Landlords have started advertising apartments created in The Sims 4 for sale on real estate websites

Apartment hunting in 2024 will be, to put it mildly, a barbaric affair. Search through old, ultra-compressed panorama photos. Spend two hours to see a 20-minute view with 50 people. Then pray to whatever god exists that you will survive the grueling application process.

I found it difficult to find an apartment that looked exactly like the listing photos. I looked at far too many images in order to see what creative license the real estate agents took. I can say with certainty that none of them was ever cheeky enough for a vague recreation to be added to real photos using The Sims 4.

The Spanish rental market is doing things differently. One listing on Idealista has been making the rounds since a Twitter user, who said that her husband had spotted the ad when apartment hunting, pointed out that it used screenshots from a life sim. I say screenshots but it's the classic "take photos of the monitor using your phone" method that I love. The slightly blurry photos are all taken from a bird’s-eye-view, and show all the classic white apartment furniture, including a sofa, TV, fridge, and whichever bedside table is next to that fridge. They've gone the extra mile to add some pizazz by adding a few books on the coffee-table along with utensils, and a kitchen towel on the counter.

As Twitter users began to respond, jokes about Sims began to circulate. One user asked "Can I pay with Simoleons?" Another user poked fun at cheat codes in the game, tweeting: "Motherlode will pay the mortgage".

The original tweeter stated that she had already reported this listing to Idealista. In response, there were comments about how scams of this nature are becoming more common. Thankfully, it appears to have been removed.

Listen, I have recreated my living quarters on The Sims 4 to plan decorations, or for fun, but I would never dream of using that creation to rent out a real house to an unsuspecting person.

I would also question just howsimilar a real-life apartment is. The listing lists it as a shockingly tiny 41 square metres. Anyone who has played The Sims 4 build mode knows how difficult it can be to create small spaces. In the harsh light of day, I'd bet that things would look much more cramped and run-down. Even if it does exist. If it exists, perhaps typing FreeRealEstateOn will get it for the low-low price of zero euros.