence, providing industry recognition for the campaign behind the $4.75 million sale.
This is the Storyhouse selling system in practice: premium property marketing fundamentals paired with story-led content, video, and social distribution built to reach buyers before, between, and during active search.
Kew’s prestige family-home market
Parkhill Road sits in Kew’s established family-home precinct near the private school belt, with tree-lined streets, substantial allotments, and strong amenity access to Kew Junction shopping, Glenferrie Road cafes, parklands, and Cotham Road transport. The blue-chip inner-east suburb is known for quality period homes, excellent schools including Kew East Primary and Kew High, and a predominantly low-rise residential character.
The five-bedroom, three-bathroom house on approximately 698 square metres with two car spaces sold for $4.75 million, well above Kew’s broader house market median and $150,000 above the highest offer received across its previous campaigns.
What this means if you’re choosing an agent in Kew
The question worth asking isn’t ‘What is my home worth?’ Mark says.
“Does the agent you select price to win the listing or build competition to win the sale? Rely on portals alone or activate buyers beyond active search? Run cookie-cutter campaigns or strategically market your home? Negotiate expectations or create competition?”
For the owners of 92 Parkhill Road, changing the home wasn’t the answer. Changing the way it was sold was.
The vendors put it best themselves in their verified realestate.com.au review: “A very patient and friendly agent who we now feel like he’s a part of our family. Thank you for working so hard, for going out of your way to get this result for us.”
It’s a fitting review for a campaign that started with a family home and a moment of recognition at a breakfast bar.
About the Agent
Mark Josem is the founder of Storyhouse Real Estate, specialising in premium family homes across Melbourne’s Boroondara and Stonnington markets including Kew, Hawthorn, Canterbury, Glen Iris, Malvern, and Toorak. With more than a decade of Melbourne real estate experience, Mark combines proven fundamentals with story-led, video-first marketing and conducts bilingual English–Mandarin auctions. Visit Mark’s website for more information or call Mark on 0488856736.