“I’ll show you den, I’ll show you microwave,” might not sound like an enticing pitch for an apartment listing. But sung to the tune of a '90s alternative rock classic, the otherwise unassuming features are drawing thousands of views online.
North Vancouver real estate agent Jacob Strigan has released a parody music video called “This House is Open,” putting his spin on the 1999 hit single “With Arms Wide Open” by the alternative rock band Creed.
Instead of welcoming a new son into the world with open arms, as was the intention of Creed frontman Scott Stapp, Strigan invites potential buyers to check out a condo listing amid a chilly market.
Paired with an entertaining vocal and visual performance, Strigan takes the listener through the 652-square-foot Central Lonsdale apartment, listing its selling features in rhyme.
While it’s the first time he’s done anything like this, Strigan said he’s always been a big fan of humour and comedy.
“I got this ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic idea where you’re taking another song and you’re trying to make it a little bit amusing, not trying to take yourself too seriously,” he said. “It took me a little while to come up with lyrics that fit sort of the cadence of the song, that still highlight the property and add some humour into it.”
In the music video, Strigan tells you “this house is open, Saturday and Sunday.” He says he’ll “show you kitchen sink,” and if you buy this place he even promises to “give you a house plant.”
Strigan said the idea for the houseplant lyric came from a client review after closing a sale.
“He wrote a review, and he stated, ‘My Realtor Jacob also gave me a nice closing gift, which is a lot better than the house plant that I would normally receive from my other Realtor,’” Strigan said.
“I actually texted it to my client afterwards. I said, ‘Find out if you can pick out the reference to the deal that we did in the song,’ and he picked it out immediately. It was hilarious,” he said.
Humour welcomed by peers in tough real estate market
Strigan said his main goal in making the video was to promote the apartment listing, but the humour was also well received by his industry peers.
“I posted it to a few real estate agent Facebook groups that I’m a part of, to get feedback from my peers on the video. And a lot of people are like, ‘Man, if this is the future of real estate marketing, I might have to find another job,’” Strigan said with a chuckle.
“The sentiment overall right now with the market in general is that yeah, things are a little tough,” he said. “I think having a little bit of a laugh is welcomed.”
Strigan isn’t sure if he has a one-hit wonder on his hands yet.
“I don’t know if it’s gonna be my whole thing, because I don’t know if it’s something that people are gonna grow weary of over time,” he said.
But the agent has at least two more songs written in a similar style, the first of which he plans to release in May.
To catch those when they drop, you can follow Strigan on YouTube and Instagram.
You also might catch Strigan performing karaoke at Sailor Haggars in North Van.
“My brother and I actually do a pretty mean ‘No Diggity,’ he said.
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