Apartment hunting in 2024 is, to be frank, a barbaric experience. Scour through crusty ultra-compressed photos taken in panorama, make a two-hour trip for a 20-minute viewing with 50 other people and then pray to whatever god is out there that you emerge victorious from the gruelling application process that follows.

I went through it all this year, and trying to find an apartment that looked like its listing pictures was by far the hardest part. I dissected far too many images to see how much creative liberty the real estate agents were taking, but I can safely say that none of them were ever cheeky enough to supplement real pics with a vague recreation in The Sims 4.

The Spanish rental market must be doing things a bit differently, as one particular listing on Idealista started doing the rounds after a Twitter user—who said her husband spotted the ad while apartment hunting—pointed out that it was using screenshots from the life sim. Well, I say screenshots, but it's a case of the classic “take a photo of the monitor with your phone” that I love so much. The slightly fuzzy snaps are all from a bird's-eye view, containing all the classic all-white apartment furniture: sofa, television, fridge, random bedside table next to said fridge. They've even gone the extra mile and added some pizazz with a couple of books on the coffee table along with utensils and a kitchen roll on the counter. 

Sims-related jokes started to flow in the Twitter replies, with one user asking “Can I pay in Simoleons?” while another poked fun at the game's cheat codes, tweeting “Motherlode to pay the mortgage”. 

The original tweeter mentioned that she had already reported the listing to Idealista—with replies discussing how scams like these are becoming increasingly common—and thankfully, it seems to have been taken down.

Now listen, I've definitely tried to recreate my living quarters in The Sims 4 as a way to plan decorations or just for funsies, but I wouldn't dream of trying to use that creation to rent a real home to some poor unsuspecting soul. 

I would also question just how similar the real-life apartment really is. The listing marks it down as a shockingly small 41 square metres, and anyone who's spent time in The Sims 4's build mode knows that building small spaces can prove challenging. I would wager things look considerably more cramped—and probably run-down—in the cold harsh light of reality. That's even if it exists in the first place. If it does, maybe typing FreeRealEstate On will get you it for the low low price of zero euros.