Fake ad for ‘raised apartment’ brings calls from realtors

TORONTO — Funny guy Neil Sirrom posted a rental ad on Facebook last week, knowing he was in a high-demand area around Toronto. Rent for a small condo is about $1,800/mo. these days, so he thought he’d make light of “what theses crooks try to get away with,” and posted an ad for a couple of budget apartment opportunities for someone.

“I have a couple of bachelor apartments for rent at reasonably affordable rates,” the Markham man posted on the Toronto Buy, Sell, Trade group.

One offered a “raised apartment” with wraparound deck, elevated view of the neighbourhood, and was pet friendly. He was asking $400 a month, utilities included.

It’s a treehouse.

The other ad was for a bungalow, with openconcept ground-floor living (“perfect for seniors”). Sirrom was asking $350 a month, utilities included. It’s a garden shed. Both are pet friendly, each would come with use of 1/3 of the backyard, shared outdoor bathrooms (no details on that prized amenity), two space heaters apiece and two extension cords running from Sirrom’s own home’s power.

And not to be overlooked, the tenants would have guaranteed 24-hour access to the hot tub. However, Sirrom didn’t guarantee the slightly ratty-looking aboveground hot tub would actually contain any water. Spiders, assuredly.

Sirrom told blog.to that he actually had several inquiries from realtors looking to book showings. He took the ads down, saying “it was just a fun joke to poke fun at the Toronto pricing.”