CHICAGO _ Video tours and virtual walk-throughs have become the norm for home sellers during the coronavirus pandemic, but Moshe Teldon took things one step further.
The suburban Wilmette rabbi and his family created a chuckle-worthy music video in which he describes the $499,000 home listing and implores buyers to bite.
"I really want to stay ahead of the curve and get some eyeballs on this (house)," said Teldon, 33. "And strange times call for extreme measures."
Teldon and his wife listed the five-bedroom split-level in February, weeks before Illinois' stay-at-home order put an end to open houses and limited in-person showings. They put the house up for sale after their fifth daughter was born in January, and they hope to move to a larger house in the North Shore suburb this summer.
During a Zoom chat with his sister and three brothers _ two of whom are also rabbis _ the siblings thought of the music video and worked together to write the lyrics for "Pillow My Zillow," a two-minute rap song in which Teldon and his family don masks, dance around in the front yard and show off various features of the house.
The colorful lyrics include an assortment of listing details, including "a backyard for grilling, a playroom for spilling (toys)" and a "kitchen with granite, it glows like a planet." As he zooms around in a child's ride-on car and consorts with a stuffed giraffe, Teldon also touches on the difficulty of selling a home during the pandemic.
"Buyers at home ... staring at screens. Even my paycheck's quarantined," he raps. "I don't like all these Zooms; I'm running on fumes. But I've got five bedrooms."
Teldon's siblings also guest star in the video, offering quips and nodding off as Teldon lists details and laughing as he falls off his chair in the excitement. His daughters, dressed in an array of pink outfits, hair bows and heart-shaped sunglasses, also feature prominently.
"It was a great activity for my kids and a fun way for me and my siblings to get our minds off the craziness that's out there," Teldon said. "That's the silver lining of the whole situation."
